Her Story: Ladies In Literature is a special, month-long series on Pop! Goes The Reader in which we celebrate the literary female role models whose stories have inspired and empowered us since time immemorial. From Harriet M. Welsch to Anne Shirley, Becky Bloomwood to Hermione Granger, Her Story: Ladies In Literature is a series created for women, by women as thirty-nine authors answer the question: “Who’s your heroine?” You can find a complete list of the participants and their scheduled guest post dates Here!
About Melissa Gorzelanczyk
Melissa Gorzelanczyk is a magazine editor and columnist who believes love is everything. She is a proud member of the SCBWI, The Sweet Sixteens and the Class of 2k16. Her young adult novel Arrows is available now from Delacorte Press. She is represented by agent Carrie Howland of Donadio & Olson. She lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with her husband and family.
Author Links: Website ● Twitter ● Instagram ● Facebook ● Goodreads
Decisions have never come easy to me.
That’s one of the reasons I love Mia from Gayle Forman’s If I Stay. Imagine being in her place, forced to choose between life or death. Either way she’ll feel pain, which is sometimes the story of our choices, too.
For Mia, living will mean having to face feeling hollow. Snow will remind her of the car accident when it’s billowing from the sky like thick pixie dust. The smoke of pipe tobacco will remind her that her father is never coming back.
Life has no guarantees, which makes choosing so hard.
Life or death.
Funny how so many choices can feel that way, even when they’re not.
Looking at pros and cons, making lists, wondering about every possible outcome before it happens, and mostly won’t — that’s me. I guess it’s called anxiety, something I’ve had my whole life, a part of who I am, who I hate.
I’ve had to face this me and admit my insecurities. I’ve had to fight through feeling that I’m not good enough, smart enough, worthy enough, ever enough. Maybe you know the feeling.
Mia found strength in knowing she was not alone; knowing she was loved, which is for all of us. Love. Something we can hold onto.
No matter how small or uncertain you’re feeling, there are people who love you, and they’ll be there to say you are smart.
You are worthy.
You are a good writer.
You should come back.
You are a good friend.
You are my favorite.
You are, and that is enough.
Title Arrows
Author Melissa Gorzelanczyk
Pages 240 Pages
Intended Target Audience Young Adult
Genre Contemporary, Romance, Mythology, Fantasy
Published January 26th, 2016 by Delacorte Press
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon.com ● Chapters ● The Book DepositoryA modern cupid story set in present-day Wisconsin combining the fantastical elements of Greek mythology with the contemporary drama of MTV’s Teen Mom.
People don’t understand love. If they did, they’d get why dance prodigy Karma Clark just can’t say goodbye to her boyfriend, Danny. No matter what he says or does or how he hurts her, she can’t stay angry with him…and can’t stop loving him. But there’s a reason why Karma is helpless to break things off: she’s been shot with a love arrow.
Aaryn, son of Cupid, was supposed to shoot both Karma and Danny but found out too late that the other arrow in his pack was useless. And with that, Karma’s life changed forever. One pregnancy confirmed. One ballet scholarship lost. And dream after dream tossed to the wind.
A clueless Karma doesn’t know that her toxic relationship is Aaryn’s fault…but he’s going to get a chance to make things right. He’s here to convince Danny to man up and be there for Karma. But what if this god from Mount Olympus finds himself falling in love with a beautiful dancer from Wisconsin who can never love him in return?
This fast-paced debut novel explores the internal and external conflicts of a girl who finds herself inexplicably drawn to a boy who seemingly doesn’t reciprocate her feelings, touching on the issues of love, sex and responsibility, with a heroine struggling to control her destiny – perfect for fans of Katie McGarry’s novels and MTV’s 16 and Pregnant.
2 Responses
Uh, wow. This is so good. The extremely eloquent way in which this is written gave me the goosebumps. Literally.
This is a lovely post! I can definitely relate to having such a difficult time making choices, which is why I felt so much for Mia <3
Alexa S. recently posted…My Pick, My Choice, My Love