Middle grades and young adult authors speak candidly on the unspoken "rules" of adolescence in this collection of moving, inspiring, and often funny essays. This unique volume encourages readers to break with conformity and defy age-old, and typically inaccurate, orthodoxy--including such conventions as Boys can't be gentle, kind, or caring ; One must wear Abercrombie & Fitch in order to fit in ; Girls should act like girls ; and One must go to college after finishing high school . With contributions from acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning young adult authors--including Gary D. Schmidt, author of The Wednesday Wars ; Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook ; Sara Zarr, author of Story of a Girl ; and Wendy Mass, author of A Mango-Shaped Space --this collection encourages individuality by breaking traditionally held norms, making it an ideal resource for tweens and teens.