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 Destiny Soria
Destiny Soria grew up in a tiny town in Alabama that you’ve never heard of, where she spent her summers playing with sticks in the woods and exploring such distinguished careers as Forest Bandit, Wayward Orphan, and Woodland Fairy Princess. After college, she ran away to New Zealand for seven months and only pretended to be a character from Lord Of The Rings on special occasions. The rest of the time she backpacked across the wilderlands, petted fluffy sheep, and gave tours of a haunted prison. Nowadays she lives and works in the shadow of the mighty Vulcan in Birmingham, AL.
Let me tell you a story. It’s called The Girl Who Was Afraid Of Getting In Trouble Because That Would Be The End Of The World. (Working Title)
Once there was a girl. She was afraid of getting in Trouble, even more than she was afraid of alligators, snakes, and having no one to sit with in the cafeteria. Getting in trouble was scarier than all these things combined. It was even scarier than the actual end of the world. So the girl was very careful and very quiet, and she never tried anything new, and she never ever said what she was really thinking, just in case. You never know what might get you in Trouble.
Spoiler alert: This story has a happy ending. The girl learned ways to cope with her anxiety. She learned how to speak her mind and try new things, and she even figured out that when she got in Trouble, the world did not, in fact, end.
Now let me tell you about Ella of Frell, a girl who was cursed by a fool of a fairy to always be obedient. Little Destiny grabbed this book at random in the library, along with a half-dozen other novels that I don’t even remember. Ella Enchanted was the book that kept me awake through the wee hours of the next morning. Ella’s story was the one that made me cry, laugh, slam the book shut in mortification, cry again, then laugh some more. Ella’s story was the one that changed me for good.
Here was a girl who never had to get in Trouble. All she had to do was follow her bespelled inclinations, and no one would ever be displeased or disappointed in her. She could be, in a word, perfect.
But Ella didn’t want to be perfect. She fought her curse every chance she got, no matter how exhausting, no matter how humiliating. She did everything in her limited power to show everyone she couldn’t be controlled.
Ella just wanted to be free.
Here’s what I learned as I followed Ella’s story (again and again and again until finally I convinced my mom to buy me two copies of the book — one to look pretty on the shelf and one to read until it fell apart). I didn’t want to live in perpetual fear of Trouble. I wanted to try new things. I wanted to say what I was thinking. I didn’t want to be perfect; I wanted to be free.
There was unfortunately no map to this freedom in the pages of my beloved book, although there were certainly a few signposts. I had to find my own way over the years. (Thankfully my journey did not involve any ogres or evil stepsisters). But it was Ella who spurred me forward, who showed me what I was missing. And for that I’ll be forever grateful.
Now if I can just find a book that cures my fear of alligators and snakes…
Title Iron Cast
Author Destiny Soria
Pages 384 Pages
Intended Target Audience Young Adult
Genre & Keywords Historical Fiction, Fantasy
To Be Published October 11th, 2016 by Amulet Books
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon.com ● Chapters ● The Book Depository
It’s Boston, 1919, and the Cast Iron club is packed. On stage, hemopaths – whose “afflicted” blood gives them the ability to create illusions through art – captivate their audience. Corinne and Ada have been best friends ever since infamous gangster Johnny Dervish recruited them into his circle. By night they perform for Johnny’s crowds, and by day they con Boston’s elite. When a job goes wrong and Ada is imprisoned, they realize how precarious their position is. After she escapes, two of the Cast Iron’s hires are shot, and Johnny disappears. With the law closing in, Corinne and Ada are forced to hunt for answers, even as betrayal faces them at every turn.
