Catchpenny

by Sarah Wathen, Racquel Henry (Editor)

Meg Shannon was rarely surprised. She wasn’t surprised, for example, whenever she came to school to find her locker vandalized again. Slut! Whore! Trash! She was an independent, self-confident, intelligent young woman, and she’d stopped caring about the labels people born on the “right” side of the tracks in Shirley County slapped on her. So when quarterback Tristan Jameson walked up to her at lunch and flat out asked her to Homecoming, she refused to be surprised then either. But she wasn’t stupid. Was it a joke? Was he looking for a guaranteed good time? Her phone number on a bathroom stall with just such a promise came to mind. But he seemed nervous, as if he truly cared what her answer would be. Maybe, just maybe…he actually liked her. But to believe that would be dangerous. Raise the stakes. Sure, Meg was brave but was she willing to risk everything? Her pride? Her identity? And why did she have such a hard time accepting that someone like him could want someone like her? Was it possible she had started to believe all those hateful labels? One way or another, Meg’s answer to Tristan’s proposal that sunny afternoon would change her life forever. And everything she thought she knew about herself, too.

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2016

About the author

An artist turned author, Sarah Wathen is a storyteller by trade and a painter at heart. She was trained in Classical Painting at the University of Central Florida, then completed graduate studies in Fine Art at Parson’s School of Design in New York City. Her first step into the world of independent publishing was as an illustrator, and Sarah quickly realized she wanted to write her own books rather than illustrate other’s. That reinvention came as no surprise to family and friends, who remember her as a child always ready to turn a tale. Hours spent under the backyard stairs with her sister—dreaming up imaginary friends with outlandish names like Afisha and Pekins, and designing social networks called the Plant Club and the Tutu Group—were recorded and illustrated, too. Copies still exist under lock and key! Sarah currently resides in Florida and runs the indie label, LayerCake Productions.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catchpenny is a story about a strong independent young woman, Meg, from the wrong side of the tracks who falls in love with star quarterback and most popular kid in school, Tristan.

Meg is confident in everything except the fact they will ever have a future together. She has worked hard for her dreams as have Tristan, so she doesn’t see how they will last beyond high school with leaving for college rushing at them.

Meg deals with prejudices against her every day and lets it roll off her like water off a duck’s feathers but Tristan doesn’t deal well with the insults and attacks thrown her way. This leads to many conflicts and fights with Tristan defending her honor. Meg has never had anyone stick up for her and has a really hard time accepting that Tristan would want to tie himself to her forever.

What will Meg do to keep Tristan? Is she willing to give up who she really is to conform to what is excepted of someone by Tristan’s side?

Catchpenny is a raw and gripping coming of age story that delves deep into the sexual, mental and emotional trials facing many teenagers on the cusp of adulthood.

I received this copy of Catchpenny from Sarah Wathen in exchange for a honest review.

[Anne OK · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new-to-me author with another coming of age story – but a little better than most, and I fell into it from the start. Wish I could say I maintained that high through to the end. However, the last quarter of the book felt overly rushed on a fast track to the finish and lost a lot of its punch by doing so. Still, it was representative of a very good depiction of this couple's senior year and the coming of age story scenario. And “Catchpenny” (meaning of little value, cheap, obtain for pennies) is such a great title in capturing the very essence of Meg's story in its meaning.

Call Meg a “slut” or a “girl from the wrong side of the tracks” or whatever demeaning and hateful label that marked her, but she resonated with me and I just wanted to cheer her on for the strength she showed with her self-confidence in dealing with the terrible situations she found herself in. She made me believe and feel all the emotions of a young outcast’s journey through first love and the horrors of the high school meanies and bullies!

Imagine her surprise when the star quarterback and most popular boy in school walks right up to her and asked her to the homecoming dance. Yeah, she knew he was looking to get laid. She'd heard about the breakup with his girlfriend and the why of it. Of course, she said yes even though she knew immediately Tristan’s purpose in asking her. And she knew that night would be the end of it. She didn’t fit in with him or his group. She’s from the wrong side of the tracks, uninhibited when it comes to sex, a non-conformist, unpopular and wrong in so many ways. But Tristan sees her in a whole different light.

So, imagine even more Meg’s surprise when Tristan showers her with both his attention and gifts. Tristan is tempted by the girl who exhibits a bit of insecurity, but is strong-willed, intelligent with street-smarts, kind and a tempting blend of beautiful, as well. In Meg, he finds exactly what he needs and wants plus he really cares deeply for her and isn’t as forgiving of others as she is in their treatment of her. He has no intention of letting her go.

One detail that plagued me was that I didn't find an “Epilogue” as promised in the book blurb – the story stopped with a happy for now send-off to college but not what I would call a "happily-ever-after until death do us part" kind of ending. (From the book blurb I expected a bit more: Sarah Wathen’s edgy, fast-paced serial novel is finally released in its complete form, with a new epilogue never before published!”) I want to know if readers get another installment to this series a few years into Tristan and Meg’s future?

[SheReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The school quarterback is on a mission to lose his virginity so he invites the school slut to the dance - you could sum up the story like that and guess at the rest and you'd be right, but you'd also be wrong. This was much more than that. Meg, said slut, may deserve that title to an extent. She knows what Tristan, said quarterback, wants as soon as he asks her out. Everyone knows. He's recently broken up from a girl who refused to give it up for years. Meg is all too willing to solve his little problem.

But there's more too it than that. Meg doesn't have the mind of a slut, she kind of has the mind of a feminist. She wants sex, yes, but she desires more than anything to have the freedom to do what she wants without having labels slapped on her. Men have that freedom and she thinks its only fair that she should too. Meg is also desperate for someone to want her for more than just sex. She's desperate for Tristan to want more.

They go through all of the things normal teenage couples do, but they're not a normal teenage couple. They're forever. It's rare to find someone at such a young age that you want to spend forever with. I loved how Tristan's family evolved as they realized this more and more.

I really enjoyed everything about this. It was a great coming of age tale. Meg is so tragically flawed that it's very endearing and Tristan is just adorable. We see a caricature of high school that is so like the real thing that it makes you laugh. The mean girls will always be mean.

I also like the thought that just because two people are madly in love, it doesn't mean marriage is the logical next step. Love doesn't mean you're ready for that commitment. It started wonderfully and ended perfectly, with everything in between as sweet and real as it could possible be.

[Patrick Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of YA books, and while I thoroughly enjoy stories about kids and teens who travel to mystical realms or develop undiscovered abilities so they can catch murderers or battle demons or thwart ancient prophecies or Armageddon, it's good to get a healthy dose of reality from time to time. Real characters in real places in real situations.

Catchpenny is the story of Meg Shannon, a high-school senior living in a small town in Shirley County, U.S.A. In small towns such as this, everyone knows everything about everyone, and every teenage girl is either a "nice girl" (chaste, religious, hypocritical) or a slut, with no gray area in between. And Meg is not a "nice girl" in this taut little equation, so her classmates treat her with disdain, vandalizing her locker with tawdry illustrations.

So when Tristan, the all-State athletic golden boy Tristan, who is also the sheriff's son and from the high end of Shirley County society, inexplicably dumps his pristine cheerleader girlfriend and decides to pursue Meg, she is understandably wary of his motives. Who wouldn't be? Can he really be the first person to see Meg for the smart, funny, incorruptible person she is?

I spent a lot of time wondering just where this book was going. But that is not a bad thing - in life, people often don't know where they're going... life just happens. Though they seem to be the perfect couple, pressures both internal and external threaten to force them apart, from Tristan's domineering mother to their upcoming college plans (Meg can't wait to get the hell out of Dodge and start her life far away) to Meg's obvious insecurities and self-doubts.

That period between the end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood is the most turbulent time in anyone's life, and Ms. Wathen captures this with the precision of a surgeon. We feel Meg's frustrations, her triumphs, and her love for both her family and Tristan, and her yearning for the happiness that has eluded her most of her life. Catchpenny is an absolutely brilliant look into the mind of a singularly memorable character that, for all we know, could exist in every high school, every community, in every state, if only we took the time to recognize it.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone sixteen and up. There are scenes of sex, profanity and violence, but they are not gratuitous. The narrative flows like a river, and at no time does the story drag or become incomprehensible. And the ending .... well, do yourselves a favor and see for yourself.

[Beth Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Catchpenny' by Sarah Wathen was hard to put down. I found it intriguing and the writing style well-crafted. The main character is Meg, or, as main guy Tristan calls her by her full name, Mekaela. Basically an outcast on the fringes of high school society, and even that of Shirley County, where she lives, Mekaela knows a better life awaits her. Her mom has always told her so, and she has worked hard to live up to her academic potential to make a life for herself outside the confines of her small town. All that is still in the cards for her, but early on in senior year comes the added interest of Tristan Jameson, star quarterback, baseball player, and all-around popular jock, who decides to ask her out to their senior year homecoming dance.

Having recently broken up with his long-time girlfriend, Mekaela is initially skeptical of Tristan's desire to take her to the dance. The fact that she is known around school and town as being particularly easy and pretty carefree with her body doesn't help matters any. Her reputation is completely opposite that of Tristan, who is pretty much the golden boy who can do no wrong – especially in his mother's eyes.

As a reader, I can honestly say that I was much more skeptical than Mekaela probably was of Tristan asking her out. Maybe I've seen too many teen movies ('Never Been Kissed' my main thought in this instance) that had me quite wary of her accepting his invitation and having him proceed to make a fool of her in some fashion. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of predictability I thought was to come. This isn't to say that there wasn't plenty of drama and aggravation to go around for the characters. Mekaela doesn't have the best reputation, and Tristan's proposal to have her accompany him to homecoming is met with ridicule, sneers, and mean comments behind their backs.

The sense of realism that accompanies a reading of 'Catchpenny' is easily evident to readers. The story stirs emotions ranging from uncertainty to lust to fear of loss, on to love, anger, jealousy, and a host of others. 'Catchpenny' will make readers consider how throwing your instincts by the wayside can sometimes be the best and most uninhibited course of action. If Tristan hadn't chanced asking Mekaela out, and if she hadn't said yes, their lives would likely be much different. Sometimes the best changes can come from the reluctance to make change at all, even if one eventually ends up doing so. And so it is for Tristan and Mekaela – he breaking up with his long-time girlfriend and taking a chance on new love, and she taking a chance on real love, rather than continuing to give up her “virtue” without the benefit of a steady relationship.

Beth Rodgers, Author of 'Freshman Fourteen,' A Young Adult Novel