Annie Fox (author) facts for kids

Annie Fox (born in 1950) is an American author. She writes books and also leads workshops for teenagers, their families, and teachers. For over ten years, Annie Fox has been answering questions from teens, especially teen girls. She used the username "Hey Terra!" in her online chat rooms at Talk City's The InSite. She also writes for The Huffington Post.

Annie Fox: Author and Advisor

Her Early Life and Learning

Annie Fox went to Cornell University. She studied Human Development and Family Studies there. Later, she earned her master's degree in education from the State University of New York at Cortland. After finishing her studies, she became a teacher.

Helping Teens Through Her Books

In 1977, Annie Fox and her husband, game programmer David Fox, opened a special place. It was called the Marin Computer Center. This was the world's first public place where people could learn about computers.

Her first book about computers was Armchair BASIC: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microcomputers and Programming in BASIC. This book came out in 1983. After that, she became a successful writer and designer of computer games for kids on CD-ROMs.

Later, Annie Fox created The InSite. This was a website made just for teens and young adults. On The InSite, she wrote an online advice column where she was known as "Terra."

Her very first book was People Are Like Lollipops, published in 1971. She also wrote Can You Relate in 2000. This book was later re-released in 2005 with a new title: The Teen Survival Guide to Dating and Relating. You can now get it as a free PDF download.

In 2005, she also co-wrote Too Stressed to Think? This book helps teens stay calm when life gets tough. Scholastic Choices magazine gave it good reviews.

The "Middle School Confidential" Series

Annie Fox wrote a series of books called Middle School Confidential. These books are for kids aged 10 to 14. Be Confident in Who You Are is the first book in this series. It came out in 2008.

These books are like graphic novels. This means they tell a story using pictures and words, similar to a comic book. This unique style makes her self-help books stand out. Book 2: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind was published in 2009. Book 3: What's Up with my Family? came out in 2010.

Annie Fox and David Fox's company, Electric Eggplant, also made these books into apps. These apps are based on the popular Middle School Confidential graphic novels.

Advice for Girls

Annie Fox's most recent book is The Girls Q&A Book on Friendship. It has 50 ways to help fix friendships without a lot of drama. This book is the first in her new Girls Q&A Book series. It was published in October 2014.

What Annie Fox Has Written

• People Are Like Lollipops. Holiday House, 1971.
• Can You Relate: Real-World Advice on Guys, Girls, Growing Up, and Getting Along. Free Spirit Publishing, 2000. Re-released as The Teen Survival Guide to Dating and Relating: Real-World Advice on Guys, Girls, Growing Up, and Getting Along. Free Spirit Publishing, 2005.
• Too Stressed to Think? A teen guide to staying sane when life makes you CRAZY. By Annie Fox and Ruth Kirschner. Free Spirit Publishing, 2005.
• Middle School Confidential: Be Confident in Who You Are. Free Spirit, 2008.
• Middle School Confidential: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind. 2009.
• Middle School Confidential: What's Up with my Family? 2010.