Article contributed by Raathi Chota
Val Emmich’s latest novel draws readers into the world of Teagan and Mac, on one snowy night that will change their perception of each other and other people forever. Maybe We’re Electric is a book about trust, relationships, grief, gratitude, and acceptance. With most of the book taking place at the Thomas Edison Museum, Teagan and Mac confront their darkest truths and inner demons.
Tegan is the quiet, invisible girl who continues her high school life while working at the museum. She sees popular people like Mac Durant lucky and carefree from real-life problems. However, the Mac that step into the museum past closing time is different. Tegan can’t believe the Mac being revealed to her. The side she thought she knew tears away the longer they were alone together at the museum.
Apart from Tegan’s perspective, readers notice a second person perspective. As the story progresses, readers may realise how the author has used this to establish a certain amount of sympathy to project into Tegan. Readers can get into the mind of Tegan but as an out of world experience; a ‘this is what it looks like’ angle. This only adds more simplicity and poetic to Emmich’s writing, especially for a young adult novel.
Tegan’s character revolves around intent and growth, which readers see throughout the story. She is a main character who isn’t perfect, who makes mistakes but does not give up in trying to fix things. The writing style added to her personality, where readers can escape into Tegan’s mind. A little humour thrown here and there, but she never stops thinking ahead and of multiple things at once! Clearly, a likable first-person narrative.
Apart from the popular guy and quiet and shy girl trope, Mac Durant is an enjoyable character. A regular guy who enjoys soccer. He has a minor mysterious streak to him which adds to his likableness. Not in a way that is overused but fits his personal life and what he too is going through. There isn’t one teenager who has it easy today. Mac reveals himself to Tegan in ways he hadn’t done for anyone in a long time. He trusts Tegan and can only hope she fulfils her end.
However, Mac doesn’t know his soccer dreams were humiliated by an anonymous exposing account run by Tegan. She used the account to fuel out her anger at the world for being treated differently and for a lot of other reasons, which include spoilers. This account leads to Tegan becoming distant with her friends and closer to all the gossip she receives online.
Every minute which goes by, and Tegan learns something new about Mac, she has to live with not telling him. Yet if she did, she’d have to explain everything, including how she writes emails to her dad and longs for the relationship she once had with him. It isn’t easy to say any of it, since the reason Mac is there because of his own father.
Some self-actualisation comes from this novel between both characters. Tegan offers advice to Mac while he makes her realise how important the people in her life are right now. There are flashbacks throughout the novel to draw some better understanding, which flowed well into the pace of the story.
There are so many things worth mentioning in this book, but it must be read to get a better and deeper understanding. Even though fiction, it proves how strong connections we create in a short amount of period, how attached people become to something that isn’t there and how we may stay in a ‘comfort’ place to avoid facing our fears or reality. Simply a must—read for all young adult readers looking for something to binge in one sitting or a comfort read.
Maybe We’re Electric is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 21st 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
From Val Emmich, the bestselling author of Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, comes a deeply affecting story of two teens who find themselves thrown together overnight during a snowstorm and discover a surprising connection—perfect for fans of Nina LaCour, David Arnold, and Robin Benway.
Tegan Everly is quiet. Known around school simply as the girl with the hand, she’s usually only her most outspoken self with her friend Neel, and right now they’re not exactly talking. When Tegan is ambushed by her mom with a truth she can’t face, she flees home in a snowstorm, finding refuge at a forgotten local attraction—the tiny Thomas Edison museum.
She’s not alone for long. In walks Mac Durant. Striking, magnetic, a gifted athlete, Mac Durant is the classmate adored by all. Tegan can’t stand him. Even his name sounds fake. Except the Mac Durant she thinks she knows isn’t the one before her now—this Mac is rattled and asking her for help.
Over one unforgettable night spent consuming antique records and corner-shop provisions, Tegan and Mac cast aside their public personas and family pressures long enough to forge an unexpectedly charged bond and—in the very spot in New Jersey that inspired Edison’s boldest creations—totally reinvent themselves. But could Tegan’s most shameful secret destroy what they’ve built?
Emotionally vivid and endlessly charming, Maybe We’re Electric is an artfully woven meditation on how pain can connect us—we can carry it alone in darkness or share the burden and watch the world light up again.
