This Smile Is for Everyone Else

This Smile is for Everyone Else is the eighth collection of true stories written by students at Scriber Lake High School in Edmonds, Washington. By choosing to reveal their hidden circumstances-abuse, poverty, addiction, abandonment-these teenagers use writing to effect positive change in their lives.

All of the Scriber books have been miracles of the human soul and spirit. In 2011, Scriber students began writing what would become the first book, We Are Absolutely Not Okay. Our message now is the same as it was laid out in the first introduction: "If you have ever felt alone, betrayed, confused, or angry, this book is for you. If you have ever come to school pretending everything is okay when really everything is absolutely not, we want you to know that there is hope-even in the darkest situations. We are real and our stories are real, so you need not feel alone with your struggles."

Over the past ten years, more than 120 Scriber students have revealed themselves in acts of radical self-acceptance through this program. As one reader commented, these are stories "you will not forget, courtesy of kids who were almost forgotten."