Not Your Typical Teen Romance Novel

Not Your Typical Teen Romance Novel

By Naomi Gomez Acosta/GG Staff Writer

Teen romance, high school drama, and finding prince charming is exactly what you can find in a novel. “However,” when the author decides to decides to give a voice to the voiceless, that’s when a spark goes off in the reader’s mind.

Every book written for teens is always repetitive. With fantasy love stories or a very exaggerated plot which leaves everyone wondering if “life will ever get that good.” However McGovern set out to do a write a book that has everyone intrigued. The concepts of her books are not having fairytale endings with prince charming, but to rather have something the reader can relate to.

Picture this:” teen guy falls in love with teen girl, cliche right?”’ Now picture a girl with cerebral palsy wants to be treated normally and a boy with OCD wants to catch his crush’s’ attention. That’s exactly what “Say What You Will” by Cammie McGovern is all about.

McGovern gives readers two characters to fall in love with, Amy and Matthew. Both characters are so alike, yet so different due to their disorders. In the beginning, it’s unclear what Amy’s condition is, but McGovern gives great detail on how Amy deals with Cerebral Palsy. Then, there is Matthew, who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, and tends to have panic attacks when his OCD is out of control.

The interesting part of this book is Amy and Matthew learning from each other. Both Amy and Matthew think they fall in love, however they just learn how to deal with life. Matthew overcomes his idea of OCD and learns how to control it, because of Amy. Amy learns how to accept herself even with her disability. Amy lives in constant fear that no one will accept her because of her mental condition.

McGovern has personal experience with this topic. McGovern has a 19-year-old son with autism and she also is a founder of an organization that helps over 600 children with mental disabilities. After her son was diagnosed with autism her passion to help other children grew and she founded the Whole Children/MIlestone.  The Whole Childeren/ Milestone is a program that helps children with special needs feel accepted. They have diverse activities for children of all ages such as; gymnastics, art, martial arts, dance, music, social skills, yoga, guided recess games, and theater.

  If you’re someone who loves to read and is also looking for something new, “Say What You Will,” is perfect for you. It not only teaches the reader life lessons such but it leaves the reader with something to think of. It also relates with the many kids who feel left out because of their disabilities.  The book challenges you to think differently. The book challenges how people with mental disorders are treated and how they think.

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Not Your Typical Teen Romance Novel