Broken Hearts And Mended Dreams

By Paul Beidler

Overview

The seventeen-year-old drama kid with the red streaks in her hair, has no idea what is in store for her tonight as she walks into the old Pink Cadillac Diner. What Angie Atkinson does know is that she is angry and upset - a string of problems and issues - her Nana, who she always turns to in times like these is seriously ill, a disappointing report card that might affect her future, fighting with her mom and step-father yet again, and, to top it off, losing the prom date she thought she had. She is trying to remain strong. In trying to deal with the emotional pain, Angie has cut herself. Again. What Angie doesn't know is that she is about to meet Susan, a girl from her Nana's past and become a time traveler going back to 1956, a time she thinks is better than her present time. In that world of the past, she revisits parts of her own life and learns valuable lessons from a new perspective. Her time in the past, just perhaps, might be the key to find solutions to her life's problems and self-destructive behavior in the present.
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Description

Broken Hearts And Mended Dreams is a journey of self - discovery and redemption. Angie Atkinson is a typical 17-year-old 'arts kid'. Like many young people she, however, sees herself as 'different' and in many ways she is. She has her own style of dress and loves acting and her theatre classes. She also has more than her share of problems. Her father was killed in an automobile accident when she was almost 10 and this had a devastating effect on her as well as her mother. Angie copes as well as she can until her mother remarries and Angie's family grows uncomfortably. Angie is in conflict with both her mother and stepfather who reject her dream of going to college and majoring in theatre. The saving grace for Angie has always been her relationship with her grandmother, her 'Nana'. Nana has always been her anchor in life. Almost all of Angie's problems have been talked out with 'Nana' at the old retro-50s diner the 'Pink Cadillac', over a strawberry milkshake. Angie always loved the 50s and through 'Nana's stories often wished she could go back to that period in time. Now, however, her 'Nana' lies seriously ill. In addition, a recent report card puts Angie's college dreams in jeopardy. Seeking escape Angie heads to the 'Pink Cadillac'. What she doesn't know, as she sadly sits in her favorite booth at the diner, is that she is about to travel in time back to 1956 where she will meet a girl from the 50s, 'Susan', an old friend of her 'Nana'. Susan guides Angie on a journey that will confront Angie with her past and hopefully allow her to face her future with courage and one last lesson from her 'Nana' Broken Hearts And Mended Dreams is a story about discovery and relationships. Is it possible for Angie to achieve her dreams? Can her broken heart ever be mended? Can she possibly regain the lost relationship with her mother? Can a journey to the 1950s provide the answers she is desperately looking for?
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About The Author

Paul Beidler is a retired teacher with 45 years of classroom experience. Paul taught drama at a variety of levels including elementary, intermediate and high school. In 1985 he started the drama program at Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo, California. For 30 years he taught Drama I, Drama II, Advanced Drama and Stagecraft. In that time Paul directed over 200 plays and 30 musicals. He also wrote a number of scripts for the stage. Full length plays: Hidden - The Story of Anne Frank, Broken Hearts And Mended Dreams, Dracula (adapted from Bram Stoker) American Tall Tales, Stars In Their Eyes, An Unnecessary Act (Principal writer with members of the 2010-11 Off The Wall Company ensemble) Paul has directed a number of award winning plays at Trabuco including: Hidden - The Story of Anne Frank, The Girl In The Mirror, Little Women, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Flowers for Algernon (All receiving 1st place in the Orange County Superintendents Competition) Voices From The High School andThe Miser (2nd place Orange County Superintendents Competition) Amadeus ( 1st place Overall Technical Production Saddleback College High School Theatre Festival and 2nd place Orange County Superintendents Competition) In addition to directing, Paul has performed a variety of roles in an acting capacity. Roles include, Sir John Falstaff and Master Page in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, Monsieur Diaforous in The Imaginary Invalid, The Mayor in Bye, Bye Birdie, The Reverend in Arsenic and Old Lace, Old Joe and Mr. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, Sir Michael Audley in Lady Audley's Secret, Dr. Bradman in Blithe Spirit and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III in Love Letters. Paul is a graduate of UC Irvine and was a multiple honoree in 'Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 1978 Saddleback Valley Intermediate Teacher of the Year, a nominee for the Disney outstanding teacher award, the 2004 Trabuco Hills High School Teacher of Recognition, the 2004 Saddleback Valley Unified School District High School Teacher of The Year, and a semi-finalist for the 2004 Orange County Teacher of TheYear. He lives in MissionViejo, California with his wife Reesa and has 1 son, Steven.
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Book details

  • Genre:fiction
  • Sub-genre:Fantasy / Paranormal
  • Language:English
  • Pages:188
  • eBook ISBN:9781098383275
  • Paperback ISBN:9781098365127