Alexandra Adornetto

Apart from a small minority, teenage boys fall into three distinct categories: macho, metro, or just plain muddled. ”

My school is very good and quite understanding and know I have to take time off for interviews or writers' festivals. ”

I was the kind of kid who was always making up stories and adventures. ”

The South is full of memories and ghosts of the past. For me, it is the most inspiring place to write, from William Faulkner's haunted antebellum home to the banks of the Mississippi to the wind that whispers through the cotton fields. ”

As young Australians, the value of teamwork has been instilled in us throughout our schooling. ”

Teenagers have a natural curiosity and are keen to clock up experiences. What they need to be wary of is that some experiences may erode their sense of self and lead to a fragmentation of morals. ”

Gen Y is depicted as self-centred and apathetic when it comes to politics, but it doesn't help that we are largely overlooked. There have been policies to woo parents, pensioners and the sick, but the young do not appear to rank high on any political agenda. ”

I hate the idea of any kid missing out on the magic of reading. ”

I have never had other kids in the house... I had a huge collection of marbles, and they all had names, which I think concerned my parents. I used to go and sweep outside and talk to myself, and my mum's friends would be over and say, 'Do you realise she is talking to herself?' ”

Literature has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I can't think back before a time that I didn't love writing and reading. When I was really young, my mother would read poems to me. I loved Edgar Allan Poe - I am sure I didn't understand it, but I loved it. ”