ISSUED: 3 October 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Hans Fogle

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV - Shepherd University Professor Dr. Matthew J. Kushin focuses on finding happiness in his new coming-of-age novel, "Beware the Smart Kids."

The book follows a lonely high school troublemaker in a small Appalachian community whose life is turned upside down when an ex-convict who knows the secrets to happiness returns to town.

Kushin said he wrote the book as a response to the teen mental health crisis.

"I taught a class at Shepherd University titled Happiness: Media Versus Reality," Kushin explained. "We talked a lot about misperceptions about what makes us happy. I wrote this novel as a way to impact a wider audience with some of the themes of the class."

Although it is a young adult novel, award-winning author Margaret Standafer said "Beware the Smart Kids" will appeal to everyone.

"It is a story for teenagers - those who feel invisible, those who are hiding their pain, those who think they'll never find the answers, those who are yearning for something but don't know what," Standafer said. "And it's a story for 'former teenagers' who are now trying to raise and love a teenager but who have likely forgotten the hard parts of being one."

The Shepherd University Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities and Shepherd's Scarborough Library are hosting a book launch party on Wednesday, October 9 from 4-6 p.m. Guests can meet Kushin and purchase signed copies of the book.

"Beware the Smart Kids" is available for purchase online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-Million.

Cover art for the book has been designed by Monica Larson, professor of communication in the Department of Contemporary Art, Communication, and Theater.

Matthew J. Kushin, Ph.D. is a professor of communication in the Department of Contemporary Art, Communication, and Theater at Shepherd University. He is also a senior fellow at the Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communication at Shepherd University.

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