Cara Delevingne Wrote a Young Adult Book to Shed Light on This Issue

Cara Delevingne is already a master of the industry multi-task—modeling, acting, and singing to public acclaim—not to mention her unofficial titles of style icon and body-positive role model. But at just 25, Cara has a new credit to add to her CV: author.

In early October, Delevingne released her first young adult novel Mirror, Mirror ($16; amazon.com), a coming-of-age mystery which focuses on members of the titular high school band as they puzzle through the disappearance of their close friend and fellow band mate. The story tackles many relevant issues in the lives of today’s teens, including bullying, sexual and gender identity, and the dangers of social media—but Delevingne told InStyle that the novel’s ultimate aim is to bring attention to mental health issues.

“I hope that both teenage readers and adult readers walk away from the book feeling empowered to talk about mental health,” she told us over email. “So many people bottle up their emotions and don’t communicate their feelings and I feel like now more than ever it’s important that we discuss the importance of mental health.”

Delevingne, who penned Mirror, Mirror alongside author Rowan Coleman, used her childhood journals as a source of inspiration for the novel.

“I’ve always loved writing but was never very confident about my abilities because I didn’t get good marks in school,” Delevingne explained. “I’ve had so many ideas from my childhood that I thought would make great books and once I got together with Rowan I knew we could make it happen.”

And make it happen, she did. At more than 350-pages, Mirror, Mirror is a relatable and surprisingly twisty journey through the lives of a group of wayward teens—not the glossy young adult you’d expect to find in Delevingne’s squad or an episode of Riverdale, but the kind of teen who questions everything and constantly feels out of place (aka the real kind).

Shop your copy of Mirror, Mirror (above) today!