New Young Adult Novel Set in Whitefish Bay

The economic recession has left Whitefish Bay residents unable to pay their mortgages and budget cuts have taken its toll on extracurriculars at the high school.

As a result, all of the jock boys have left the high school, and girls are left with what can only be called a "boy recession."

This is the premise of Flynn Meaney's new fictional young adult novel, The Boy Recession, which hit bookshelves across the country Tuesday.

In the book, the economic downturn has caused all of Whitefish Bay's most eligible boys to move or transfer schools, allowing some of the more unlikely candidates a better chance of making the school's sports teams and catching the attention of girls who might not otherwise have recognized their existence.

Meaney grew up in Westchester County, NY, and after graduating from the University of Notre Dame and earning an MFA in creative writing from Hunter College, she now lives in Hoboken, NJ. She wrote several poems and stories in college and freelanced for her local Patch sites in Westchester County under her birth name Elizabeth Flynn Meaney before penning Bloodthirsty, her first young adult novel, under her pen name Flynn Meaney in 2010.

When asked where she got the idea of a "boy recession," Meaney said it may have been influenced by her own high school, which was 75 percent female. Based on what she's read, she said Whitefish Bay is in many ways similar to her hometown in Westchester County.

"They're both good schools near a metro area," she said. "I just really thought it was a good setting because everyone I've met from Wisconsin has a good sense of humor, and this is a humorous book."

Although Meaney, 24, has never been to Whitefish Bay, she decided to set her book in the village after visiting Wisconsin a couple years ago. Meaney's roommate at Notre Dame hailed from Platteville, so the two of them visited the small town several years ago and saw the town's landmark letter M. They also went to Summerfest, but never made it up to Whitefish Bay.

Meaney did do some research about Whitefish Bay, though. Once she decided on setting her book in the village, she checked out a Whitefish Bay-related Facebook page and asked people to offer a local perspective. She received  survey answers from Whitefish Bay's Rachel Markwiese, who Meaney thanks in the acknowledgements section of the book.

For more information about Flynn, visit her website.