Meg Haston, author of HOW TO ROCK BRACES AND GLASSES spent her formative years in Jacksonville, Florida, though her family moved a lot and she has also lived, at various times, in Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Alexandria, Virginia and Wayne Pennsylvania.
She attended Northwestern University and currently lives in Chicago. She works as both a writer and a therapist, though she admits that she once wanted to become an astronaut. And yes, she had braces and glasses in Middle School. HOW TO ROCK BRACES AND GLASSES is her first book.
Confession: I wish my life had a soundtrack to go with it. All the time.
Paying bills would be so much more fun if Kanye’s Gold Digger were pumping in the background. And instead of having an awkward breakup conversation with that guy I never should’ve gone out with in the first place, I could just stand in his doorway, looking apologetic but firm, while John Legend soulfully broke the news via I Used to Love U.
Maybe I’ll never have my own soundtrack, but when I think back on the truly significant moments in my life, I can almost always attach music to the memory. I know exactly which album I was listening to when my family moved in the middle of my seventh grade year, or which songs coaxed me through my first breakup.
Here’s why:
In just a few notes, music has the ability to evoke the kind of powerful, universal emotional responses—exhilaration, despair, hope—that most of us experience at some point in our lives. Music is a force, both in life and in literature. Particularly in YA lit, and I don’t think that’s an accident. An L.A. Times book blogger put it this way: “A rock and roll soundtrack gets teenagers through their ups, their downs, and their angsts. It may evolve from classic rock to emo to pop to punk and beyond, but it’s a lasting, rebellious fixture. So it should come as no surprise that [some] novels for young adults are as steeped in rock ‘n’ roll as teenagers themselves.”
In my book HOW TO ROCK BRACES AND GLASSES, music is so present on the page that it almost assumes the status of character. Kacey Simon is queen of Chicago’s Marquette Middle School, until a series of accidents leaves her with braces, glasses, and no friends. She’s burned so many bridges with her classmates that she has no real way to connect with people. Until she meets Zander Jarvis, a blue-haired, skinny jeans-wearing new kid who shares Kacey’s love of music.
The book is infused with music, and I’m stoked that Nickelodeon’s How to Rock, an upcoming show based on the book, will be too. The show stars Cymphonique Miller, an up-and-coming actor and musical powerhouse. I can’t wait to see how she sings life into the character of Kacey Simon.
Considering the musical influences in the book, it’s no surprise that music was an important part of my writing process. While researching Kacey and Zander’s tastes in music, I discovered new artists and got reacquainted with old favorites. I was so inspired by Zander’s love of the guitar that I started taking lessons. (Spoiler alert: guitar is hard. And I’m pretty terrible.) I even tried my hand at singing one of the songs I listened to most while I was writing the book. Then I decided not to quit my day job.
I may not be the next Cymphonique, but I’m a more musical person after having written HOW TO ROCK BRACES AND GLASSES. The book reminded me of my love for music, and of its importance in everyday life. And while I don’t have my own soundtrack, Kacey Simon does. I’ve compiled a track listing of all the songs that influenced me during the writing process. Some are mentioned in the book itself; some I listened to while writing. Check out Kacey’s soundtrack here:
Read more about Meg Haston and HOW TO ROCK BRACES AND GLASSES on Meg’s blog: http://meghaston.com/category/blog/
