There are teen moms in your backyard who are desperate for love to walk into their cafeterias, their doctor's appointments, their homes ... their lives. This is your chance. It's not a fairytale romance, because the fairy story is too complicated. This is romance as you live it." This, according to author John Gilstrap, is not your typical romance. Its heroine, a 16-year-old mother in a small town, is the daughter of a mother who has been emotionally absent since her suicide when Samantha was 10. The mother, who left Samantha and her 8-year-old brother behind with a trusted friend to attend a job interview, is a strong candidate for the title of Meanest Person in the History of the World. "A lot of young moms don't grow up thinking about the reality of becoming a parent," said Gilstrap. "But, it doesn't happen by accident. It happens by choice." He added: "The author doesn't have to be a grandparent to look at these young women and say, ‘You're making a huge decision.'" Young, who has a young daughter of her own, will tell the stories of these 20 young mothers she has personally met and interviewed. While many young mothers will recognize themselves or others in her stories, she said that doesn't make them an accurate portrayal. "This is not about celebrating. These women will not always end up the way the children describe them," she said. "My only goal in this is to tell the story that we don't often hear." Heather Young says that this is not an accurate portrayal of young mothers. She did a series of interviews with young women who had given birth. Her goal in writing the book was to tell an authentic story about these women. "I can say, 'What does it feel like to have had a baby?' but you can't get inside that feeling," Young said. "Some people do know what it's like to have a baby, and many know what it's like to have an abortion, or a miscarriage, or a stillbirth. "These stories are a form of therapy for me." The book will be released Sept. 17 by a division of Simon and Schuster's Touchstone imprint. The media has already made Gilstrap's story into a headline, with pieces in the New York Times, The New York Daily News and the Washington Post. "If I were a big media company, I would not spend a dollar on it," he said, "because they'd be making money off of it." But Touchstone loves the book, he said, and that's what matters. Now, Gilstrap's working on something that goes in the other direction. The next book on his docket is a book of love stories. And he says he has even bigger plans for book three. "These stories go back to the same things — my love for family and that I want to share that with as many people as I can," he said. Young's book, called "How Can I Help You Say No?," will be released Sept. 10 by Touchstone. It will be available at the bookstores on Sept. 11. A paperback version will be available in October. In her book, Young speaks about her own experience as a child of divorce. "My mom was a single mother, and I always wanted her to be there for me, but she wasn't, and I couldn't do anything about it," Young said. "No one can tell you what to do with your life. There are no rules. Life is what you make of it." Copyright 2007 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Comments The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.