We All Mess Up. It's What We

I'm A Southern Girl, And I Grew Up With This Slightly Schizophrenic Upbringing Where I Bounced Back And Forth Between Atlanta, Georgia, And A Tiny Mountain Town Called Brevard, North Carolina. My Parents Were Divorced, And My Two Lives Were Very Different Because Of Socioeconomic Reasons.

I've Written A Lot Of Novels For Teens And Tweens ... But I'd Never Really Tackled The North Carolina Side Of Me. And It's So Strong And So Important, And Yet I Hadn't Acknowledged It. And So One Of The Things I Wanted To Do In "shine" Is Take That On.

We All Mess Up. It's What We Learn From Our Mistakes That Matters.

Is He A Sophomore?" Lydia Says. "please Tell Me He's In Our Grade." "i Don't Know," I Say. "but Weren't You There When He Came To The Office?" Peyton Says. "the Secretary Didn't Get Out Her Bullhorn And Announce What Grade He's In. She Just Took Him To Meet Headmaster Perkins.

I Didn't Like Being Alone. Being Alone Was Slightly Better Than Having To Deal With People, That's All. Or So I'd Convinced Myself.