Melissa Minery

I'm an author and school counselor trying to do good in the world. Currently, I am working with high-school students, but I have experience with each grade level and with young adults as a career counselor.

I started writing The Good, the Bad, and the Backstory when my son was in the fifth grade (now he's a junior and about to start driving!). I had just started at my first school as a brand-new school counselor. I was idealistic and wanted to teach kids about empathy and perspective-taking. The characters in this book provide opportunities to put oneself in another's shoes.

While there are bits of me and people I know in the characters of my book, I relate to Kenisha the most. My father was killed in a car accident when I was seven year's old, and I really felt that I lost my person. Like Kenisha, I would behave in ways to protect my young heart from even more hurt; sometimes the choices I made would harm others. I needed to grieve and learn how to get my needs met in healthier ways.

I'm an avid hiker, and I can often be found in the white mountains of New Hampshire, working on the GRID and adventuring. I love to be active, especially in nature, as well as learning new things to "grow my brain." Eventually I would like to simplify my life, so I can just travel and experience the various regions of this country. I've included some hiking pictures and photos from the cross-country road trip that my partner and I took this past summer.