Interview with Emily Smucker from Louder Than Words

       Girls With Dreams is so excited about the new teen memoir series, Louder Than Words (HCI), because it gives power to the teen voice.  Teens will love hearing the unique stories of Emily, Chelsey, and Marni, the 3 young women who are authors of each of the new memoirs, edited by Deborah Reber.  Girls With Dreams is excited to bring you an interview with each of the authors.  We hope you enjoy the books as much as we did!

  Emily Smucker was an average high school senior, with a very unusual diagnosis. This 160 page novel (including an one page epilogue) is told in a diary or blog like format. It made the book so much more personal and really keeps the readers interest. I found myself privileged enough to interview Emily and get to know her on a more personal level.

          This is about shear inner strength, a very positive and empowering story. Emily commented when asked about her continuously positive attitude, “Because of my faith I knew that somehow something good was going to come out of the horror (though I never even came close to imagining that it would be a book), and my family, well, they kept my [life] from getting too boring.” Emily has a large family, which she claims to be her support network. An amazing feature of this book, is that it has so many different dynamics to it. Not only is it about a teen trying to find herself among chaos, but about the close relationships and their impacts on a  teens life. When asked about how she could turn such a devastating illness into anything positive, Emily smartly said, ” It wasn’t until the book deal fell into my lap that I was able to feel like the lemons were turning into any sort of lemonade.”

         During the beginning part of her Senior year, Emily was diagnosed with the rare West Nile virus. At first she reacts with fear and disbelief, then goes into a state of self denial. But rather than wallowing in self pity she is able to begin to see things differently, and begins to make the best of a horribly impossible situation. I asked Emily what some her biggest concerns were, ” My future was the biggest thing. I felt like I would be sick forever and never have any sort of life. At the beginning of my sickness I worried so much that I could hardly function, and it wasn’t until I prayed about deeply that I was able to deal with it.”  Her story is very empowering, a must read for every teen. Emily has shown true strength and courage, by telling her story and sharing it with the teens of the world.

          Emily commented when asked if she had one thing she wanted every girl to know, ” I wish I had something profound to say. Something that would make everyone stop and think. But I don’t.
I wish I had advice for sick people. I mean real advice, about making a difference despite being sick. But I don’t.
Well, maybe I do after all. You can blog. Sometimes people could identify with what I was saying, and that felt amazing. And in the end it gave me lots of material to put in a book.  If you have a friend who’s chronically sick, my advice would be to go visit them. Take a friend or two along. Watch a movie. Play a game. Being sick is so boring, you long for social interaction. ”

          This is the end of my blog post on Emily Smucker and her book in the  Louder Than Words series. I recommend this book to EVERYONE! And don’t worry to those of you who have already read this and are looking forward to any new novel’s by this courageous teen. Emily is working on a story about an adventurous teen Named Lola, and how she is trying to build a new life on top of the old life she was running away from. I think I speak for all of us girls when I say, I’m excited and ready to read more!