The Wretched of Muirwood, Teenagers, and Other Noteworthy Tales

I’ve been talking with the author of The Muirwood series, Jeff Wheeler, via email and Facebook (#shoutout #shamelessnamedropping) this past week. As I said before, I’m really enjoying this book series. I’m a very picky reader, mind you, so when I find a book that I think about all day and can’t wait to get back to it’s no wonder that it becomes a blog topic, is it?

My genre of choice is YA fantasy (but I’m a sucker for a great historical fiction tale as well). There have been many books that have caught my attention quite well over the years. Here are just a few at the top of my list:

• Twilight - I am an admitted Twilight fan. For a quick, easy, morally clean read and a story line that sucks you in and takes you away (key criteria for me), this series will do the trick.
• Hunger Games - (Duh.)
• The Chronicles of Narnia - Wow … so many well developed characters, *"a whole new world", one epic adventure after another, and they have a talking lion.
• The Mark of the Lion Series - This is a faith based series written by Francine Rivers that centers around the Roman Empire, gladiators, and a Jewish slave girl. If you’re into dashing romances that put you on the edge of your seat, you’ll want to read these.
• Redeeming Love - Based on the Biblical story line of Hosea and Gomer (WHAT were her parents thinking when they named her?!). This book made me cry. LOTS. It also helped me to see God’s love in a whole new and wonderful light (hence the crying), thereby making it my all-time favorite book for a standing record of 13 years now.
  

In light of these best-selling and uber popular novels, I had to ask myself why I’m so drawn to Muirwood. The author is still relatively unknown as are his stories (for a limited time only), so I’m not being swept up into pop culture here. The tale does include a great opening hook, cliffhangers a-plenty, forbidden romance, worthy adversaries, an interesting setting … but what does this book and the others listed above have in common that’s so powerfully drawing me in at this point in my life?

Ah. I know what it is.

AMAZING TEENAGERS.

Teenagers being good and kind and thoughtful, taking ownership of their mistakes and fixing them. Teenagers acting like honorable young adults, rising to extraordinary circumstances, accepting challenges, willingly putting themselves in a path where they will have to sacrifice something to go through the pain of being stretched beyond comfort levels and, thereby, find out who they really are. Teenagers being dependable, integrous, inspiring, honest, and selfless.

I know kids like this. I've raised a couple of them AND they have stellar friends who frequent our home. I'm a fan. I can relate. These kids go above and beyond for each other and they take pride in their own responsibilities as well.  When they mess up they make it right, all of their own accord. They're going to college, getting jobs and renting their first apartments (Macy and Maddy). They're raising thousands of dollars for children in hospitals (Mia), starting their own businesses (Haley), teaching Theater Arts to children (Taylor M.) and rockin' the High School Golf Team (Jacob). They're going to Spain to better learn culture and language (Taylor H.) and they're the glue that lovingly brings all the friends together ... the faithful friend they can always depend on despite her already full plate (Claire).

A friend of mine who is expecting her first child in her thirties keeps getting the negative "just you wait ..." message everywhere she turns. "This is your first child? Oh boy .... just wait until you have to deal with Cheerios all over your car, interrupted sleep, dirt all over your house, picky eaters and the dreaded unruly teenagers." I'm happy to say that the teens I know (and we know oh-so-many of them) don't fit this bill. Not even a little.

These kids are worth writing about ... these are kids that inspire.   These kids make me grateful to be a parent.

So thanks, Jeff, for writing about teens doing challenging things well. It's a relatable tale, tried and true, and come to find out one of the key elements of writing a successful novel (or 5).

*Quote credit to Jasmine & Aladdin ;)