Mattie asked Susane Colasanti:

how did you come up with the idea for your two books, "All I Need" and "Keep Holding On"?

Susane Colasanti KEEP HOLDING ON was inspired by my own experiences with being bullied in junior high and high school. I wrote about some really embarrassing things that actually happened to me, things I would have been mortified to admit back then. But I’m not embarrassed anymore. If those things happened to me, they are happening to teens right now. So it was time to speak up.

I know how it feels to be relentlessly tormented. I know how it feels to constantly be anxious at school and at home, to feel like you’ll never find a place to belong, or like no one will ever understand you. Writing this book was my way of turning a negative experience into something positive. I want this story to reach out to teens in need. I want this book to help people feel less alone. If it does, then the horrible things that happened to me will have been worth it.

ALL I NEED came from a very different place. Readers often ask me if soul mates are real. They ask if boys like the boys in my books actually exist. Yes, soul mates are real and boys like those do exist! I know what it’s like to meet a soul mate. What it’s like to feel that instant connection. To feel like you’ve already known someone your whole life even though you just met. My main goal in writing ALL I NEED was to make readers feel hopeful. By the time you finish the last sentence, I want you to believe in true love, and to know that you deserve the kind of love you want to find.

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