Rookie Mag: A Return To My Teen Years.
I spent most of my teen years, outside of school and school activities, at home reading.
Tucked away in my corner bedroom, I would be listening to music (mostly from a pop station 75 miles away in Tucson, as my small town near the Mexican border lacked a proper radio station) and reading.
Books and magazines... Over and over again. I would re-read things - just as I still do today - because I would discover something new within the words. Something that would help me imagine a life beyond the bedroom I occupied in the small town where I resided.
In December 1991, when I was a Freshman in high school, I received a copy of a magazine from my "Secret Santa"gift exchange with my junior varsity cheerleading squad. (God! How small-town America is that?!?! Love!) I spent all that afternoon absorbed in the pages of the magazine, having read nothing like it before.
The magazine was Sassy. The December 1991 issue.
Sadly, Sassy ended in the mid-90s, after I had stopped reading it. (I did re-read that one issue many times over the years, while in high school though.) And no teen magazine has come about to try to take its place.
Till now.
Teen (though it is silly to refer to her as that, as she is and dresses as a sage old soul in the body of a 15-year-old) Tavi launched an online magazine this week called Rookie, just in time for the school year to start. And it's just as awkward and charming as those teen years I remember from so long ago.
I love it! I am a mid-30s woman, and I love it! This is definitely going on my "Must Read" list for each week.
Tucked away in my corner bedroom, I would be listening to music (mostly from a pop station 75 miles away in Tucson, as my small town near the Mexican border lacked a proper radio station) and reading.
Books and magazines... Over and over again. I would re-read things - just as I still do today - because I would discover something new within the words. Something that would help me imagine a life beyond the bedroom I occupied in the small town where I resided.
In December 1991, when I was a Freshman in high school, I received a copy of a magazine from my "Secret Santa"gift exchange with my junior varsity cheerleading squad. (God! How small-town America is that?!?! Love!) I spent all that afternoon absorbed in the pages of the magazine, having read nothing like it before.
- It didn't talk down to me.
- It wasn't doused with the typical make-up tips for fair-haired, tanned and blue-eyed beauties... Which was the opposite of me. (I was pretty. Just not blond and tan.)
- The fashion tips weren't silly non-sense.
- The articles felt more adult, but still appropriate. There was no gloss to the words. They were more real.
The magazine was Sassy. The December 1991 issue.Sadly, Sassy ended in the mid-90s, after I had stopped reading it. (I did re-read that one issue many times over the years, while in high school though.) And no teen magazine has come about to try to take its place.
Till now.
Teen (though it is silly to refer to her as that, as she is and dresses as a sage old soul in the body of a 15-year-old) Tavi launched an online magazine this week called Rookie, just in time for the school year to start. And it's just as awkward and charming as those teen years I remember from so long ago.I love it! I am a mid-30s woman, and I love it! This is definitely going on my "Must Read" list for each week.
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