Q&A with Rebecca Ronning on the Young Adult Novel: When Darkness Tries to Hide by Stacy Padula

Posted: October 11, 2018 in Uncategorized
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What can be learned by the way Chris treats Jason in this book? 

The way that Chris treats Jason in this book teaches the reader that much can be forgiven and people can grow and change for the better, and that the best way to foster said growth is through support, patience, and understanding. It is understood from the last book that Chris and Jason didn’t leave on very good terms, due to Jason not being too accepting of Chris’s new ideals. Throughout “When Darkness Tries to Hide,” however, Chris was patient with jason and did his best to support him, because he understands that is what friends do for eachother.

How did your opinion of Jason change as you read the story?

I think that Jason changed for the better when he came to realize the good that having faith in something can bring into your life. It is important to recognize that everybody can benefit from some sort of grounding thing that they can go back to when they feel like they are getting a little bit out of control. Jason, being only a freshman in high school, is certainly making the, while difficult, smart choice in looking to find an outlet instead of abusing drugs at such a young age.

A main theme of this story is the battle between the dark and the light. When one is in darkness, he or she cannot see anything clearly. How does the last chapter relate to the events of the story and the theme of light vs. darkness? 

The last chapter represents Jason and his coming into light, realizing that living a life in darkness is not truly living. Jason had previously lived in darkness, and found comparing himself to others to justify his actions easier than really confronting himself and realizing that what he was doing would only bring temporary joy. Jason’s breakthrough in the final chapter was brought about by recognizing that putting his effort into something positive made him feel better than doing drugs. It brought him closer with his friends, family, and with his religion, and he was extremely thankful for that.

What positive message does this book convey to readers?

This book is a good reminder that people change, and that even just coming to the conclusion that you are not content with the way you treat yourself or others is an imperative step in making a much bigger change in your overall lifestyle

 

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Other Books by Stacy Padula

Rebecca Ronning on When Darkness Tries to Hide – YA Lit for 2018

Posted: October 2, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Written by Rebecca Ronning—NY, NY

In the wake of a disaster, it is only natural for communities to come together in an effort to rebuild what was brought down. The residents of Montgomery seems to take this sentiment to heart in Stacy Padula’s second book, “When Darkness Tries to Hide.” After a devastating tornado hits, one of the students at montgomery lake high is put in a coma, and an unlikely group of his classmates set up something for the community in his honor.
This book focuses on Jason, a popular jock and avid party-goer, as he begins to come to a realization that his reputation as the “life of the party” will only give him so much joy. This book acts as a good reminder that people change, and that even just coming to the conclusion that you are not content with the way you treat yourself or others is an imperative step in making a much bigger change in your overall lifestyle.
Learn More About When Darkness Tries to Hide

I recommend this book for parents & teens!

Posted: September 27, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Charlotte Silverman is a senior at Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts. Below she shares her opinion of a young adult book “The Right Person,” which is the first book in Stacy Padula’s Montgomery Lake High Book Series, which is frequently listed as an Amazon best seller for YA books dealing with peer pressure and substance abuse.

Charlotte Says:
The book “The Right Person” by Stacy Padula is an excellent novel for adolescents going through the stress and pressure of growing up. The book describes the story of a group of teenagers who undergo the numerous changes of a growing teenager. The story focuses mainly on Chris: an athletic, partier who has spent the past two years reliant on alcohol and drugs. He is influenced by his new girlfriend Courtney; a girl who is firm on her morals and opposition to drugs and alcohol. Courtney, however, intrigued by this new surrounding becomes absorbed into the party scene of Chris’ friends and sacrifices her values to fit in. Along with the two main characters, each character experiences a different aspect of growing up whether it is learning how to overcome peer pressure when faced with temptation, choosing between maintaining moral values and being popular, and managing making and losing friends. The book provides an accurate description of how difficult life can be during middle and high school and emphasizes the importance of sticking true to yourself and maintaining the same moral values. This story is a great read for adolescents as it is extremely relatable as they may be going through the same struggles as the characters in the novel.
As a teenager, I can personally relate to this story as it emphasizes the struggle of being a teenager with trying to fit in, reject peer pressure, and retain the same moral values. During middle and high school, it is extremely difficult to find friends who will want to be with you if they do not share the same moral standards with you. Additionally, kids in middle and high school can be extremely pressuring when it comes to drinking/ doing drugs, and may only want to be with people who endure in that kind of behavior. As a teenager, part of growing up is learning how to make friends who will accept and you and respect your moral values and it is important not to get too caught up in pressure and stress from social hierarchy.
Overall, I highly recommend this novel to any teenagers who may be experiencing these same challenges as they undergo the changes of becoming an adult. Additionally, I feel it would be very beneficial for parents of adolescents to read as well in order to get a sense of the perspective of a child this age, and know how easy it is to slip into the wrong habits. I feel it is extremely relatable and provides a great insight into what life is like during high school, and can provide advice about how to handle specific situations.

Q&A with Samantha Waxman on Stacy Padula’s Novel “When Darkness Tries to Hide”

Posted: September 25, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Samantha is a senior at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, MA. Some of her hobbies include cheering for her high school’s team, hanging out with friends, and spending time with her dog Rosie. Samantha’s favorite subject in school is history, and she is excited to start her senior year.

October 25, 2018—Easton, Massachusetts

1. A main theme of this story is the battle between the dark and the light. When one is in darkness, he or she cannot see anything clearly. How does the last chapter relate to the events of the story and the theme of light vs. darkness?

Jason met with Pastor Mark and I feel like that really turned things around for him. Pastor Mark could relate to the drug abuse and real struggle Jason is trying to get over. By doing this, he is essentially pulling Jason out of that darkness and showing him the light. He is letting him know that it’s okay to be in this dark state but eventually we need to find a cure. Jason has a very good support system and his friends really want to see him do well.

2. How did your opinion of Jason change as you read the story?

Jason to me is the stereotypical high school boy who obviously loves to party. Throughout the book you get to see his struggles which we didn’t get a glimpse at in the first book. He struggles with extreme drugs and you can tell deep down in his heart he is trying to be better. I was hoping he would break it off with Cathy and pursue Pastor Marks daughter. Hopefully that would really get him on the right. His intentions are good and I felt like I had to cut him slack throughout the book.

3. What can be learned by the way Chris treats Jason in this book?

Tough love is the perfect way to describe the way Chris treats Jason. Chris wants to see Jason do good and get him out of the rut he is in. While this might not be a good idea for Chris considering he is only two months sober, he is willing to try and show his friend the light. While spreading the word about Andy’s service, Chris was adamant that Jason stay with him and not “go home to eat and nap” which I personally think that really demonstrated how much Chris cares even if they aren’t as close as they once were.

4. What positive message does this book convey to readers?

I believe the message is that it is okay to be in the darkness like Jason and its okay to have those weak moments. Eventually in life you need to pull yourself through and you don’t even have to do it on your own. There are so many people to turn to such a family and friends. I think every one of the characters was in a dark place at one point in the book. Whether it be dealing with Andy, relationship problems or drug abuse they all struggled. But it makes you think of how many people go through this struggle, knowing you’re not alone, it is a positive thing to me.

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A powerful supercell is spawning above Montgomery Lake High School, while a separate storm is brewing in its halls. The question is–which one should Cathy Kagelli, Jason Davids, and their friends fear the most?

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Q & A on “The Right Person” by Stacy Padula with Rebecca Ronning

Posted: September 20, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Rebecca Ronning, New York, NY

Rebecca is a junior at Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, New York. As a city kid, some of her hobbies include riding the subway and exploring the city with friends, making all kinds of art and traveling with her family and experiencing new and exciting things along the way.

How do you, as a teenager, personally relate to this story?

Having two years of high school experience in my back pocket, I can certainly say that I know what it is like to be confused and trying to find a group that you fit into, without being pressured to change yourself. Going into High School without really having anybody from my old school with me was certainly difficult. I wanted to be accepted by my peers, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about that without completely changing myself. Thankfully, I figured out that a really easy way to make friends is to join clubs or teams for things that you are really interested in, so you already have something in common with the people that you meet.

What do you believe influenced Courtney to turn away from her morals in order to feel accepted?

The transition from middle to high school  is typically a very difficult, and having to find a group of friends to stick with for your high school career certainly doesn’t help. Nobody wants to be left out, and it’s common to want to associate with the “cool kids,” in a vain effort to maintain some sort of social status. Many will go to great lengths in order to be accepted in these groups, like Courtney did, including being tempted by your peers into doing things you know are morally wrong.

What is one major theme you noticed running through the story?

One major theme I noticed throughout the story was that it is important to find a group of friends who likes you for  who you are, not simply because you fit within their status quo. . For example, when Chris decided that he didn’t want to go to Jason’s party, much less throw one of his own, most of his friends got mad at him. The fact that the moment Chris started to reject these antics, he was essentially kicked out of the group, just proves that this group is strung together by nothing more than a shared love of partying, all of whom provide little support for their peers feelings (which is very important to have when experiencing something as tough as your first year of High School).

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The Right Person is the debut novel in The Montgomery Lake High Book Series, which follows a large cast of personalities as they navigate through the social waters of high school.
While Chris Dunkin’s parents travel freely for business, his older cousins Jordan and Taylor are left in charge. A parentless household provides the perfect venue for Jordan, a senior in high school, and Taylor, a junior in college, to throw parties that soon become infamous in Montgomery. After two years, Chris–donned “the life of the party” by his popular group of friends–begins high school with a responsibility to live up to his reputation. Deep down inside, however, he wants more than that.
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The Perfect Book for Teens Entering High School

Posted: September 11, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Easton, Massachusetts, September 11, 2018: written by Samantha Waxman, Oliver Ames High School

When Darkness Tries to Hide by Stacy Padula is based around the same group of friends as the first book but this time, with a different struggle in mind. One of their close friends has been injured and the story is about how each one of them cope.
This book touches on the struggle to get out of the darkness and back into the light but also the great feeling of having an amazing support system to help you when in need. It makes you feel grateful for the friends you have and makes you want to help others in their times of need. While struggle with the injury of that friend, Jason, one of the main characters in this book, has a tough time with just that. But, by the end of the book he realizes just how great of friends he has and starts to follow his faith.
It is an amazing transition and overall the book is very relatable. I would again, recommend this to all teenagers whether you are starting or finishing high school. It is a great read to remind of all the good you have in your life even when darkness strikes.
-Samantha Waxman Class of 2019

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A powerful supercell is spawning above Montgomery Lake High School, while a separate storm is brewing in its halls. The question is–which one should Cathy Kagelli, Jason Davids, and their friends fear the most?

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An NYC Teen’s Take on Stacy Padula’s 1st Book!

Posted: September 6, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Rebecca Ronning, New York, NY

Rebecca is a junior at Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, New York. As a city kid, some of her hobbies include riding the subway and exploring the city with friends, making all kinds of art and traveling with her family and experiencing new and exciting things along the way. Below she shares her opinion of the first book in the young adult book series: Montgomery Lake High #1 – The Right Person by Stacy Padula.

Rebecca Says:
Going into your first year of high school is a historically stressful, confusing, scary experience. Surrounded by new faces, new perspectives, and new ideas, it is easy for a young impressionable teenager to be tempted to go against their morals and change themselves in an effort to fit in and make a good impression on their classmates, even if they know it’s not the right thing to do. The Right Person, by Stacy Padula, perfectly represents this internal conflict by entering the minds of a group of incoming freshman at Montgomery Lake High as they come across new obstacles in their social lives, much unlike what they experienced in middle school.
The Right Person is centered around a group of friends, all connected by one thing – a shared love of partying. The story focuses primarily on Chris, an athlete who is known for being the “life of the party,” and his new girlfriend Courtney, a girl with a strong moral compass and strong religious beliefs. Each go through almost opposite changes in an effort to please the other, as Courtney begins to attend more and more parties and become closer with Chris’ friend group, while Chris decides to stop partying, getting him in trouble with his “best friends.”
This book is a good portrayal of something that most high schoolers experience at one point or another, and it would definitely be helpful for middle schoolers who are currently preparing for their high school experience. The Right Person serves as a reminder that you can break off from the crowd, and if your friends make you do something that you don’t necessarily feel comfortable with, you shouldn’t feel pressured to because these people obviously don’t have your best interest in mind. Just keep being yourself and following your own path, and you will find the right person.
-Rebecca Ronning, Brooklyn Technical High School, Class of 2020

Montgomery Lake High #1: The Right Person

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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!

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Q & A with Montana Aldridge of Plymouth North High School

Posted: September 4, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Montana Aldridge of Plymouth, Massachusetts is a rising senior at Plymouth North High School. She was asked to share her thoughts on Montgomery Lake High #1: The Right Person – a young adult novel by Stacy Padula. The Montgomery Lake High book series addresses teenage social issues commonly faced in high school and middle school. Topics such as identity, morality, substance abuse, and sexuality are explored in the novels. Currently, there are five books in the series, but Padula is working on a spin off series, set to hit the shelves in 2019.
How do you, as a teenager, personally relate to this story?

-I relate to multiple characters in this story. I come from a very religious family and have the same morals as Chantal and Courtney (the beginning and end Courtney). I try hard to keep my faith and use it to strengthen me and lead me to make the right decisions, but sometimes my “id” gets the best of me. Having a lot of different types of friends is also hard, because you want to have fun with them and partake in the same activities as them, but when they make bad choices, like Jason and Alyssa, it’s hard.

What do you believe influenced Courtney to turn away from her morals in order to feel accepted?

-I believe Courtney, like all humans, felt the desire to fit in. Some people are lucky enough to be surrounded by genuinely good, humble people with strong morals, while others, akin to Courtney, are not as fortunate and are surrounded by people with little morals. When Courtney decided to break up with Bryan for Chris, I think she was more interested in who would bring her more friends, and who was more popular. While Chris was ultimately attracted to Courtney because of her morals, Courtney was attracted to Chris because of of his social status, which caused Courtney to lose focus of her morals.

What is one major theme you noticed running through the story?

-Although the next books may shed even more light on this theme, I do think Coming of Age was a major theme throughout the book. All of the characters were faced with decisions that arise as you grow older. It may have seemed that characters such as Jason, Alyssa and Cathy were the older more mature ones on the surface because of how they talked and because of the party’s they attended, but by the end of the book it was clear they had not come of age. Characters such as Courtney and Chris are the ones who truly came of age, when they had the conversation about religion and morals, during their breakup.

Montgomery Lake High #1: The Right Person
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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!

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Q & A with Norwell High School’s Jack Gallagher on Montgomery Lake High Book #1: The Right Person

Posted: August 30, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Q. How do you personally relate to the story?
A. I personally can relate to this story in many different ways. In my career as a student at Norwell High School I have personally witnessed underage drinking and drug use during school hours and after school hours. There is also in the book the people that drink and do hard drugs are the most popular kids. Which is also true at my school and many other schools around Massachusetts.
Q. What is one major theme you noticed running through the book?
A. One major theme that I noticed while reading this book is the use of drugs to feel socially accepted. You see in this book Chris who is just starting high school and is helplessly addicted to drugs, drinking, and smoking. He decides to quit all of that and leave his darker ways in the past to try and pursue his hopes in football even if it means leaving his girlfriend behind.
Q. Why do you believe Courtney sacrificed her morals?
A. Her friends had influenced her to becoming the person that she is now. She had always put her religion first but now as the peer pressure started to amount on her shoulders she gave in to the bad ways and habits of her friends.
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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!

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Montana Aldridge on Montgomery Lake High #1 by Stacy Padula

Posted: August 28, 2018 in Uncategorized
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– Written by Montana Aldridge, Class of 2019, Plymouth North High School, Plymouth, Massachusetts
I was enlightened by the overall theme of this book. It provided me with real life examples of the tough decisions that I will come across as I grow older. The message this book relayed to me was that it is important not to loose focus of your morals, and that is an important life lesson that this book portrayed in an amusing, way.
There was many twists throughout the book, that were exciting and intriguing, yet realistic for what teenage expectations of high school should be. Each character evolved throughout the story, some in positive ways, some in negative ways. I enjoyed the depth to each character their was. It enabled me to get very involved in the book, and at times made me feel as if I was the character, and had to make their tough choices myself. The different outcomes of the decisions made by the characters allowed me to learn from their mistakes, making me feel as if I had suddenly gained wisdom and experiences.
This story always captivated my full attention, with it’s uniqueness. In past stories I have read there has been the typical climate throughout the whole book, then the plot and resolution. What was different about the style of this book, was that there were multiple plots throughout the book. The roller coaster of events left me wanting to read more, and kept me from putting the book down and getting bored. After finishing this book I have been left excited to read the next book!
Montgomery Lake High #1: The Right Person
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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!

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  Montgomery Lake High #2: When Darkness Tries To Hide
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A powerful supercell is spawning above Montgomery Lake High School, while a separate storm is brewing in its halls. The question is–which one should Cathy Kagelli, Jason Davids, and their friends fear the most?

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Montgomery Lake High #3: The Aftermath

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At age fifteen, Jason Davids appears to have nearly any worldly thing that promises enjoyment at his disposal. Despite this, there is a persistent emptiness inside his heart. After failing to fill the void with achievements, relationships, and illicit substances, Jason finds himself intrigued by Jessie Robins: the daughter of a local pastor. How is it possible that she stands for everything his lifestyle opposes yet possesses the one thing he has been searching for all along?

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Montgomery Lake High #4: The Battle For Innocence
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Jon Anderson and Chantal Kagelli are trying to live moral lives, but temptations are plaguing them in and out of school. Will they continue to be lights in their best friends’ lives or will they get pulled into the darkness?

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Montgomery Lake High #5: The Forces Within
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After being trapped inside his own body, unable to communicate with anyone but his own thoughts, Andy Rosetti finally wakes up from the coma that controlled his life for one month. But upon awakening, Andy finds himself and his friends in an unfamiliar setting: a mansion riddled with secrets and supernatural forces. As his friends fall prey to the entities encompassing them, Andy must figure out if the darkness lies within the mansion’s walls or within the people surrounding him.

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