Girl From Welsh Village Ranks Alongside Bieber And Malala As World's Most Influential Teen

Girl From Welsh Village Ranks Alongside Bieber And Malala As World's Most Influential Teen

A girl from a small Welsh village has been named one of the most influential teens in the world alongside pop star Justin Bieber and Taliban shooting survivor Malala Yousafzai.

Beth Reekles, 18, from Rogerstone, near Newport, saw almost overnight success after she wrote a romance novel in her bedroom as she studied for her A-levels. It was downloaded over 19 million times online.

She won a book deal with Random House to write three novels after the online success of The Kissing Booth.

And now she is one of the most influential teenagers in the world, according to the prestigious U.S. magazine Time. She came 14 in the list of 'The 16 Most Influential Teens of 2013'.

Beth said: "It's such an amazing thing to happen. Obviously my achievements don't come near Malala but I am really humbled."

Beth was living with her parents when she wrote her first book and published it on the internet.

The teen, whose real name is Beth Reek, uploaded the story to online writing community Wattpad.

The Kissing Booth was an overnight sensation, attracting millions of hits and thousands of comments.

Beth, 15 at the time, was branded the next Stephenie Meyer - the author of the Twilight series.

She was contacted by publisher Random House who gave her a three book contract. The story has also been optioned as a film.

But Beth still wants to be a normal teen - she is studying physics at Exeter University while working on her next novel Out Of Tune.

She said: "When I saw the list I knocked all the doors of my university flat. I was texting everyone to tell them - it's pretty crazy really."

The list says: "The Welsh high school student was looking for something to read other than stories about vampires and werewolves when she decided to write her own teen fiction book."

The Time list, which is topped by New Zealand popstar Lorde, 17, also includes Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, 18, and Barack Obama's daughter Malia, 15.

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