For Nana
Paper Airplanes is a novel about Renée and Flo-two teenage girls who realize pretty quickly that without each other they struggle to be themselves. It's about friendship, good and bad.
Although there are some similarities in the girls' lives (particularly Renée's) to my own, every character in this book is entirely fictional. I did, however, use my own teenage diaries for inspiration. The book is set in 1994, and the girls are fifteen, which is how old I was then. It's set in Guernsey-a small island just off France-and anyone who has visited may recognize many of the places I write about, but I have changed some names to create a new world for Renée and Flo.
Reading back through my diaries from this age was as fascinating as it was excruciating. In a time when there was no Facebook, no Twitter, no mobile phones, and obviously no Internet, friendships worked very differently. As much as I rely on the Internet more than the air I breathe, it's been fun to remember how simple everything used to be.
I hope you enjoy this story. It's been cathartic to write, and it brought back lots of memories. Having my own diaries as my guide to how it really feels to be a teenager has been invaluable; I just wish I hadn't stopped writing them when I was sixteen. If you are a teenager now and keep one, don't stop. Reading your own words many years later is the best story of all.