Louder Than Words is a series aimed at teenagers about teenage experiences. Atypically, the volumes are also written by teenagers. It may seem bizarre to ask teenagers to write memoirs—as Marni says, her siblings laughed—but Louder Than Words is dedicated to “reinforce[ing] the message that the experiences of teenagers and their perceptions and beliefs regarding [their] experiences have validity.”

Marni Bates comes from a dysfunctional home. Her parents are estranged long before they divorced, and her sister is her rival. Young Marni wants to be loved, so she plays into the manipulative games her father contrives. The shocking realization that her father sees her as a tool, rather than a daughter to love, is the first of many sledgehammers to Marni’s self-esteem.

Trichotillomania is a stress-related disorder. People pull their hair out as a means of coping, not unlike cutting or other forms of self-mutilation. Marni begins to pull at her eyebrows, taunted about her unibrow, a term she doesn’t even understand. Soon she is tugging out her eyelashes, her bangs, and the hair behind her ears. She knows she’s gone too far, but she can’t stop herself. Still, she hides the results of her pulling well, giving the disorder free reign over her mind and body.

Read more: http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2009/12/louder-than-words-marni.html

On the subway, I read all the signs. Even the Spanish ones. If you see something, say something. Si usted ve algo, diga algo. I try to infer how “algo” contributes to both phrases; that is what occupies my language-oriented brain. I puzzle out all the words on the LEARN ENGLISH NOW! Cards, fascinated by the relations between the Romance languages. I nearly miss my 14^th St stop because I am studying the map of the 123 line I all ready know.

Sex and the City’s Carrie once screamed, “I have an addiction, sir!” She meant her cigarette, a habit I think California and Bloomburg are right to condemn, but I’m not sure I have the right to feel righteous when I, too, have an addiction.

If my mother and I are out to lunch, and she goes to the bathroom, I pull out my book.

If I am nearing the end (read: within 100 pages) of a 473 page novel, I will bring another 628 page novel along as a backup. I will do this for a week and a half in which I have almost no time to read Novel A in the first place, stealing only a few pages on the bus ride home or before bed. I do not feel the extra weight.

I no longer bring magazines with me because they are too short. I finish my favorite in an hour each month. I wish they would publish more often.

My one wish is to be able to download words into my head. I want to be able to finish Gone With the Wind in the shower, and literally fall asleep reading Harry Potter against my closed eyelids. Audio books defeat the purpose, and besides, they go too slowly.

Sir, I am addicted to reading and rereading and yet again reading “Start” on my Windows toolbar, “Stop” on street signs. It is impossible not to. Even if the sign says stop, I can’t.

Richenda Gould, 19
Princeton, New Jersey

Part One of Interview: http://www.snap2objects.com/2009/11/02/30-covers-in-30-days/

Part Two of Interview: http://www.snap2objects.com/2009/11/11/30-covers-in-30-days-part-2/

Part Three forthcoming.