LAST YEAR'S TOP 10 INFLUENTIAL TEENS

10. KYLIE JENNER

The American reality television star, model and brand ambassador for Seventeen,

Kylie Kristen Jenner, along with her sister Kendall was named by Time magazine on

a list of the 16 most influential teenagers in the world. She is known for appearing

on the E! reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians that she shares with

her family. In 2013, Jenner released an exclusive collection under PacSun,

designed alongside her sister, Kendall Jenner.

9. MALIA OBAMA

At high-profile events, like her father’s second Inaugural Address, Malia and her sister,

Sasha, act with the poise of adults. Thanks in part to Michelle Obama, they seem to

lead as normal lives as they can while still meeting the demands of being in the limelight.

(Such as 15-year-old Malia’s satirical send up in the Onion.) President Obama often mentions

his daughters in speeches, and says that they influenced his stance on gay marriage.

8. MISSY FRANKLIN

The 18-year-old won six gold medals at the 2012 Olympics and in doing so not only

claimed the title of winningest female swimmer ever at a world meet, but also became

the fifth swimmer to capture six or more golds at Worlds or the Olympics. She won

the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year award this year. And,

she joined the Cal swim team, turning down millions of dollars of endorsements

to get a college degree.

7. KIERNAN SHIPKA

The 14-year old American actress noted for playing Don and Betty Draper’s daughter

Sally on the AMC series Mad Men, since she was six and a half, but she’s still not

allowed to watch the hit AMC show. Shipka also nails her red carpet appearances,

with a quirky but age-appropriate style that gets her raves from the fashionable set.

Watch out for her performance as incestuous Catherine in the Lifetime adaptation of

V.C. Andrews’ Flowers In The Attic.

6. BETH REEKLES

The Welsh high school student Reeks – who writes romantic fiction for young

adults under the pen-name Beth Reekles – was named by Time magazine on

a list of the 16 most influential teenagers in the world. The then-15-year-old used

story-sharing site Wattpad to release her novel, The Kissing Booth, which earned

more than 19 million views and caught the attention of Random House Children’s Publishers U.K.

The author, now 17, scored a three-book deal with the U.S. arm of Random House and

has since appeared on the Today show. But writing remains a hobby for the teenaged literary sensation,

who plans to major in physics in college.

5. CHLOE GRACE MORETZ

Chloe Grace Moretz is a leading lady for the first time in Carrie, but the blood-drenched

horror film is hardly this 16-year old’s first rodeo. The Atlanta native began her acting

career at the age of seven and has appeared in films such as “The Amityville Horror,

(500) Days of Summer , Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kick-Ass, Let Me In, Hugo, Dark Shadows,

Kick-Ass 2 and Carrie. And she’s an up-and-comer in the fashion world, too.

Next, she’s starring opposite Kiera Knightly in Laggie, out in 2014.

4. MAYA VAN WAGENEN

The 15-year-old author rose to fame for keeping a diary in her quest to become popular,

following antiquated tips from the 1950s self-help book, Betty Cornell’s Glamour Guide for Teens.

Her musings about applying lessons such as always wearing white gloves and pearls

as she navigated the social scene of a small Texas town landed her a six-figure Penguin book

deal for, Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek. As if that wasn’t impressive enough,

last month DreamWorks optioned the rights for the novel, making the budding author the

“youngest non-actor to ever make a deal” at the film studio.

3. LYDIA KO

A New Zealand golfer born in South Korea, 16-year-old Lydia Ko is at No. 4 among

the top ranked woman amateur golfer in the world. She became the youngest person

ever to win a professional golf tour event and youngest person ever to win a LPGA Tour event.

In August 2013, she became the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events.

2. HAILEE STEINFELD

Hailee Steinfeld rose to fame for her portrayal of Mattie Ross in the film True Grit,

for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She had nearly no

previous acting experience when she was nominated for Awards at age 13 in 2010.

Now she’s playing a student at a military space academy in the sci-fi film Ender’s Game.

“I still consider myself very much a beginner,” she told the Guardian.

1.   NICK D’ALOISIO

An Australian-born British entrepreneur and computer programmer, Nick D’Aloisio,

who created Summly which is a summarization, artificial intelligence technology

developed with SRI International. D’Aloisio has been recognised as the youngest person

to receive a round of venture capital in technology at just 15 years of age.

As of March 2013, Summly was sold to Yahoo for a reported $30 million US dollars

making him one of the youngest self-made millionaires ever. D’Aloisio was awarded

“Innovator of the Year” in New York City by the Wall Street Journal for

his work on Summly and at Yahoo.