Dear Reader,

Ever wish you could write a letter to Heartbreak and basically be like, WTF? Maybe pick Heartbreak’s brain to understand why there’s so much heartbreak in your life and in the lives of the people around you? 

We’ve done just that in the upcoming anthology Dear Heartbreak: YA Authors and Teens on the Dark Side of Love (on sale December 2018). This is a collection of letters written by teens from all over the world. When I called for letters, they answered and wrote in about all the stuff it’s so hard to talk about—betrayals, break-ups, abuse, loneliness . . . pretty much all the bad things, the dark side of love. Then I paired them up with a YA author who felt drawn to their letter. That author in turn wrote a letter of their own in response. 

I want to tell you a bit more about it, but I’m dying to share the beautiful cover with you, so here it is, in all its hand-embroidered glory!

I know, stunning, right?

As you can see, the contributing authors are some of the finest writers working in YA (and have the outsized hearts necessary for the tough work they had to do for this project). They produced work that will gut readers in the best kind of way (so sorry, but we do like to gut you—writing’s a very messy business). This is a no-holds-barred, raw outpouring of the wisdom these writers have culled over their years mining their own hearts for the fiction they write. Who better to respond to teen letters than the young adult authors who return to their own teen years again and again? Their letters are biographical, unflinching, and filled with love and hope for the (anonymous) teen writers who were brave enough to write their truth. We look at the agony of heartbreak, in all its myriad forms, yes, but our goal is to show you that if you’re dealing with heartbreak, you are absolutely not alone. And it really does get better.  

It’s a reminder that there is love on the other side of heartbreak, love amidst the ugliness, love where we least expect it. We get into what it means to respect yourself, what makes a relationship healthy, how we can be good friends and partners. How to make the heart-wrenching decision about whether or not to stay in a relationship and what sorts of sacrifices are okay to be making when you’re so young.    

This gritty collection of fearless work is meant to inspire and empower its readers of all ages—much like Cheryl Strayed’s Dear Sugar advice column, an early inspiration. 

So here’s to the romantics, the cynics, the heartbroken, the hopeful. Here’s to everyone who’s ever been in love or will be in love. Here’s to moonlight kisses and break-up playlists and shouting matches in parking lots. Here’s to forgiveness and choosing yourself and saying yes when it scares the shit out of you—and screaming NO at the top of your lungs when you need to.

Love, 
Heather