About Author Jessica Speer: Jessica’s books engage and entertain readers by combining the stories of kids and teens with fun activities and practical insights. Her first book, BFF or NRF (Not Really Friends), originated from a friendship program she developed and ran for children. For her second book, Middle School – Safety Goggles Advised, she talked with hundreds of middle school students to learn about their experiences.
Jessica’s writing process begins with research and working with children and teenagers. This ensures her books reflect their lives and experiences. She then taps into creative ways to share information with readers, such as fun facts, quizzes, stories, and more.
Jessica has a master’s degree in social sciences and regularly contributes to media outlets on topics related to kids, teens, screens, parenting, friendship, mindfulness, and social-emotional learning. She lives in the mountains of Colorado with her family.
Learn about Jessica Speer’s School Visits
“Relationships are where life really happens. Through relationships, including our relationship with ourselves,…we connect, we mess up, we grow and we learn to be our best.“
Jessica Speer
“All the kids who I have loaned this to and families who have bought it love this book and how it gives both the kids and parents language to help their kids navigate friendship struggles. I love all aspects of the book and how engaging it is and the self-reflection, how kids show up as a friend as well. I use it in my lunch bunches and recommend it all the time for the kids in my elementary school who struggle with friendships.”
School Counselor
Jessica Speer is Inspired By Many Authors & Thought Leaders:
Lisa Damour (Untangled, Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers)
Marshal Rosenberg (Nonviolent Communication)
Phyllis Fagel (Middle School Matters and Middle School Superpowers)
John Gottman (Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child)
Diana Graber (Raising Humans in a Digital World) and Founder of Cyberwise and Cyber Civics
Devorah Heitner (Screenwise – Helping Kids Thrive and Survive in Their Digital World and Growing Up in Public)
Becky Kennedy (Good Inside – A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be)
Jessica Lahey (The Gift of Failure, The Addiction Inoculation)
Trudy Ludwig (My Secret Bully, Confessions of a Former Bully, Sorry, Too Perfect, The Power of One)
Rachel Simmons (Enough as She Is, Odd Girl Out, The Curse of the Good Girl)
Signe Whitson (8 Keys to End Bullying, How to be Angry)
“When parents offer their children empathy and help them to cope with negative feelings like anger, sadness, and fear, parents build bridges of loyalty and affection.”
John M. Gottman, Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child
“The best way to measure how much you’ve grown isn’t by inches or the number of laps you can now run around the track, or even your grade point average — though those things are important, to be sure. It’s what you’ve done with your time, how you’ve chosen to spend your days, and whom you’ve touched this year. That, to me, is the greatest measure of success.”
Auggie Pullman from R.J. Placio’s book, Wonder