Review
It sounds like a given page out of anyone's life story. But not everyone's life story is written on a page.
Suzanne Lantana's, however, is.
And while most of her stories about family and summer vacations and loss will find an audience who can easily relate, Suzanne Lantana isn't even real.
A creation of 19-year-old Melissa Pettignano of Secaucus, Suzanne Lantana is the main character in a collection of short stories, fiction and non-, aimed at teenage girls and young women called Suzanne Lantana: A Collection of Short Stories.
"My goal was to let younger girls learn how to treat one another with respect and that no matter the situation, a positive outlook will always win," Pettignano said.
Published earlier this year, Suzanne Lantana was released by AuthorHouse after Melissa decided to put her collected works in between the covers of one book. Since then it has found its way across the globe.
"It's distributed through the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden. All over," Pettignano said.
And while she won't know the exact numbers until September, Melissa is assured that the book is doing very well.
"I'm very happy with it right now and it's become my main focus."
The thing which may catch most young readers' eye is that Suzanne lacks super-strength. She can't peer through walls or soar over skyscrapers. She is just a normal, young girl growing up in and experiencing a world in which many things are fresh and new to her.
When asked about Suzanne's normalcy, Pettignano says that she just always saw a great deal of herself in the character and wanted the stories to reflect that.
"I wanted Suzanne to come across as just a fun-loving, down to earth girl and I think I accomplished my goal. I think she is a character that a child or an adult can relate to," Melissa explained.
Where most youngsters, especially in today's environment of the Transformers, X-Men, Spiderman or any other of the myriad robot/mutant/geeky-superheros, find themselves relating more to those who seem furthest from them, Pettignano provides a character who could just as easily be plucked out of a biology class at the local school or whom you may see riding her bike down your block.
And although Suzanne isn't real, some of the stories collected in this book are.
Drawing on many of her own life experiences, Pettignano often crafted these tales with a preset outline, with their stories and character arcs, rising actions and climaxes, and lessons learned coming from real events.
"The Sept. 11 story (Suzanne Lantana's Worst Loss) really hits home. Most of the stories are about half and half; fiction and non-fiction. But that one was all me. I lost my aunt that day and I wrote that to let kids know that it's OK to look for help in others in times like that," she said.
While many of her stories are of the sugar-coated variety which any teenager could easily identify with, Pettignano is not afraid to tackle stickier subjects, often dealing with death and redemption.
"That's just my way of letting kids know that everyone feels afraid and that those feelings are OK. I also wanted to let them know that everyone has their own way of dealing with (death)," she explained.
With the stories in place, the only void to fill was to determine who would travel those arcs and who would learn those lessons. And just like her stories, Pettignano's characters came from a certain mold.
"There are so many real aspects in the book. That's why I made it clear that it's fiction and non-fiction. All the characters, the mom, the dad, (Suzanne's friends) Sophie and Rachel are based on people in my life. People who support me."
Like any good writer, Pettignano, over time, developed the often inescapable grasp between herself and her characters, the storyteller and the story that she is telling thus leaving the line between the two blurred from constant cross-over.
Over the course of this book, the reader is treated to a trip of nostalgia and often fond memories of the growth process that comes with being young and figuring out exactly where his or her place in the world is.
When asked why she took on a task as daunting as releasing a book, Pettignano replied, "It was the next step. I had been writing (the book) in parts since the fifth grade. It started as a project in class that my teacher loved and I always just came back to this character."
But Suzanne's story doesn't end with her last-chapter matriculation.
"I'm working on the second book that is going to go deeper into the supporting characters. There is a lot more that needs to be said." -- Secaucus Journal, Aug 23rd 2007
