Need inspiration. Check out the following titles that were written when the authors were only teenagers. That's right. Teenagers. If only I had spent less time reading and being typically angsty and instead written a book whilst still young enough that had it not been a raving success I would have by now written several more and could, quite possibly be, a best selling author. Okay, enough fantasy. Enjoy the following;
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - In the Forests of the Night
YA AtwA
Amelia lives in Concord, MA with her family. She was born in 1984 and her first novel, In The Forests of the Night, she wrote when she was 13. Her second novel, Demon in my Eyes, became an ALA Quick Pick. She was named one to the 20 Teens Who Will Change the World by Teen People magazine.
Walter Farley - The Black Stallion
JF FARW
Farley began his first book The Black Stallion when he was in high school although it was not published until he was twenty-six years old. The Black Stallion was so popular he was encouraged to continue writing, however WWII started and Walter Farleys writing was postponed. After the war he continued to write many more books on his favorite subject.
Christopher Paolini - Eragon
YA PaoC
Paolini lives with his family in Paradise Valley, MT. He began writing Eragon when he graduated from high school at the age of 15. He roughed out the main history of Alagaesia before beginning Eragon and wrote the details as he needed them. Picking the right names for characters and places in the book took him days, weeks, and even years. He is currently working on the fourth book in the saga.
Flavia Bujor - The Prophecy of the Stones
YA BujF
Bujor was born in 1988 and began writing her first novel, The Prophecy of the Stones, at the age of twelve. She published the work in French at fourteen years of age. The novel reached instant success and was translated into twenty-three different languages. She is currently working on her second novel in Paris, where she lives with her family.
S.E. Hinton - The Outsiders
YA HinS
Susan Eloise Hinton, was born in Tulsa, OK in 1951. She wrote her first book, The Outsiders, at age 16. The Outsiders was so widely acclaimed that S.E. Hinton was called "The Voice of the Youth." This pressure and publicity gave her writers block for three years. She has gone on to write many great books for young adults.
Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl
YB Frank FraA
Anne was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1929 and she was of the Jewish faith. She wanted to become either an author or journalist and for her 13th birthday received a diary. A few weeks later her family went into hiding from the Nazi's. They lived in hiding for two years before a Dutch nazi collaborator betrayed them. She died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp only a few weeks before it was liberated. Her father, the sole survivor of the family, later published her diary.
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
YA 823 SheM
Shelley was born in England in 1917, and by the time she was 19 years old, had written Frankenstein. She had two other works published before Frankenstein. Speculation is that grief over the death of her first child had a direct influence on the plot of Frankenstein, a novel which has stood the test of time and is still being performed onstage.
Kody Keplinger - The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend
YA KepK
Kody was born in rural Kentucky in 1992. She published her debut novel, The Duff, at the age of seventeen. Her experiences in high school being the a so called “DUFF” inspired her to write her story, concentrating on the labels that are placed upon teenage girls. Her second novel, Shut Out, is set to be released in September 2011.
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
