I was not especially keyed into my high school’s social scene. I coasted through classes, played soccer during lunch, hung with friends at school and by myself outside of it. Most of my time, I read voraciously. It wasn’t till my last year that I noticed I’d experienced none of the iconic school experiences obsessed over by American popular culture -- so just to find out, I attended the last possible football game (we lost) and the last possible dance (the Prom), which was also my first date-date (and since I asked out my English teacher’s daughter, it was an entirely platonic date). IOW, not the most successful exploration ever.
Which is why I write about these sorts of things -- about kids who are the sort to go out with other kids, hang out together, go to dances or games, are in clubs or organized sports. I’m exploring the experience of being mainstream, of normcore. This is also why I write about kids who are, in one way or another, in the margins: queer, gifted, handicapped, polyamorous, abused -- exploring marginal experiences other than mine.
I write to tell myself stories and so learn about the world.
And of course, I write about teenagers because that transition period, from child to adult, is one of the most fundamental and dramatic most of us experience. Another kind of margin.