Book Owl Word Search!

Welcome Book Owl Word Searchers!

Today, I am going to talk about my Young Adult Historical Fiction book: My Hands Hold My Story.

My Hands Hold My Story Cover

This is a young adult historical fiction novel, which is a bit of a mouthful! Here’s a synopsis if you’ve never seen it before:

A YA historical western full of grit and heart…

In 1874, Ivy Steele’s deafness is more than a handicap. It’s a disease. Surrounded by a family that doesn’t understand her, she’s learned to cope and find solace where she can. Then, the unexpected happens. Her aunt dies, and her uncle sends her away to rejoin her father’s family in Montana.

Left to fend for herself, after the companion hired to escort her abandons her, sixteen-year-old Ivy faces continual hardship and danger. Several men see an unaccompanied Ivy as a flower ripe for the picking, and things only get worse when masked men hold up their stagecoach.

Barely scraping through, Ivy makes it to Montana with her nerves shaken and what little money she has in her boot. Expecting a peaceful, if not affectionate welcome, Ivy finds herself in greater hardship than she’s ever known.

Surrounded by a stepfamily that hates her, and flung into a life where hearing is vital, Ivy finds solace in a handsome cowboy named Remy. But things with her new family are not what they seem. And Ivy is about to find out that the danger she faced on the journey west, has followed her to Montana…

One thing I did when I first released my book into the world was come up with my dream movie cast. This took some thought. My main character, Ivy, is *DEAF*, so of course whoever would take on her role would have to be deaf as well. There are so few deaf actresses that would be the right age as my character that it was a hard search, but a young actress has come to my notice who I think would be perfect:

Millicent Simmonds

Most people will know her from Wonderstruck, 2017 or A Quiet Place 2018. I think she would be perfect to play Ivy Steele.

The rest of the cast were not as important as my main character, so I’m not as attached to who would play them. I was guided more by age and looks, with a few bigger, more famous names.

Alex Saxon Image VIA IMDb

I felt so old searching young actors in the 19-30 range because I didn’t know the majority of them! I think Alex Saxon (it looks like he’s played in the TV show Nancy Drew) most fits my vision of Remy Prater.

Tom Hardy Image via Amazon

I’ve liked Tom Hardy in everything I’ve seen him in, so I would definitely cast him as Ivy’s father, Mr. Steele.

Amy Adams Image via IMDb

Amy Adams always brings fantastic performances to her roles and I think she would play an excellent stepmother to Ivy, Cordelia Steele.

Cody Christian Image via IMDb

Rounding out my list is Cody Christian as Ivy’s older brother, Simon Steele.

So, yeah. These would be my picks if I had total control over a film version of my book. A girl can dream, right?

In case you didn’t notice, my secret word is DEAF. Continue BOWS at the next stop on Selenia Paz’s site: http://www.seleniapaz.com/

Have fun!