I’m so excited to share the news that self-esteem guru, honorary Smart Girl, and friend, Jess Weiner, has just premiered a new self-esteem and advice website for girls and women!

You might already know Jess from her monthly body image column in Seventeen Magazine, or maybe you’ve seen her talking about celebrities and body image on TV. Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to see Jess in person at one of her inspirational speaking events centered around self-confidence and self-acceptance, or are familiar with her work as the Global Ambassador for the . You’re probably starting to see a pattern here – Jess totally rocks it when it comes to speaking out on behalf of girls and self-esteem!

So, check out Jess’s new website for a ton of great info, from friendship and relationship tips and advice to all kinds of resources, blogs, videos, and access to Jess’s Actionist Newsletter! And to find out more about Jess and how she created a career for herself as an “Actionist” and forged her own bold path in self-esteem advocacy, check out my interview with Jess in my book !

When I worked on the series of Real Deal books for Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, I was lucky enough to connect with then-teen author Dallas Woodburn. Dallas wrote two fantastic essays for the books I edited, and in the past five years, we’ve stayed in touch as Dallas went on to USC, graduated, and is now in a gap year between undergrad and an MFA program.

Besides the fact that Dallas is a great writer, one of things that’s always blown me away about her is that she’s always working on a zillion really cool projects to benefit children and teens centered around writing and creativity. She self-published her first book, a collection of stories and poems called There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose at the age of 10, and her second collection of stories, 3 a.m., came out in 2005. She’s also run an annual Holiday Book Drive for the past seven years, speaks about writing to students, and runs her own summer writing camp for youth.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Dallas founded her organization, Write On! For Literacy, with the goal of encouraging kids to discovery joy, confidence, self-expression and connection with others through reading and writing endeavors. As part of Write On!, Dallas has formed Write On! Books, where she plans to publish collections of stories, poetry, and essays written by young people that are exciting, fun, and easy for young audiences to relate to.

Dallas is currently accepting submissions for Write On! Books at her website, so if you’re a writer in elementary, middle, or high school, and want to be considered, submit your best stuff here.

Congratulations on all you do for young people and creative expression, Dallas. You are truly an inspiration to Smart Girls everywhere!

If you love science and want to get hands-on experience in a unique program just for girls, then check out the new Coastal Studies for Girls (CSG). Coastal Studies for Girls is a semester-long program for sophomore girls with an interest in science and leadership. Based in Freeport, Maine, the school is dedicated to girls who have a love for learning and discovery, an adventurous spirit, and a desire to challenge themselves.

Over the course of the 16-week program, students will compliment their studies in history, language, and math with a course called Coastal Marine Ecosystems, which introduces girls to the principles of chemical and physical marine science, marine biology, estuarine ecology, and marine resource issues; and a Leadership Adventure course, where girls have the opportunity to explore, cultivate and reflect upon the habits of effective leadership as well as contemplate their own contributions to the group through time spent ocean kayaking along the coast of Maine, camping, a high ropes course, snow cave building, team challenges, rock climbing and more.

If you’re a sophomore in high school and are interested in applying for the Spring 2010 semester, applications are available now online. Admissions will be made on a rolling basis, although the final deadline for applying is November 15, 2009. Also, scholarships are available. Just get your scholarship application in by November 1st. You can download application forms here.

The Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis is trying to raise public awareness about the number of homeless youth in the Twin Cities through new interactive art installations called Home is Where You Make It. Created by artists-in-residence Lauri Lyons and Tish Jones, the project gives homeless youth a chance to develop and display their artwork to a broad audience.

Participating homeless teens have been attending artist-led workshops and been supported in the act of writing personal narratives and shooting black and white portraits. Those portraits have been enlarged and mounted onto cardboard, where they’ve been assembled into 5’ x 7’ ‘houses’ on the street.

What a creative way to bring attention to the problem of youth homelessness! I volunteered with homeless teens in New York City when I lived there, and I always believed that if people really knew there were so many homeless teens, they would be motivated to support programs that work to remedy the problem. I love that the Home Is Where You Make It installation makes it hard to ignore what’s really going on with homeless teens in the Minneapolis area.

The installations will be set up through August 21. For a complete schedule, visit the website.

If you’re a fan of Do Something, the organization aimed at inspiring and empowering teens to do something and take action towards positive change, check out this opportunity.

Do Something is looking for teens to join their Youth Advisory Council ( YAC), which is comprised of teens from across the continent serving at least a two year commitment. Members of the YAC help provide feedback on the decisions being made by Do Something, and might do things like:

• assist in the determination of ideal logos, images, and campaign concepts
• help with the selection of Do Something grant winners
• reviewing the word choice(s), celebrity targets, and website content
• represent the Do Something Advisory Council at meetings, conferences, and in the community at large

YAC members connect via annual in-person meetings and monthly conference calls in addition to ongoing e-mail correspondence. YACers make themselves available to advise on relevant issues.

Find out more and download the application here. The deadline for applications is August 31. Good luck!

XOXO Debbie

If you haven’t read Scott Westerfeld’s book , the first in a sc-fi triology about a future where everyone is forced to get surgery to become supermodel gorgeous when they turn 16, then check this out!

In celebration of Scott Westerfeld’s forthcoming novel, Liviathan, Simon & Schuster is making UGLIES available for free download on their website. Yay! Who does love free stuff, especially when it’s a book as great as this?!

And visit Scott Westerfeld’s blog for more info on the promotion and his upcoming novel.

Enjoy!

It’s bad enough that already super skinny cover models and celebrities appearing in magazines are photoshopped to death to eliminate traces of any blemish or imperfection that might make them look, well, real.

But the September cover of SELF Magazine, whose tagline is “You at your best,” is stirring up a ton of controversy, specifically regarding the extent to which featured celeb Kelly Clarkson has been digitally “enhanced.” And rightly so.

What exactly is the message SELF magazine is sending to women when headlines on the cover say things like “Slim Down Your Way” and “Total Body Confidence,” yet Kelly Clarkson herself has been digitally altered to make her look much thinner? Watch the video from the actual photo shoot and you’ll see just how far away the cover is from reality.

SELF Editor-in-chief Lucy Danzinger has vigorously defended the way they altered Kelly’s image for the cover, saying:

This is art, creativity and collaboration. It’s not, as in a news photograph, journalism. It is, however, meant to inspire women to want to be their best. That is the point.

Kelly has this amazing spirit, the kind of joie de vivre that certain people possess that makes you want to stand closer to them, hoping that you can learn what they know. In this case, you get the feeling Kelly has not let fame spoil her, but also that she was just born confident, with a generosity of spirit that is all about others and rarely about herself. She is, like her music, giving and strong and confident and full of gusto. Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best.

But in the sense that Kelly is the picture of confidence, and she truly is, then I think this photo is the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.

Kelly says she doesn’t care what people think of her weight. So we say: That is the role model for the rest of us.

Hmmm. How thoughtful of SELF to make Kelly, who is the first to say she doesn’t have a problem with her weight, look her “personal best” on the cover. I mean, could a magazine which is supposed to be all about being your best possibly be more hypocritical?

Look, I have no problem with covering up a pimple or something in a photograph, but to change the bone structure and clothing size of real people to make them be their “personal best” and call it “inspirational” is just not okay. All it does is perpetuate the messages that girls and woman are bombarded with every day that they’re not good enough the way they are.

Do you want to tell SELF magazine how you feel about the unhealthy messages they’re sending to girls and women everywhere with their cover? Email Lucy Danzinger here.

I’m excited to share that every night his week from 8-9pm EST (5-6pm PST), we’ll be broadcasting a live videochat where the “Louder Than Words” authors and I will be taking questions about the series, the issues the books deal with, what it’s like to be published as a teen, and much more.

The Louder Than Words online show is available for anyone to post in their blog or website, which means, anyone can host the show and chat. So, the show will be carried on social networking sites like and , as well as on book reviewers’ blogs and magazine sites like Teen Voices.

Oh yeah, and I’m airing it too, here on Smart Girls Know. So, you see the video below? Right now you can watch different promos from the show in that little screen. But tonight, at 8pm EST, it will go live and you’ll see yours truly talking about what it was like to create the series and work with such talented young authors.

Each night, Louder Than Words will feature a different theme. Here’s the whole schedule:

Monday, August 10, 8-9 p.m. ET – Deborah Reber, “How the Louder Than Words Series Came To Be”
How were the teen authors chosen? How were the books put together? How much of what happened is true? What has been the most fun part of the project for you? What’s been the hardest part? Are there more books coming? How can I be a Louder Than Words author?

Tuesday, August 11, 8-9 p.m. ET – Marni Bates, author of “Marni”, Compulsive Behavior and How the Internet Can Help
Marni Bates answers questions about her book, “Marni.” Marni has trichotillomania — a irresistible desire to pull out her own hair. What do you have? Marni discusses how the Internet helped her understand the problem, and also how she feels about having her secrets revealed in a book.

Wednesday, August 12, 8-9 p.m. ET – Emily Smucker, author of “Emily” – Sickness and Faith, Pickles and Cake
Emily Smucker will answer questions about what it’s like getting through senior year with a chronic illness. Emily is a Mennonite but, don’t worry, it’s not contagious. She’ll also talk about blogging and writing books.

Thursday, August 13, 8-9 p.m. ET – Chelsey Shannon, author of “Chelsey”, Assembling a New Life with Pieces from the Past
Chelsey Shannon talks about fashioning a new life for herself after her father was murdered a week before her 14th birthday and she had to move away from home and school. She’ll talk about overcoming grief, and how she discovered a group of women writers who helped her get over.

Friday, August 14, 8-9 p.m. ET – Deborah Reber – How to Break Into Publishing for Teen Writers
Description: On Friday, series editor Deborah Reber will answer questions about how teen writers can break into publishing.

*** If you have any questions you want to be sure get answered in the chat, and I’ll pass them along to the producer.***

I was so sad to hear of the passing of writer and director John Hughes, who died yesterday at the age of 59. As a child of the 80s, John Hughes’ movies like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, were a huge part of my teen experience.

John Hughes was the first filmmaker to really get what it was like to be a teen. He invented believable characters we could all relate to and root for, created amazing soundtracks for our lives with the the new wave and cutting edge music weaved into his films, and started fashion trends through the unusual and alternative wardrobe choices of characters like Andi (Pretty in Pink) and Watts (Some Kind of Wonderful). His dialogue was so fantastic, so smart, so spot on, that pretty much everyone I knew in high school would quote his movies. I myself could recite the entire first half of The Breakfast Club without skipping a beat.

Though movies aimed at teens have continued to be made over the years, I don’t think anyone has even come close to capturing the teen experience with the honesty and humor of John Hughes. He will be greatly missed.

I would like to thank John Hughes for all he brought to my life as a teenager, and continues to bring to my life today as a writer of books for teens. Though his influence on me is immeasurable, in honor of his memory, I would like to share the following list:

A few life lessons I learned from John Hughes:

1. Never give your underwear to a geek
2. You can’t reverse the mileage on an odometer by putting the car in reverse
3. How to make a Captain Crunch cereal and Pixie Stick sandwich
4. Taking muscle relaxants on your wedding day isn’t a good idea
5. Every girl needs a Duckie in her life
6. Skipping out on school can be a cultural experience
7. Don’t get your hair stuck in a door while drunk at a party
8. Boxer shorts aren’t just for boys
9. Always make sure they know they didn’t break you
10. The meaning of Voodoo Economics
11. Be careful what you write on notes that are being passed around class
12. The boys’ bathroom doesn’t have candy machines
13. Befriending the tough kids while in detention is a smart choice
14. When kisses are really good, you’ll feel them in your knees
15. The joy of using priceless comebacks like “Eat my shorts”

Happy Monday!

I’m so excited to announce that the series of teen-authored memoirs I created and edited for HCI Books comes out today! Louder Than Words features three books written by three crazy-talented young women who share their personal, true stories and make their debut as published authors.

As part of the launch, next week we’ll be doing a 5-day online “TV show” that will be hosted on different blogs through Kyte TV. Starting Monday, August 10th, every night from 8-9 p.m. EST (5-6 p.m. PST), the authors and I will be doing a live videochat about the series and taking questions from readers. You can find out more and see a detailed schedule of the “shows” on the the .

To get the inside scoop on the series, read the teen authors’ blogs about their journey, watch a book trailer, and read excerpts from the girls’ books, visit the Louder Than Words website.

To become a fan on Facebook, go to the .

And here’s a quick at the first three books in the series:

MARNI by Marni Bates, age 19

Unable to deal with the mounting stress at home, in school, and with friends, Marni’s compulsion to yank out her eyebrows, eyelashes…even the hair from the top of her head, helped her to quiet her mind and escape the pressures of the world around her. Marni first began pulling the summer just before entering high school, and she was immediately hooked. Unfortunately, by the time she discovered that her habit was an actual disorder – trichotillomania or “trich” – it was way too late.

“When I stared at the mirror and tried to recognize the girl without eyebrows, eyelashes, and bangs as myself and failed, I knew something had gone horribly wrong.”

CHELSEY by Chelsey Shannon, age 17

When her only surviving parent, her beloved father, was violently murdered before her fourteenth birthday, Chelsey’s life was forever changed. As she was forced to come to terms with a new home life, a new school…a new identity as an orphan, Chelsey struggled to make sense of her personal tragedy. Yet she found a way to flourish despite all the odds.

“Dad’s coming home tomorrow morning, I wanted to snap at them. I don’t know what you’re all talking about. Even so, I felt the world around me begin to slip away, my vision swimming as lightness filled my head. I couldn’t stand…I couldn’t think. Part of me, somewhere, knew that it was true.”

EMILY by Emily Smucker, age 19

Plagued with some sort of cold or fever or bizarre aches and pains for much of her life, Emily thought the dizziness and stomachaches at the start of her senior year were just another bout of “Emily flu.” But when they didn’t go away, she knew something was seriously wrong. Eventually diagnosed with the rare and incurable West Nile virus, Emily watched her senior year and the future she had planned for go up in smoke.

“I want a normal life for a teenager. I want to ache from a long day at work. I want to be so busy that I don’t have time to post on my blog. I want to run the race of my life instead of being pushed along it in a wheelchair. I want to be on the ride of my life, you know?”