While Disney star Zendaya hopes to win the coveted mirror ball at the upcoming Dancing With the Stars season 16 finale, she does have another honor to make her proud: author!
The Shake It Up actress, 16, announced on Monday, May 13, that she inked her first-ever book deal with Disney Publishing Worldwide. The book, titled Between U and Me: How To Rock Your Tween Years With Style And Confidence, aims to help girls on a variety of topics and will include Zendaya's personal photos, recipes, playlists and more.
"The tween years can be really fun and exciting, but they can also be a tough time in a girl’s life,” the star explained in a statement. "You’re just finding your voice and personal style. There’s a lot of drama in relationships with other girls, parents, siblings, teachers, and boys."
She added, "I hope this book will help girls through the tougher parts of the tween years and help them appreciate the fun parts."
The book hits shelves Aug. 6, 2013. Her news comes only a few weeks after her fellow Shake It Up co-star, Bella Thorne, 15, announced her own plans to pen a young adult series with Random House, titled Autumn Falls.
On the dance floor, Zendaya has been a front-runner to win DWTS. During her May 13 performances, she and partner Val Chmerkovskiy had an uncharacteristic low-scoring first round, only scoring a medicore 25 out of 30 on their quickstep. They easily redeemed themselves, however, during their second round hip hop number, where they scored a perfect 30.
The "Swag It Out" singer, who's also signed to Hollywood Records, will find out Tuesday evening if she's still in the running for next week's DWTS finale. The final performances will air Monday, May 20 with a winner being crowned during the Tuesday, May 21, results show.
