Description

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A raw and bold memoir about abuse and addiction, and the power of expression and community that helped Stephanie Kuehnert, the author of Ballads of Suburbia and regular Rookie contributor, survive and thrive. Told in varied narrative styles, including journal entries, original illustration, and pages torn from her actual diaries and zines, this is the memoir of Stephanie's life as a struggling outsider who survived substance and relationship abuse to become a strong young woman after years and years trapped in a cycle that sometimes seemed to have no escape.

About the Author

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Stephanie Kuehnert got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist zines. She received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. Her first YA novel, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, was published by MTV Books in July 2008, and her second, Ballads of Suburbia was published in July 2009. In addition to writing novels, she is a teacher and was a staff writer for ROOKIE, the acclaimed online magazine for teenage girls. Stephanie lives in Seattle with her husband and two cats.

Praise For…

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★ "Harrowing but ultimately triumphant."—Booklist, starred review 

“[S]trong, captivating voice…. a memoir with sharp teeth and a soft underbelly, the product mirroring the author’s catharsis in creating art.”—PW

"A raw, deep dive into one young woman’s struggle for wholeness."—Kirkus