Teen's thoughts included in book

It is one of Jaclyn Ready's favorite memories: Amid the clamor and clatter of a video arcade, her fingers flying over the controls of her favorite game, her actions are the subject of teenage boys' goggle-eyed fascination.

"I was beating the game," she said, proudly. "Seven guys were behind me, and I was winning. And I heard them say, 'I didn't know girls could do that!'"

Like others her age, the 16-year-old junior at the Academy of the Holy Names in Albany giggles about crushes and boys, juggles her schedule to find time for dance class, rolls her eyes at "catty" classmates, and is an avid fan of movies like "Star Wars" and "The Matrix."

And, like her peers, she also deals with the big questions: war, faith, drugs. Her thoughts on the latter subject are in "He Said, She Said: Teens Speak Out On Life And Faith," recently published by St. Mary's Press.

Drug storm

In her entry, Jaclyn notes that drugs are a "storm" in her life and talked about how she was frightened for a friend who had begun to use them.

"I know all the risk factors," she wrote to the book's editor, Laurie Delgatto, "and they are showing up more and more in my friends. I wish Jesus could stop this from always popping up in my head. I wish that He could help my friends with this problem."

Jaclyn believes that you shouldn't have to use artificial substances to "get a rush," and that teens should concentrate on feeling good by playing sports, doing theater, or even "going on a roller coaster -- that's not going to kill you."

Writer

Jaclyn's rush comes from writing. The budding author -- who next year aims to be involved with both the school's literary magazine and newspaper -- recently uncovered her love for the art through a very unlikely source: the death of a good friend in a skiing accident.

Dealing with the resulting questions sent her into a depression, she said. She fought with her parents, and the sadness affected her schoolwork.

"I couldn't even think of him without bawling my eyes out," she noted. "He was my age. He's dead. He's in the ground, cold, and I'll never see him again. Why did God take him away? He was a literal superstar -- a Michael Jordan in everything."

Emotions

After his death, Jaclyn decided that she'd get her sadness and frustration out on paper, and wrote her first poem. Since then, some more of her poetry has been dedicated to his memory.

"It just emerged," she said. "It helped to get my emotions under control. It didn't hurt so much when I wrote."

In a recent poem, Jaclyn wrote: "Life is a gift/You only get it once/One shot to make all your dreams come true/Not easy is the road of life/Not easy are doing things the right way, the truthful way, the long way, the way without cheating, without lying."

Interests

Although not yet old enough to vote, Jaclyn brims with opinions about politics, violence in the Middle East, abortion and suicide, poverty, and homosexuality.

She expressed her extreme distaste for congresspeople who pass raises for themselves while the country experiences a deficit, lamented the difficulty poor minorities have against their white, better-funded competition in electoral races, and advocated the position that teens should watch the news more often.

"You have to keep updated," she said. "A democracy depends on an informed citizenry. Without that, you can't have fair elections."

(A second teen from the Albany Diocese, Alexandra Lupulescu, a student at Catholic Central High School in Troy, also appears in the book. She was not available for comment. For information about the book, call 1-800-533-8095 or go to www.smp.org.)

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