Sara Zarr,

I am talking to you when I say there are some writers who make me wonder if I will ever write anything that feels that perfectly real and true.

I finished Sweethearts this morning and cried and thought about how somehow it felt like this book, when I opened it, had turned out to have my own heart, still beating, wrapped up inside. It's not that I had similar experiences to Jenna's specifically, only that I felt like she was me, like her skin was just a mask over mine.

It also made me think to myself how funny it is that the books that are about transformation, discovering yourself, about true love, difficult decisions, finding the right path, negotiating social networks--are about young adults. Jenna is a teenager, sure, but if you think that because you're 30 something or 40 something or 50 something you aren't going to have your life turned upside and how to rethink everything and come back to yourself, well, you don't live in the world I do.