By Elissa Sussman.
This is a coming-of-age story with a dose of real-world reality check. It’s uplifting, fun, romantic, heartbreaking, and also wonderfully satisfying.
Hayley Saffitz is a talented graphic artist about to embark on the internship of a lifetime (only five girls make the cut) at animation studio BB Gun Films run by the famous animation director (and her idol) Bryan Beckett. She is determined to earn one of the program’s student director opportunities so she can oversee the creation of her own short film and put herself on the radar for a future job offer at the studio.
She works tirelessly on her project and is confident she’ll get a student directorship. Everyone says her film idea is good, and her presentation is flawless. But it’s not selected. The directing spots go to several guys in the program, including Beckett’s son Bear, who hasn’t put any effort into his presentation and doesn’t seem to care. What gives?
After clashing with her overbearing student director, Hayley finds herself reassigned to Bear’s team. As she and Bear work together, she discovers Bear is open to her suggestions and willing to give her credit for her ideas. She also suspects that her idol Bryan Beckett may not be as wonderful as she once thought. In fact, he views women as diversity hires, not as capable as their male counterparts, and unwilling to give them a chance. So Hayley and the other girls in the program collaborate to create their own short film (with Bear’s support) to compete against the guys in the final competition. The goal is to prove to everyone (especially Bryan Beckett) that females are as smart and talented as males.
In addition to the uncomfortable truths she discovers about Bryan Beckett, Hayley learns firsthand how sexism and favoritism in the workplace can turn a blind toward talent and replace greatness with mediocrity. And she finds an unexpected ally in Bear.
(Published in 2021 by Simon & Schuster BFYR, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.)
One of my favorite reads, “Drawn That Way,” is a romantic, YA lesson in life by Elissa Sussman.
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