The girl on the cover looks like you. Is this a true story?

No. Camo Girl is not a true story. Ella is a made-up character, and so are all the other people in her life. The things that happen to her in the story did not happen to me. That is the simple answer. If you’re looking for a more complicated answer, here it is: Since I’m the person who made Ella up, some of her thoughts, feelings, and experiences are similar to thoughts, feelings, and experiences that I had when I was in sixth grade. I remember being teased for being different, and it was hard. I also remember wanting very badly to have good friends. I wrote Camo Girl to try to capture those feelings, but it’s easier to do that with a fictional character because telling true stories exactly the way they happened doesn’t usually make a very good novel.