Pieces of a Girl

Ages 14 And Up, Grades 9 And Up

A raw and bold YA memoir about abuse and addiction, and the power of expression and community that helped author Stephanie Kuehnert survive and thrive.

Years before she would become a published author . . . years before she would find a voice and a home in the Riot Grrrl movement and emerging zine community, Stephanie Kuehnert struggled to find her place. Told in varied narrative styles, including journal entries, original illustration, and pages torn from her actual teenage diaries and zines, this is the story of Stephanie Kuehnert's life as a struggling outsider who survived substance and relationship abuse to become a strong and powerful young woman after years trapped in a cycle that sometimes seemed to have no escape. From the author of Ballads of Suburbia and former Rookie contributor Stephanie Kuehnert, this bold and bare memoir about a life shaped by music and writing is unflinching and devastatingly honest.

About the Author

Stephanie Kuehnert got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist zines. She received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. Her first YA novel, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone was published by MTV Books in July 2008, and her second, Ballads of Suburbia was published in July 2009. In addition to writing novels, she is a teacher and was a staff writer for ROOKIE, an online magazine for teenage girls. Stephanie lives in Seattle with her husband and two cats.

Author Residence: Seattle, WA

Author Hometown: Chicago, IL