A.J.’s Comments (group member since Aug 09, 2013)

A.J.’s comments from the Ask A.J. Walkley group.

My short story and poetry collection is now available free of charge! Check it out HERE!

CHOICE asks the question of what happens when a high school sophomore has to make the biggest decision of her life before she’s outgrown her youth? Haley Fry and her twin sister, Jamie, have been compared to one another since birth. Haley is the quieter twin, a lover of music who prefers solitude to spending time with multiple friends. A prodigy on the saxophone, she dreams of a career as a musician. Jamie, on the other hand, is the athlete of the family who prides herself on her popularity and how many boys are after her.

The twins’ parents, Larry and Maggie, place more trust in Haley because of her calmer nature. They expect the unexpected from Jamie, but not Haley. When Larry and Maggie learn that sixteen-year-old Haley is pregnant, they are shocked. Surprising everyone, but mostly herself, Haley faces a life-changing decision: Does she abort the baby or become a teenage mother?

Choice presents Haley’s dilemma in a unique way. The first half of this novel narrates what happens when Haley chooses an abortion, while the second half reveals Haley’s life when she chooses to keep the baby. Told through the eyes of the entire family, Choice illustrates the tough decisions involved in a teen pregnancy.

QUEER GREER tells the story of high school junior Greer MacManus who enters a new school with the hopes of reinventing herself from a wallflower with one friend, to become more of a social butterfly. She soon finds herself among the company of athletes, a swimmer herself. While she tries to get comfortable in her clique under the admiring eye of Cameron Keeting, the most attractive jock in school, Greer becomes increasingly interested in someone else.

Rebecca Wilder, the beautiful swim team captain and infamous lesbian in town, befriends Greer, taking her under her wing. A love triangle soon overtakes Greer’s world, leading to drug experimentation over the course of the year as she comes to grips with her sexuality.

Shocked by the reactions of her best friend and boyfriend, and finding herself more alone than ever before, Greer turns to self-mutilation in order to cope when things start to fall apart. Without anyone to turn to, Greer must find an inner strength and the courage to be herself in a society that doesn’t always understand.

VUTO tells the story of 17-year-old Malawian Vuto, who must bury her third child mere days after birth.

Malawian tradition prevents men from considering a child their own until it’s lived for two weeks. Frustrated at not being able to speak to her husband, Solomon, about all three of the children she’s had to bury alone, Vuto forces him to acknowledge the dead baby. Her rejection of tradition causes Solomon and the village elders to banish Vuto from the only home she’s ever known.

Vuto seeks refuge in the hut of U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Samantha Brennan, where Solomon discovers his wife has not left as she was told, leading him to attack both women. Disregarding her oath to remain uninvolved in village politics, Samantha interjects herself into the center of the conflict, defending Vuto and killing Solomon in the process.

The women go on the run from Vuto’s village and the Peace Corps, encountering physical, ethical and cultural struggles along the way.

Vuto was inspired by A.J. Walkley’s experience in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2007.