Readers can expect love, loss, friendships, and more in Emma Noyes' "Guy's Girl".
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
In GUY’S GIRL, the main female character, Ginny, suffers from anorexia that turns into bulimia. Over the course of the book, we watch her grapple with that process and, finally, find her way into recovery. The inspiration for this story came from my own journal entries, which I wrote when I finally got into recovery for exactly the same thing. Writing Ginny’s story was a catharsis for me. It helped me to heal from something that had plagued me for many, many years.
What does "Reading Rainbow" mean to you?
To me, I “read rainbow” when I get to root for characters who embody characteristics that I also see in myself. Those characteristics are not just limited to the physical (i.e. race, gender, etc.) but also the mental, which is what I try to do with my own writing.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
We live in a diverse world. Diverse in terms of skin color, culture, gender, religion, upbringing, and much, much more. But perhaps the greatest variety of all is that of our minds. Every mind is unique, both in its strengths and its struggles. That is why talking openly about mental health is so important — so that those whose minds work differently than “normal people” do not feel different, wrong, or other. The power of knowing that you are not alone cannot be overstated. That was exactly why I wrote GUY’S GIRL: because I want those who have suffered from the same internal struggles that I do to know that they are not alone. There is nothing “wrong” with them. And they can have hope for a better future.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
I had been toying with the idea of writing a book with a bulimic main character for a long time. I had many thoughts and journal entries that were just waiting to find a home in a book, but I couldn’t decide what that home should be. Once I started writing Ginny’s story — moving to New York to live with her 3 best guy friends and meeting a boy she can’t stay away from — it immediately felt like the right venue to discuss eating disorders as well. The two blended seamlessly into each other, and GUY’S GIRL was born.
What can fans expect from your book?
They can expect love, loss, travel (the scenes in Budapest are my personal favorites), heartwarming friendship, complicated friendship (including a pseudo-villain who I won’t name here!), coping with trauma, learning to heal, and — above all — hope.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
Next up is my second adult novel, HOW TO HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT, which comes out next year with Berkley. The book follows a main character with a type of OCD that isn’t often portrayed in popular media. She comes from a big, chaotic family from which she has long been hiding, but a destination wedding brings her back into their orbit — as well as back to her ex-best friend, with whom she might be doomed to fall back in love.
About the Author
Emma Noyes told her mother she wanted to be an author when she was six. She grew up in a suburb outside Chicago and attended Harvard University, where she studied history & literature. She started her career at a beer company, but left because she wanted to write about mermaids and witches—eventually publishing her first YA fantasy series, The Sunken City. She now lives in Chicago with her Swedish boyfriend and miniature Pomeranian. Guy’s Girl is her adult debut. Learn more online at www.emmavrnoyes.com.
