Author Denene Millner

Her new teen lit series is filled with intrigue, drama and mystery—and it might just encourage your teenager to pick up a book and read! Denene Millner, a writer and columnist for Parenting magazine, talks with the Peetes about Hotlanta, the first book in her new series.

Denene says Hotlanta, co-authored with Mitzi Miller, follows the lives of two well-to-do twins, Lauren and Sydney Duke, who live in Buckhead, one of the most prosperous communities in Georgia. While the heroines are African-American teenage socialites, Denene says the series will appeal to all teen readers. "It's accessible to everybody but it has that nuance of delving into the life of a prosperous African-American family," she says.

Denene says African-American teens are not often represented in books or on television shows, and she hopes Hotlanta will help to fill that void in the teen lit market. When young readers can relate to a book's characters on more levels, the more likely they are to read, she says. "I genuinely believe that if you put something in their hands that's interesting, that they can identify with, that appeals to them, that they will read more and more and more," Denene says.