Quotes from Jenny Han

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?

Whenever I was trying to get over a boy, I would write him a really long, wrought letter - but never mail it.

I think that's what distinguishes YA from adult fiction - it's not just the age of the characters, but it's the sense of hope. Because I don't think I've ever read a YA book that feels completely hopeless at the end.

you only know you can do something if you keep on doing it

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

Things couldn't stay the same forever.

And no matter what you do or how hard you try, you can't stop yourself from dreaming.

Maybe that was how it was with all first loves. They own a little piece of your heart, always.

I release you. I evict you from my heart. Because if I don't do it now, I never will.

You'd rather make up a fantasy version of somebody in your head than be with a real person.

When you write something by hand, there's a sort of intimacy that is just intrinsic to that act. You don't get to delete something in the same way, where it's like it was never there.

Just like Lara Jean in my book 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before,' I used to write letters to boys I was in love with - letters full of emotion and longing and also recrimination - but they were for my eyes only.

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.

There are so many people that want to tell stories. I think that the issue is how hard it is to get your foot in the door to tell your stories.

The American girl doesn't look just one kind of way - not in 2018, not ever.

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

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.

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.

The books you read as a young person are books that stay with you forever. I think that is the biggest privilege of writing for young people. You feel like you can help shape somebody.

I don't think you ever love anything as passionately as you do when you're a teen. You remember the books you read as a young person your whole life. I feel so lucky to write for young adults.

'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 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.

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.

Love is scary: it changes; it can go away. That's the part of the risk. I don't want to be scared anymore.