Not all authors understand teenagers, but Beverly Stowe McClure does. She has an innate understanding of the teenage mindset, perhaps because she was a teacher for many years. Her recently published novel, Rebel in Blue Jeans, transcends the mundane to embrace the emotions of a vibrantly opinionated and stubborn teenage girl whose mother has abandoned her.

Though her mother left the family home to live with a drummer, a man who Rebel never met, life on the ranch continues with Rebel’s grieving, workaholic father doing little to quell her wild nature or heal her aching heart. Left to mend in her own way, Rebel gives her time and compassion to her horses and some injured animals she’s collected in a makeshift hospital in the barn.

Rebel isn’t alone for long because her overly friendly neighbors, Will and Sully, won’t stand for it. There’s no time for moping - they want to take her places constantly. There’s a bit of romantic tension as Rebel chooses to date a college boy. Will and Sully are distressed by that and try to protect Rebel from her own willfulness.

The book reaches out to readers who learn to love Rebel  for her compassion toward animals while they sympathize with the shock she endures when her mother leaves. You’ll find this young adult novel to be full of excitement, tension, emotions, and even a bit of sillyness. The book ends too soon because once we let Rebel into our lives, it is hard to let go.

If you attended the Muse Online Writers Conference last October, you may remember the author, Beverly Stowe McClure. She presented a workshop for children’s writers. She has a website for this book: Diary of a Rebel.

More articles about this book:

Rebel in Blue Jeans: Meet Will and Sully! by Donna M. McDine, children’s author
Rebel in Blue Jeans: A Short Interview With Author Beverly Stowe McClure by The Book Muncher
Rebel in Blue Jeans by Beverly Stowe McClure by Tracee
Rebel in Blue Jeans: Author Beverly Stowe McClure’s Guest Post by Morgan Mandel at ACME Authors Link
Rebel in Blue Jeans: Meet Rebel Ferguson by Cheryl C. Malandrinos
Rebel in Blue Jeans - Beverly Stowe McClure by Tristi Pinkston, historical fiction author