I encourage you to think about the life events and circumstances that have made you truly YOU, and to celebrate every single part of yourself-the strong, the weak, the good, the bad, and the ugly-because each part contributes to making you special and AMAZING. It’s not always easy being Lele, but every morning when I wake up I say, “Bring it on,” and that attitude is what has taken me on this incredible journey.
I believe it was my wild upbringing plus my verbal disadvantages that led me to be the performer and one-of-a-kind weirdo with a heart of gold that I am today.
I found that I knew how to make people laugh, and so I held on to that as a life raft in the sea of the most confusing and alienating time in my life. I found I was embraced by my peers for being physically dramatic and, well, funny. For comfort and peace of mind, I turned to entertainment. I knew nothing about American culture, and my differences paralyzed me with anxiety. Now take all of that and add immigrating to the United States, and you have a potential disaster on your hands. Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses: for me, artwork and movement were strengths, while speaking to others using words was a weakness. I felt comfortable drawing out my thoughts and feelings, instead of verbalizing them, so I’d often draw out storyboards-sometimes eight pages long-to explain to my parents or teachers what it was that I wanted. It felt so much more natural to express myself that way. Words didn’t come to me as a child, so I used my body to communicate. For entertainment I had only nature-bird-watching and berry picking and, best of all, stargazing.įor as long as I can remember, language has been a struggle for me. My whole childhood I knew nothing of shopping malls or (gasp!) the internet. I didn’t have dogs or cats as pets, instead I had baby tigers and monkeys as close friends. I mean, can you even? Picture this: baby Lele running barefoot through cornfields miles and miles away from civilization. I was born in Caracas, a major city in Venezuela, but quickly moved to the countryside where I-get this-lived in a barn. Of course, part of your essence comes into this world with you at birth, but it’s really what happens next that starts to shape you into you. So I shall now tell you how I came to be truly Lele, a person I love for better or for worse.
My point is: I believe that YOU-ness is something very special, no matter who you are, and it ought to be celebrated. Of course, you wouldn’t call it Lele-ness, you would call it Sara-ness or Jason-ness, or whatever your name might be. Ancient Greek philosophers would refer to this as the “soul”-but I am not an ancient Greek philosopher, I am a teenage girl, and so I will call it Lele-ness. See, every human being (and most animals, I find) have their own unique essence, an essence comprised of deeply rooted qualities that make them who they are. Before I tell you the story of how I vowed to survive high school, I’d like to talk about something near and dear to my heart. Fans of Mean Girls will love this fun and heartwarming fish-out-of-water story. Leave it to Lele to reassure us that falling flat on your face is definitely not the end of the world. From crushing your crushes (what’s up with that hot transfer student Alexei?) to throwing Insta-fake parties with your BFFs and moaning over homework (GAH) with your frenemies, high school is a rollercoaster of exhilarating highs and totally embarrassing lows.
Now she’s facing a whole new set of challenges-the relentless drama, the ruthless cliques, the unexpected internet celebrity-all while trying to keep her grades up and make her parents proud.įilled with the zany enthusiasm that has made Lele into Vine’s most viewed star, this charming novel is proof that high school is a trip. Lele is a bullseye target at her new school in Miami until, overnight, her digital fame catapults the girl with cheerleader looks, a seriously silly personality, and a self-deprecating funny bone into the popular crowd.
Ten million followers and I still sit alone at lunch. Vine superstar Lele Pons-“one of the coolest girls on the web” ( Teen Vogue)-teams up with #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz ( The Isle of the Lost) in this charming debut novel about the ups and downs of high school that’s as laugh-out-loud addictive as Lele’s popular videos. As featured in People Magazine, Seventeen, Tiger Beat and Glitter!