Samantha Waxman is a rising senior at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Massachusetts. After reading Montgomery Lake High #1: The Right Person, a young adult novel by Stacy Padula, she was asked a series of questions. Her responses are below:
Q. How do you, as a teenager, personally relate to this story?
A. I relate to this story because I know all about this lifestyle. Not that I have ever lived it, but I have watched from the outside. I know about the struggles, loss of friends, and lies these teenagers are going through. The path these kids went down was not surprising to me in the least. The drugs and alcohol are all so familiar in high school. You just want to fit in, so you try things you would have never even thought about in years past. I feel as though it is just a part of growing up. Being exposed to things you never thought you would be.
Q. What is one major theme you noticed running through the story?
A. The ongoing theme that caught my attention throughout the book is the feeling of abandonment. Everyone one way or the other left a friend, or a significant other to be with the wrong crowd. Courtney left her boyfriend of over a year to be with someone she barely knew because of the lifestyle he lived. She also abandoned her best friends Julianna and Marielle for the same reason. Chantal and Cathy abandoned each other when they found the party lifestyle. They even friends. Chris abandoned Bryan when he started to date Courtney. The list goes on and on.
Q. What do you believe influenced Courtney to turn away from her morals in order to feel accepted?
A. Throughout the book, Courtney was always easily influenced. Once she stopped dating Bryan to be with Chris, from then on it was a downward spiral. Since Chris was more apart of the “party scene”, it was like second nature for Courtney to be with him and party. When you are apart of that lifestyle, you have no morals. It was so tempting to Courtney she just let all her old habits go. All in order to please Chris and basically run away from her thoughts and feelings about her past life.
As the “life of the party,” Chris Dunkin begins high school with a responsibility to live up to his reputation; deep down inside, however, he wants more than that. When he begins dating Mayor Angeletti’s youngest daughter, Courtney, two worlds collide. The twist ending will not disappoint!
Stacy Padula has spent the last 14 years working daily with teenagers as a college counselor, mentor, and life coach. She was named "Top Inspirational Author of the Year" for 2022 by the International Association of Top Professionals (New York, NY). In 2021, she was broadcast on the famous Reuters Building in Times Square as "Empowered Woman of the Year." Her Gripped book series is currently being adapted for TV by Emmy-winning producer Mark Blutman. She is the founder and CEO of Briley & Baxter Publications: a publishing company that donates a portion of its proceeds to animal rescues each month. She has edited and published a variety of titles, including Boston Bruins Anthem Singer Todd Angilly and Rachel Goguen's The Adventures of Owen & the Anthem Singer, LaTonya Pinkard of Netflix's Last Chance U's Nate & His Magic Lion, and former NHL player Norm Beaudin's memoir The Original: Living Life Through Hockey. Stacy resides in Plymouth, Massachusetts with her husband Tim and two miniature dachshunds, Briley and Baxter.
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