Carolyn Mackler — American Author born on July 13, 1973,

Carolyn Mackler is an American author of young adult literature. She has written five novels including Love and Other Four-Letter Words, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, which won and honorable mention from the Michael L. Printz award,Vegan Virgin Valentine, Guyaholic: A Story of Finding, Flirting, Forgetting...and the Boy Who Changes Everything, Tangled. Her novels are in print in many different countries such as: the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia. Mackler has also contributed to many teen magazines including Seventeen, Storyworks, Glamour, Girl's Life, American Girl, and CosmoGIRL!. Her book The Future of Us, coauthored with Jay Asher, was on the New York Times Bestseller List for 65 weeks... (wikipedia)

My own experience being bullied - it made me a more compassionate person. It made me more sympathetic to the adolescent experience.
I miss CDs. I miss listening to a whole album, even the lame songs that sometimes grow on you.
Prior to being bullied, I was a very footloose sixth-grader. You know, I was quirky, I was creative - I really felt good in my own body. And when I was bullied in seventh grade, my self-esteem tanked.
Everything you do to other people affects them, and how you treat people affects them.
I think that being bullied is a shameful experience.