It's early summer, and in a small community on the central Jersey Shore, a black car screeches to a halt outside the Wright Bros grocery. Danny looks up from where he's working at the carwash to see the driver rifle out of the car and chase a girl rushing into the store. For some reason-fate perhaps or intuition-he decides to cross the lot and investigate. When he meets Mary, there is a great deal Danny doesn't know, but he certainly knows that he's been struck. For it's like the keys to an old car had been dropped into his hands and is about to start the engine that will forever alter the outcome of their lives. Some Place Better Than Here is a gritty, unflinching look at how we define family and come to grips with loss. It's about growing up in a small town, following your dreams, and mapping out the uneven ground that often lays between love, friendship, and sexual awakening.

We hope you'll be inspired, shocked, amused, and touched by this selection of letters from the DearTeenMe.com website. 'How awesome would it be if authors wrote letters to their teen selves?' A year and a half later, you can pick up DEAR TEEN ME from Zest Books, read more on the website, or just kick back and enjoy the selection we'll be posting here. Co-curators: E. Kristin Anderson and Priya Chand. The individual letters are property of the contributing authors. We can't guarantee your head won't explode from the mix of angst and excitement, but you *will* enjoy the ride.

After a late night fight between Alex Summers and her ex goes terribly wrong, her parents ship her off to spend a stress-free summer in Los Angeles. But the second she steps off the plane, Alex stumbles into California bad boy Elias King, a too-hot-to-handle heartbreaker with a taste for trouble. ***** When Alex and Elias find themselves stuck living under the same roof, their sexual tension's undeniable, but their differences set them on a warpath to destroy each other. Elias bets he can steal her heart and seduce her in thirty days, while Alex swears she can keep him one-night-stand-free and have him sober by the end of the summer. All's fair in love and war if you're playing by the rules, but this time around, there are no limits. [[Audiobook now published by Hachette Audio/Hachette Book Group]] Content and trigger warning: This story depicts mental health issues, trauma, bullying, suicide, and violence. [[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]] Cover designed by Ren T