Please Welcome Our Guest, YA Author, Beverly Stowe McClure

What’s a girl to do when her mother runs away with the drummer in a rock band, her friendly relationship with the boys on the neighboring ranch starts to change, and a handsome college guy takes an interest in her? Sixteen-year-old Rebel Ferguson faces these challenges with courage and humor and decides to do three things:

Bring her mother home where she belongs.

Show her neighbors, Will and Sully Garret, she’s not interested in a serious relationship with either of them.

Prove to the Garrets, and to herself, that Rick, the cute college guy, is a gentleman.

Nothing turns out the way Rebel plans, however, and she discovers that people are not always what they seem, and she’s a lousy judge of character. If only humans were as trustworthy and dependable as her puppies, cat, and horses. Can she forgive everyone who has disappointed her?

Here's what Beverly Has to Say:

Why I Write for Young Adult Readers

Ah, the teenage years that many of us remember so fondly: carefree days, few responsibilities (mostly homework and perhaps a babysitting job), staying up late on weekends with friends, football games, movies with our boyfriends. Those years leave lasting impressions on us, though we may not realize it at the time. But wait. Were those years really as good as we believe they were?

I look back now and see the reality. When I was living those years they were a totally different story. I remember wearing homemade dresses while the other girls wore the latest styles of store bought clothes. Memories of being nearsighted and wearing cat-eye glasses that made my eyes as tiny as peanuts rush back. I envied the pretty, popular girls who were the cheerleaders, class favorites, and class beauties.

Saturdays were not all fun times spent with friends. They often were traumatic as I haunted the phone hoping for a call from my crush when he was out crushing on someone else, unaware of my feelings for him because I was too shy to tell him. My first kiss was my first love, my knight in shining armor who ended up breaking my heart when he dumped me for another girl.

We survived those teenage angst years, but at the time we’d swear our lives were over. No one could convince us we’d look back someday and laugh and realize life was pretty good after all. Never tell a teen these are the best years of her life. She won’t believe you, especially if her best friend has suddenly found another best friend and they don’t invite her for a sleepover at their houses.

Teens today, even with their iPods and cell phones and MP3 players, have the same emotions, the same fears and joys, as generations of teens before them. They face the same uncertainties in their lives and perhaps even more challenges in today’s fast-paced society.

Many of the stories I write deal with real life situations teens face, even tough subjects sometimes. For example, in my recent novel, Rebel in Blue Jeans, Rebel’s mother and father separate and are talking divorce. Rebel feels guilty and wonders if she could have prevented their separation had she been a better daughter. She’s also torn between her parents, loving them both. Changing friendships and first love add to Rebel’s troubles. She deals with each situation in her own unique way: anger, confusion, and sometimes humor.

If my novels can give young readers hope in situations where they have little or no control, then I’ve accomplished my goal. And that’s the reason I write for teens.

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Find Beverly Stowe McClure at http://beverlystowemcclure.wordpress.com/
http://beverlystowemcclure.blogspot.com/ and http://rebelinbluejeans.wordpress.com/


Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Jeans-Beverly-Stowe-McClure/dp/193335349X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231168529&sr=8-1

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