Win A Private Midnight by Scott Fried, signed by the author
Erie Gay News is giving away a copy of A Private Midnight by Scott Fried, signed by the author. To enter, just fill out the form below between March 5 and March 26.
Scott Fried’s “A Private Midnight: A Teenager’s Scrapbook of Secrets” reveals the universal chorus of questions, fears and restrained hope looking for an outlet.
November 30, 2009 (New York) – Parents of teenagers take note. The two most overused and mundane questions you can ask your teen are “How was your day?” and “What did you do?” So what are the ten questions you should ask?
Author and youth motivational speaker Scott Fried dedicates his new book to the ten questions he wishes he had been asked as a teenager. In “A Private Midnight: A Teenager’s Scrapbook of Secrets”, released on December 1st, Fried reveals through the anonymous submission of answers from teenagers around the world that their unspoken fears, questions and restrained hope need to find a voice. “A Private Midnight” is an encouraging guide for parents and teachers who are struggling to understand what lies beneath a teenager’s silence.
Over the span of two years, Fried collected replies to the ten questions he posted on his website. The new book emerged from the steady stream of emails Fried receives from teenagers who attend his lectures. As Fried explains, “I was looking for a way to channel their thinking into specific questions and now through the book, my message to teens is that you’re not the only one with these thoughts.”
Fried’s intention in compiling the answers and publishing “A Private Midnight” is that “It gives parents and educators a much deeper understanding of the true issues facing teenagers as well as a platform to begin a healthy conversation”. Fried continues by explaining, “At the very least, it will offer parents ten new and relevant questions to ask their teenage child instead of the over-used and irrelevant two daily questions of “How was your day?” and “What did you do?”
Some of the questions Fried posted on his website which form the collected ten in “A Private Midnight” are:
Who are you?
What does the emptiness inside feel like?
What is the miracle you are waiting for?
When was the last time God spoke to you?
What advice would you give to your parents?
The duality of “A Private Midnight” is that Fried’s introduction of each question in the book is a reveal of the secrets he recalls from his youth but also the secrets he harbors as an adult. Similarly, any adult reading this book should be prepared to answer the questions themselves and herein lays the poignancy of this scrapbook of secrets. “A Private Midnight” becomes a safe harbor for adults to relive the questions and uncertainties of their youth through the lens of accomplished adulthood and find the motivation to help the teens in their lives along the path of acceptance.
The anonymous answers submitted by teenagers through an online survey at www.scottfried.com do not appear to be filtered through caution or concern for what others might think. The exposure of the teenagers’ thoughts, identified only by age, quickly becomes a universal chorus of questions, pain, confusion and restrained hope looking for an outlet.
Color illustrations from teenagers capture the scrapbook feel of high school doodling yet on second glace are quite insightful. The artwork and sketches were collected separate from the answers to the survey and speak to how comfortable teens are in expressing their thoughts to Fried following one of his lectures. The connection occurs after only one hour spent in a lecture hall. With great hope, Fried offers “Imagine the influence a parent or educator can have over a lifetime if they learn to connect in the same way?”
ABOUT SCOTT FRIED
Scott Fried, age 46, is a writer, youth motivational speaker and HIV/AIDS educator. His message for teens, young adults, parents, teachers and professionals is a powerful outreach of love, responsibility, sacredness and self-respect. As a public speaker, Fried has appeared across the country and around the world engaging audiences in discussing dating, abstinence, transmission of HIV, eating disorders, body image, homosexuality and drug misuse. Fried’s outreach extends to the television daytime drama “Guiding Light” where he portrayed Bart, a young man living with AIDS and he has been interviewed on numerous television news and talk shows. Fried has received the Honorary Star of the Rainbow Award in recognition of his work with youth and is a guest speaker at the Office of President Clinton. Fried is the author of “My Invisible Kingdom: Letters from the Secret Lives of Teens” and “If I Grow Up: Talking with Teens about AIDS, Love and Staying Alive”. Fried lives in New York City. For more information please visit www.scottfried.com or www.twitter.com/privatemidnight
A Private Midnight: A Teenager’s Scrapbook of Secrets
Author: Scott Fried
Published by Scott Fried. ISBN: 0-9659046-2-8
Paperback. 154 pages
Available exclusively at www.scottfried.com
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Co-editors Michael Mahler and Deb Spilko