Maybe?!

You're probably wondering why I'm sitting here looking all droopy dog depressed even though there's so much beauty in this sun-shiny world I'm sitting in. I have a fine fisherman's sweater, kickin' Fryes and cool Patti Smith eyes, so what's got me down? Well, duh, I'm in a YA novel. The storm clouds are approaching. Why don't you just open the book and read the inside blurb...

"Beth Corey hates living with her father, his new wife, and their baby, but after her mother's suici-" 

STOP! See what I mean? Toss me an umbrella, won't you?

Dear Everyone

Dear Everyone,

I've had it. I learned to accept my unfortunate first name and all its cruel variations my peers find so amusing - Transy, Pansy, Mansy - you name it. I even learned to live with the inexplicable and sudden shrinking of my parents. But now I find myself being  caught in the middle of their pen-and- ink-stippled world of anger and depression and I just. can't. cope. Mom is always pissed off; Dad just stares at the wall wearing that same dirty turtleneck day after day. If I hear one more teacher or guidance counselor tell me to turn my frown upside down I will have a cow, I swear! It is time for my liberation. Goodbye cruel world. Hello to a new one. I have a plan.  

Love, Tanz

*This was the last known document to be verified as written by Tansy Warner. She disappeared from her home in Nutley, New Jersey on January 31, 1989. It is the belief, of those who knew her, that in the years that followed her mysterious disappearance she somehow managed to disguise her gender, hone her acting talents and enter into a very lucrative career in film and television. This has yet to be proven.

The Road to Depression

Forget about the insanely creepy eyes of the kid - we've all seen them on these covers. What I'm curious about is the time period being depicted here. The kids look like they shop at Old Navy. One's in a denim jacket, the other in a hoodie. Then why is a Model -T school bus on the road? Is it en route to a classic car show?  Or did these two teens stumble through a time portal and are now bracing themselves for the fiscal chill of the Great Depression? I don't know. My guess is that there was a failure of communication between the publisher and the artist. The artist was told the book was about depression (i.e. a young adult novel) and misconstrued this to mean the depression.

And don't get me started on the author's name.