Jodi Picoult on Donny Osmond -- Stephen King on Kim Novak -- Larry Smith and Smith Magazine contest winners: six-word celebrity crushes -- Hanna Rosin on Mick Jagger -- Dave Housley on Kristy McNichol -- Nicola yoon on Michael Jackson -- Andrew McCarthy on Andrienne Barbeau -- Amin Ahmad on the Liril soap girl -- Shane Harris on Mark Hamill -- Jason Diamond on Annie Potts -- Roxane gay on Almanzo Wilder -- Michelle Brafman on Harry Chapin -- Jessica Anya Blau on Tatum O'Neal -- Janice Shapiro on John Lennon -- James Franco on River Phoenix -- Joanna Rakoff on Melissa Gilbert -- Kermit Moyer on Tarzan -- Shulem Deen on Robby Benson -- Jamie Brisick on Speed Racer -- Barbara Graham on Paul Newman -- Sam Weisman on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- Kimberly Dawn Neumann on Mikhail Baryshnikov -- Larry Doyle on Mary Tyler Moore -- Dave Singleton on David Cassidy -- David Keplinger on Deborah Harry -- Anna Breslaw on Adrian Grenier -- Yesha Callahan on John Travolta -- Marion Winik on Jerry Garcia and Gregg Allman -- Jill Kargman on Kenickie -- Richard McCann on Bette Davis -- David Shields on Barbara Feldon -- Tony Tulathimutte on Rydia -- Karin Tanabe on Vincenzo Corleone -- Cathy Alter on Donny Osmond -- Julia Pierpont on Rivers Cuomo -- Caroline Kepnes on Brian Austin Green -- Emily Gould on Jared Leto.

A collection of essays from authors and celebrities that illuminates the lasting power of desire and longing, and celebrates our initiation into the euphoria, pain, and mystery that is our first celebrity crush. A few channeled their devotion into obsessively writing embarrassing fan letters. Some taped pics in school lockers. Others decorated their bedroom walls with posters.