It should come as no surprise, especially in Athens, that the guy at the bookstore has just published his first novel, but it does take just a little getting used to. You’ve probably seen him in there: Will Walton, the tall, dark-haired young man. Friendly as he can be, and helpful—the kind of person who makes independent stores like Avid Bookshop special.
Anything Could Happen is published by Scholastic Press on May 26, and you can pre-order through Avid. Avid is also hosting the official launch of the novel on that date, Tuesday, May 26, from 6:30–7:30 p.m., with music from two local bands, Wanda and Franny, plus tasty treats.
So, here’s another Southern author, in the sense that he grew up on a farm outside Perry, GA and graduated from UGA a year ago. He has been working at Avid while writing his own book. That takes a lot of doing. Judging by the acknowledgements in his book, Will has a lot of friends, so it must have taken a steely resolve to keep at it in spite of the urge to go out and play, to finish the book and then go through with the revisions and do whatever he had to do to prepare it for publication. But, here it is, and it will soon be available to readers who have not yet been lucky enough to get an advance look at it.
Anything Could Happen is classified as a young adult novel, which can mean a teen novel or a “problem” novel, but that’s OK, because NPR’s list of the 100 best young adult novels includes To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies and The Princess Bride as well as The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series.
Anything Could Happen is about teens, specifically one Richard “Tretch” Farm and his family and friends. It is also about those feelings you have as a teenager (and later) when you are secretly in love with somebody who can’t love you back because he or she is in love with somebody else—or infatuated with or has a crush on: The definition doesn’t matter. And it’s also about those people who are in love with you, whom you can’t love back because you are in love with somebody else.
Anything Could Happen is complicated by the fact that Tretch is gay, though at the beginning of the book he has not revealed this aspect of himself to anyone else. He has a crush on his best friend, and an otherwise very compatible girl has a crush on him.
Walton has written about all this in a very straightforward, readable manner that holds your attention all the way through. There is nothing preachy or agenda-driven about it. Rather, these people come alive, and you enter willingly into their world, no doubt abetted by memories of your own experiences during this period of your life.
All good literature involves us in the lives of the characters who come alive for us in their world. That is certainly true in Anything Could Happen. Walton has created a protagonist who puts a human face on a situation familiar to us in literature and in life and shows us a person struggling to understand himself while learning to be honest with those who love him and even with those who do not.
How exciting, to read a first book by a new writer who is the helpful young man behind the counter at Avid! And we get to celebrate with him right there in the store. Ah, Athens!
WHAT: Anything Could Happen Launch Party
WHERE: Avid Bookshop
WHEN: Tuesday, May 26, 6:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: FREE!
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