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Is this Love?

Charley Sky Gardner

A Guide to Loving Relationships for Teenagers, From the Reflections of a Teenager

This is a book for young people navigating relationships, offering insights that apply to all connections. Through personal experiences and practical advice, Sky helps readers understand that external behaviors reflect internal experiences. As a 16-year-old, she offers a unique perspective, drawing from her own understanding of what readers are going through to guide them toward healthier relationships.

  Sex & Relationships   40,000 words   100% complete   0 publishers interested
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Synopsis

1. The problem in the market for the target reader. Be detailed on this pain point and bring in some outside research or evidence for support.

 In a post-COVID world, teenagers face unprecedented challenges in building and maintaining relationships. While the pandemic fostered general empathy and global awareness, it simultaneously eroded intrinsic social skills, leaving teens struggling to interpret emotions and forge deeper connections. Studies archived in the National Library of Medicine show that isolation weakened young people's ability to internalize emotional cues; for example, individuals post pandemic scored significantly lower on tests that measured their ability to infer emotions from looking at someone’s eyes. A 2022 poll by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) found that only 48% of teens regularly discuss their mental health with their parents. Similarly, a CDC survey revealed that only about 47% of teens feel close to adults, including school counselors, a lack of connection that contributes to mental health risks like sadness and hopelessness.

Along with these issues, the American School Counselor Association reports that the average student to counselor ratio is nearly double the recommended level (476:1 compared to 250:1), making it challenging for counselors to provide the individualized support teens need. Meanwhile, over 75% of parents believe that peer-led support would better address the challenges teens face than traditional counseling. In the absence of trusted adult guidance, teens turn to social media for connection; two-thirds actively follow influencers, with 70% of teen girls and 63% of teen boys gravitating toward those who reflect their experiences and values. While these influencers may be relatable, their advice often lacks the depth and personalization required to navigate complex relationships in real life. With most relationship advice written by adults who didn’t live through the pandemic as teens, this generation remains misunderstood and in need of a new source of information and guidance.

2. The solution your book has for them. Explain your methodology in detail and include clear bullet points as takeaways.

This book bridges the gap by teaching teenagers how to rebuild and strengthen relationships through self-awareness, empathy, and intentional listening. It centers around my core philosophy of “seeking to see more,” encouraging readers to look beyond surface-level interactions and understand the unspoken emotions of those around them. With a combination of relatable anecdotes, research-backed insights, and actionable advice, readers will learn to:

  • Befriend anger instead of engaging in conflict.
  • Identify the roots of tears to provide meaningful support.
  • De-escalate defensiveness by responding with tenderness and understanding.
  • Cultivate empathy that extends beyond romantic relationships to peers, family, and people with differing viewpoints.
    This practical, peer-driven guide equips teens with the tools to navigate relationships with greater self-awareness, helping them grow not only as partners but as empathetic individuals in all aspects of life. If a 16 year old boy is able to listen attentively to his girlfriend, he will also be more inclined to be empathetic to teachers, teammates, family members and, most importantly, people from other cultures or with different ideologies.

3. Why you’re the one to write it? Mention your credentials, background, and any results with clients that are relevant. For fiction, please explain the plot and descriptions of your main characters.

 As a 16 year old who lived through the pandemic, I bring a perspective that directly resonates with today’s teens. I grew up in a home where connection was deeply valued; our living room hosted weekly meditations, and Sundays were spent at a temple devoted to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. While I didn’t gravitate toward religion itself, I was profoundly shaped by the idea of humanity’s intrinsic oneness: the belief that true connection comes from intentional understanding. This foundation helped me navigate the isolation of lockdown and deeply influenced my approach to relationships.

I’ve also had the privilege of sharing stories that matter. Speaking at the Independent National Convention, working with homeless youth to amplify their voices, and writing poetry advocating for women’s rights taught me how vital it is to listen and connect with others. I’m not an out-of-touch adult trying to guess what teens need; I’m living it alongside them. This book reflects my own journey and offers the tools that have helped me foster more meaningful relationships in a world that often feels disconnected. My goal is simple: to help my peers not only strengthen their romantic relationships but also grow into more empathetic, self-aware people.

Sales arguments

  • Mental Health Impact: According to a CDC analysis, more than a third (37%) of U.S. high school students in 2021 reported experiencing poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 44% feeling persistently sad or hopeless. This points to a significant impact on adolescent mental well-being, likely due to the social isolation caused by lockdown measures and the shift to virtual interactions.
  • Changes in Social Functioning: There's been a noted decrease in social skills development and peer interaction, with some studies indicating that virtual interactions were not a complete substitute for in-person contact, potentially leading to a sense of disconnection or misunderstanding among peers.
  • Perceived Misunderstanding and Isolation: Posts on X and other social media platforms have also reflected sentiments of isolation among teens, with comments attributing increased depression and anxiety to the social isolation from the pandemic, suggesting a "pick your poison" scenario where reduced peer interaction led to mental health issues. One study highlighted the severe impact on teen girls, with nearly 60% reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness, attributing this partly to isolation and masking
  • Increased Screen Time: With schools closed and social activities limited, teens turned to digital devices more than ever, leading to increased screen time which has been associated with negative mental health outcomes like anxiety and depression. This trend was particularly pronounced during the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
  • My family has significant personal and professional networks to drive awareness of my book. The combined email lists of our various businesses and of my school exceed 150,000 recipients who are focused on areas like teen life, personal development, consciousness, meditation, women’s health, youth homelessness and technology. In addition, I was the opening speaker at the 2024 Independent National Convention and can be featured on podcasts from our community.

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Audience

Teens ages 12 - 18 (grades 7 - 12)

Charley Sky Gardner

About the author

As an author, Sky focuses on guiding young people through the complexities of relationships and love, offering a fresh perspective rooted in lived experience. She is dedicated to empowering others to understand themselves.

Raised in Los Angeles, Sky’s childhood was influenced by a blended family and community of artists, entrepreneurs and spiritual teachers. Sky is now a junior at a New England boarding school, a highly impactful activist for organizations for homeless youth (YAC and Ignite Food Project, Bali), and fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

She is passionate about strengthening human connection and fostering conscious and expansive relationships through her writing, visual art, poetry and way of living.

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When you’re a teenager, romantic relationships are entirely unfamiliar. In these earliest experiences, we fall headfirst into the lover’s world. It is intoxicating in the sense that as we fall so deeply into our partner, we may forget who we are without them. I am often a girlfriend, but I am also a writer, artist, and activist. I am a daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter, a student, and a friend. However, when I become a girlfriend, those other titles can too easily slip my mind, and I’ve been met with the consequences. By getting engulfed in the world of the lover I have lost close friends and forgotten the passions outside of my relationship that made me who I was in the first place.

Before and during a relationship, it is valuable to take the time to explore who you are and realize your own qualities, good and bad. Rather than jumping into romantic relationships, first turn your focus to yourself. Knowing who you are isn't just about being self-aware, it is about understanding your individual identity. Taking time to do this may feel like it’s stalling you, but in truth it’s supplying you with more stability than anyone else could offer you—stability that will help you not only in attracting a better partner, but also in being one yourself. Learn who you are and what you like to do. If all you think you have is someone else, you will always feel incomplete alone. 

So who are you? The answer to that will always be changing, but the best way to discover who you are at your core is to spend time with yourself in pursuit of your own individual happiness. Do what you love to do, just you with you. Carve out time with yourself to enjoy life. If you're not sure yet what your passions are, a good place to start is remembering what you loved to do as a child. Did you spend hours drawing, playing outside, singing, reading, dancing? When's the last experience you had where you were so engrossed in something that the hours seemed to fly by? Find what you love and if you end up in a relationship, commit to continuing to make time for it. People fall in love with you, so preserve who you are. 


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