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" Food is a way to explore culture and ground the story in a specific time and place. I still remember the meals and snacks from my first novel, 'Shug': pork chops and applesauce and Coca-Cola and peanuts, which are very Southern. When a character has roots elsewhere, food is a way to connect with home and another culture. "

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" It's not hard to get into a teen's head, because it's all emotions. Their feelings are amplified; you have no luxury of hindsight. If you haven't had your heart broken before, you don't know that you'll be able to get back up again. "

Jenny Han

You

Heart

Teen

" My name is Jennifer, and when I first went to school, my kindergarten teacher called me Jenny, and from then on, I was Jenny. "

Jenny Han

Name

Kindergarten

" My sister is my very favorite person, and I dedicated 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' to her. "

" My whole life, as an adult as well, I've been attracted to stories about young people. This period of time is so fertile - there's a million things that are happening, a million firsts, and to be able to witness that and record that is a privilege. "

" I just think of myself as a writer. Yes, I'm a woman. And I'm a writer. The main challenge is that I like to write stories about young women, and society doesn't place much of a premium on young women's stories. And I think that's why I gravitate towards it. I really honor that, and I treasure that time, and they should be given that respect. "

" Teenage years are all about crushes: crushes so deep you wanted to inhabit the other person, be inside their skin, see the world through their eyes. "

" Every choice leads you somewhere, but it might not be where you truly want to be if the decision is based on someone else. It could lead to regrets and what-ifs, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't still have valuable experiences. "

" 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' is about how, as a young woman, everyone gets that moment of being in bloom, but nobody really appreciates it. "

" I really love to write about food, crafts, and fashion, so those details will always be a part of my books. I think they inject stories with color and flavor, providing a tactile experience. "

" The most joyful part of writing, for me, is when I am 90% there, and suddenly the story clicks into place, and things finally start to make sense. "

Jenny Han

Story

Writing

" When I sold my first middle-grade novel in 2005, it wasn't that common to put an author photo on the back flap, but 24-year-old Korean-American me insisted. I wanted Asian girls to see my face. And more than that, I wanted them to see what is possible. "

Jenny Han

Possible

See

" I learn so much on Twitter all the time, and it would be a shame not to share that with my readers. "

" I think that if a writer doesn't use her voice, be it in her writing or online or in real life, then what is the point of having one? "

" I was writing my first book when I was in college. I was a teenager. "

" I try to be measured and thoughtful about what I put out there because I know a lot of young people follow me on Twitter, and I take that seriously - which is why I don't exclusively tweet about cookies and 'Game of Thrones' and YA. "

" I started writing stories at a young age, but not once did it occur to me that I could grow up to be a writer. Who could I look to? My favorite authors were Ann M. Martin and E.L. Konigsburg and Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary and Lois Lowry and Norma Klein. They were all white women, and they seemed so stately to me, so elegant. A whole world away. "

" I think, as a writer, you spend most of your time working on the book alone. "

" When I finished 'P.S. I Still Love You,' I truly was done with the series. I kept saying the books were two halves of a heart. But I suppose time and space had made me nostalgic, because my mind kept drifting back to Lara Jean and Peter, wondering what they were up to. "

" There is power in seeing a face that looks like yours do something, be someone. There is power in moving from the sidelines to the center. "

" I came of age during the Golden Age of rom coms - like the '90s and 2000s - there were so many. "

" There's some of me in all my characters. "

Jenny Han

Some

Characters

" As a child, I spent a lot of summers going to the beach with family friends. "

" My sister and I are really close. She's my little sister. "

" A tweet in an article can feel more permanent and louder than a tweet on Twitter. "