“These were anthologies written by young people,” Nam says, “but what I noticed was the dearth of writings that explored the experiences of historically marginalized youth.” Just as she saw with magazines like Seventeen, YM, and now Teen People, Nam realized that Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul was missing one key perspective: her own. So, as she’d sift through review copies of the inspirational book series Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul that she found around the office, Nam’s mind wandered to a book idea she had before graduation. But that prospect seemed extra daunting at Time Inc., where she was Teen People’s only staff woman of color. Nam figured that as a journalist, she could enact change from within. As a history and women’s studies major at Wellesley College, studying Asian American representation in media, she still remembered a 1989 issue of Seventeen where first-time cover star Niki Taylor wore saris and exaggerated black liner to elongate her eyes, Fu Manchu-style. In June 1998, Vickie Nam was working her first job out of college, overseeing a team of several dozen teen contributors at the newly-launched Teen People as the magazine’s news team coordinator.
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