STOCKTON: Local girl is featured in magazine

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   When a magazine for young girls was looking for New Jersey residents to profile and asked applicants to tell a little bit about themselves, a Pennington girl replied in a way that couldn’t fail to grab the editors’ attention.
   Ava Clarke, 13, crafted her responses in the form of her own magazine. With that entry, sent to Discovery Girls magazine about a year ago, Ava secured a spot as one of only a dozen girls from the Garden State who have been featured in the February/March issue of Discovery Girls magazine.
   Aeva Karlsrud, 12, of Stockton, is another local girl who made the cut.
   The 12 girls, who come from different areas around the state, learned they could put their best effort toward a goal, and it paid off.
   The magazine bills itself as being created “by girls, for girls.” Its readership contributes to the content.
   Aeva’s mother, Jennifer Dassau, said at first she didn’t know her daughter had applied to the magazine to be considered. Then a phone call came announcing Aeva’s selection, and said a packet seeking further information would arrive in the mail. “Then she was haunting the mailbox,” Ms. Dassau said, describing the excitement level of the experience.
   Discovery Girls, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, is more about empowering young girls than celebrity gossip and fashion. The publication describes itself as a place where girls “can express themselves, share ideas, connect with other girls and discover helpful tips for handling life’s ups and downs.” Article titles include “Are you independent?” and “Ten friendship rules.” It has struck a chord with young girls, including the 12 selected from New Jersey.
   ”I started Discovery Girls when my daughter Alexa was 8, because I wanted her middle-school years to be different from mine,” founder and CEO Carol Lee explains on the magazine’s website, where a video of the Jersey girls can be viewed. “I remember how alone I felt when I was her age. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that other girls went through confusing times and struggled to fit in, too — I just hadn’t known it back then. I was sure there must be a magazine that connected girls and showed them they weren’t really alone. To my surprise, I couldn’t find one. The magazine I wanted didn’t exist. So I began to think about creating it myself.”
   Ms. Dassau, Aeva’s mother, said, “It feels genuine to them, and relevant. I really like them because they use real girls and the girls write some of the content.”
   Aeva and her mother live with Aeva’s dad, Gary Karlsrud, and Aeva’s 7-year-old brother in Kingwood Township — a little north of Stockton Borough.
   Ava Clarke’s mother, Donna, described how hard her daughter worked on her submission. “For her entry she decided to make a magazine about herself and answered the required essay questions in this magazine. She also included photos and a ‘letter from the editor.’ It was very well thought out and clever. I think it gave her a sense of pride in her presentation and she also learned about follow-through. She knew she had a deadline to meet, she knew exactly what week to expect the call, and even said to me, ‘If we get a call from California, be sure to answer it.’ Needless to say, it was very exciting to get that call.”
   Annabelle Davis, 10, of Hopewell, is another local girl who was featured in the magazine. Her mother, Jennifer Davis, said it was a great experience.
   ”It was really fun to participate in the photo shoot and do the video interview for the magazine’s 10-year anniversary,” she said. “Annabelle was especially excited to be able to contribute writing to the magazine since she aspires to be an author when she grows up. She really loved meeting the other girls and had a lot of fun hanging out with them and exploring New York City.”
   Other local girls who were featured in the magazine include: Lea Albarran, 13, of Pennington, and Kelly Shaffer, of Ringoes.
   Ava, Aeva, Annabelle and the other girls, and their parents, spent two days in New York City last spring for a photo shoot, including locations in Times Square and Central Park. They were made up for the photos, but the makeup was “extremely downplayed,” and they also went through wardrobe changes, Ms. Dassau said.
   Ava Clarke said she’ll never forget the experience.
   ”I remember being so crazy about getting my entry ready and submitted on time,” she said. “It really came down to the wire — my mom had to send it Federal Express. But when my mom told me I was selected I was so excited. At first I couldn’t believe it, but once the package arrived with all the information about what I’d be doing in New York, I knew it was in fact going to happen. I was really, really psyched!”
   The girls enjoyed the trip to New York City, but there were intangible rewards as well. “I felt I worked my hardest on something, and then I got a great result,” Ava said.
   Lea Albarran, the other Pennington girl who was chosen, told her mother “one of the best parts of the experience is getting to know all of the other girls that she would otherwise never have known, except for Ava Clarke, who she already knew from school,” said her mom, Jannean Albarran.
   ”I can honestly say it was a fantastic experience from the first meeting with all the girls at John’s Pizzeria and continuing on with their day spent in Central Park,” Ms. Albarran said. “By the end of that first day the girls had already bonded. The second day was the photo shoot and the Discovery Girls staff asked the moms not to stay at the studio, but Lea told me later that it was a lot of fun and she really enjoyed having her hair and makeup done professionally. All in all the two days went by so quickly. The girls had exchanged cell numbers and e-mail addresses and a few weeks ago they had a reunion at a pizzeria in Dunellen organized by one of the girls who lives nearby. There is another reunion planed for this summer in Rumson.”
   Lea has a variety of interests, including drawing, and she has been accepted into her school’s honors class for art. “In addition,” her mom said, “she has a great love for fashion and design and has been among the finalists on the website Polyvore for creating set collages. One entry finished in the top five and won her a Juicy Couture clutch bag. As a fashionista she is naturally a fan of “Project Runway” so after day one in NYC we stopped at the fabric store Mood that is featured in every episode.”