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 twenty 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 Elise Bryant
Elise Bryant was born and raised in Southern California. She earned her BA in Africana Studies from California State University, Long Beach, and her MA in Special Education from Loyola Marymount University. For many years, Elise had the joy of working as a special education teacher in South Los Angeles, and she is also a National Board Certified Teacher. Elise now lives with her husband and two daughters in Long Beach, where she spends her days reading, writing, and eating dessert. Happily Ever Afters is her debut novel.
The first character I was ever completely obsessed with was Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo. Better known as Mia Thermopolis, the protagonist of Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries. Before finding Mia, I read a lot of books with skinny white girls in plaid skirts whispering to each other on their covers, but those were like fantasy novels. Mia felt real, even with the crazy finding-out-she’s-royalty plot. In Mia, I saw myself.
Just like Mia, I was the tallest girl in my class, hunching over so I wouldn’t stand out so much. I was gawky and flat-chested and had feet so big that I looked like the letter L in profile. I had beautiful curls that were a frizzy mess until someone, thankfully, nudged some leave-in conditioner my way. I was awkward, obsessive, and highly anxious.
Before reading The Princess Diaries, I thought all of those things were wrong. I would have described myself as a freak, just like Mia does throughout the first book in the series. But Mia talked to her journal more than she talked to other people. She felt things in ALL CAPS, but mostly kept those big feelings to herself. She searched for a love story in the smallest interactions. Just like me! So, if Mia was okay, maybe I was okay, too?
Because, yes, she was different, and, yes, she felt like an outcast. But in the end, Mia got her happily ever after with Michael, the guitar-playing, poorly-named-zine writing, senior boy. I wanted that happily ever after too. Like, seriously, that was pretty much the sum of my aspirations back then: for a boy to think I was cute and want to slow dance with me at the Cultural Diversity Dance. (I re-read that scene this week, and oh man, the swoony-ness still holds up.)
Of course, Mia didn’t look anything like me. She was white. She was blond. I am not white. I am not blond. By twelve, though, I was already very used to superimposing myself onto white girl protagonists, and I was content with close enough. I treasured those books and felt seen in those books for so many years.
Flash forward a decade later, I was a teacher in South LA trying to find books for my classroom. I taught English and reading classes for students with mild to moderate disabilities. All of my students were Black or Latinx. And almost all of them hated reading. They made sure to tell me on the first day of school. As a lover of books (for real, my parents used to turn my bookshelves around to face the wall instead of grounding me), I was heartbroken. But of course they didn’t like books! By high school, so many of them had never read a book with a Black or Latinx main character, written by a Black or Latinx author. Their past teachers didn’t teach those books, didn’t have them in their classes. Or if they did, they were preachy narratives that casted Black and Latinx people as the victims. So, my students hated reading for completely understandable and valid reasons. And I became determined to change that.
I read every YA and MG book I could get my hands on. I combed covers looking for Black and brown faces. I checked authors’ websites to make sure that the stories were being written by people who could tell them authentically. And I spent so much money, y’all! Ever year, almost without fail, my teacher budget was gone in the first week of school.
And as I read these books, trying to find stories that my students would love, or at least not reject immediately, I had my own renaissance. I found parts of myself in so many new characters: Starr from The Hate U Give, Madeline from Everything, Everything, Zuri from Pride, Suzette from Little & Lion, and Morgan from Who Put This Song On? But this was different than my experience with Mia Thermopolis. There was another layer here because this time I didn’t have to squint my eyes and turn my head to the left to make myself fit.
I couldn’t go back in time and give these books to my younger self, but I could give them to my students. So that’s what I did. I tried to match each of my students with a book that they felt seen in. I saw eyes light up when we got a new Jason Reynolds book in the library. I tracked down a student after school who hadn’t returned Dread Nation, at another student’s passionate insistence. I refereed arguments over who got to check out Dear Martin next (and then just bought some more copies).
And reading these books, watching my students have these experiences – it made me realize that there could be space for me in this industry. I had always been a writer but gave it up after high school. I got a degree in something else, became a teacher, got married and had kids. I thought that ship had sailed. But seeing all of these new YA books written by Black authors, it made me feel like I could write the swoony, fluffy stories I’ve always loved, and people might actually read them. That I could write a character who had all the things I loved about Mia Thermopolis – awkward, anxious, ALL-CAPS energy – but make her look like me.
And that character is Tessa Johnson, the protagonist of my debut novel, Happily Ever Afters. I already know exactly which student I want to hand a copy of this book to.
Title Happily Ever Afters
Author Elise Bryant
Intended Target Audience Young Adult
Genre Contemporary, Romance
Publication Date January 5th 2021 by Balzer + Bray
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● The Book Depository ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life, and she’s never seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she’s a true leading lady is in her own writing – in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader.
When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she’s excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just…gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she’s ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after that will surely refill Tessa’s creative well. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa’s stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming.
But as Tessa checks each item off Caroline’s list, she gets further and further away from finding her words, and herself, again. She risks losing her parents’ trust, her spot in the writing program, and her friendships — including the surprising bond she develops with Sam, the aspiring baker who lives across the street. She’s well on her way to having her own real-life love story, yet she can’t help but wonder…Is it the one she wants, after all?
