The Way to Bea by Kat Yeh

Quotable Quotes

"But then I guess you never really know what happens next.  You can only do the best you can while you're in the moment."

"...the more you walk down a path, the more you start to feel that you can probably handle whatever it is you find at the end."

"...don't think being scared should stop you from something--big and important."

"...it's not worth it to be with people who make you feel like you can't say what you want to say.  Or be the way you want to be."

"You can't wait for someone who isn't going to be there for you."

"...every path is as new as the day you walk it."

"I'm the only one who gets to walk my path..."

Recommended for anyone who has ever felt left behind or different or unseen or human

When Bea finds herself losing her friend group, she retreats and questions everything about herself.  As the new poetry director of the school newspaper, she meets new people and discovers that maybe, just maybe, she is enough, just by being her true self.

This story...these characters...I know these characters...they walk through the doorway of my classroom every single day.  The Beas who suddenly find themselves on the outskirts of friendships they've had "forever", trying to figure out what happened, what went wrong, and how to repair it.  The Briggs filled with positivity and light and energy--willing to help and stand up and be themselves.  The Wills never quite fitting in, staying in their own world, sensitive to everything and everyone around them.  The S's feeling pulled between two worlds and not really being sure where they belong, trying to circumnavigate many different roles, losing themselves.

The Way to Bea by Kat Yeh is a true mirror to children--no, not just children--humans everywhere.  I see so much of myself in Bea.  In elementary school, I went to a different school EVERY year--with each move, I had to decide who and how I was going to be--sometimes I could just be my quirky, strange self; other times I became someone whom I didn't recognize.  How many of us as adults still struggle with this???

Thank you, Kat Yeh, for your honesty and beautiful words.  I can't wait to put this into the hands of the Beas, Briggs, Wills, and S's of the world.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go download a few songs from Bea's playlist. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...