Adele Alvarez has been a high school teacher in Northern California for over 15 years. After graduating with a degree in English from San Jose State University, she pursued a career in the teaching profession. Having struggled socially and academically in her elementary and high school years, she wanted to inspire students who also faced personal and educational hardships. Having attended four high schools and overcoming her own challenges, she knows what it is like to struggle in school. By learning the tips, techniques, and lessons in this book, she was able to manifest her own destiny. She has shared these ideas with her students through the literature she teaches and the activities she uses. Now she is sharing this wisdom with you!

Adele has raised two teenagers herself and has instilled in them the passion to follow their own hearts. After taking a few years off after high school, her son enrolled in a local community college to pursue a career. Her daughter is a still in high school and plans to become a veterinarian. Much of the advice offered in this book is the same advice she would give to her own two children.

Adele Alvarez has worked with many at risk teenagers. Some have served time in the juvenile hall system. Others have been involved with gangs and been shot or killed. Many of these students struggle and do not always see school as beneficial and often do not consider high school graduation as a possibility. However, she has seen many students succeed by using and following some of the tips she gives in her book Follow your Heart: A Guidebook for Teens.She has helped at-risk teenagers make changes in their lives and find success. Although challenging at times, she has showed continuous determination and maintained the hope and the idea that all students can be successful in life by finding their inner warriors. She    feels that she has inspired many students throughout the years. Now, she would like to share her lessons and her activities with the world. In the beginning, she hoped she could change that ONE student, today she hopes to change the world one student at a time.