Susan Becher, who is pursuing her MEd in counseling at UMSL, recently published “Penn & Ava,” a young adult novel about a high schooler finding her place in the world. Becher estimates she spent about five years writing the novel and another two years editing and working to publish it. (Photos courtesy of Susan Becher and Pen & Publish, LLC)

Susan Becher has been a writer since the moment she could hold a pencil.

In elementary school, all Becher wanted to do was read books and write her own stories. As a fifth grader at Gotsch Intermediate School, she participated in a “pals program” that partnered her with an adult to help her pursue her passion.

Naturally, Becher wrote two books – one about her grandparents and another about her pets. Her pal helped her create covers and bind the books, which were then added to the school library.

“It was always something that stuck with me,” she said. “I was like, ‘Someday, I’d really like to publish something and put it out into the world.’”

That childhood dream came to fruition last month when Becher published “Penn & Ava,” a young adult novel about a high schooler coming to terms with her past trauma, finding herself and forging her own path. In addition to her writing, Becher is also pursuing an MEd in counseling at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and previously worked as a family engagement specialist at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Greater St. Louis.

However, like Ava, the protagonist of her novel, Becher went on her own journey of self-discovery before becoming a published author and joining the mental health field.

She was always drawn to creative pursuits, from poetry to music to fashion, but it took time before she realized she wanted a career where she could help people on a daily basis.

“I grew into that trait,” Becher said. “I was a very anxious kid, and I wouldn’t say a loner, I had a few close friends always, but helping people is something that I’ve grown to love. As I’ve learned more about mental health and finding skills to use for coping with anxiety, I love to help others develop skills and grow into themselves and who they really are.”

After graduating from Affton High School, Becher earned a bachelor’s degree in textile and apparel management at the University of Missouri–Columbia. The next several years she crisscrossed the country, moving for her then-husband’s job as a pastor. It took her to San Diego, back to St. Louis briefly and then to New Jersey.

During that time, Becher worked in marketing roles at a few start-ups. She found herself regularly writing social media copy and, in one case, ghostwriting pieces for a CEO.

“I was good at it, but I thought, ‘This isn’t really fulfilling to me in any way, shape or form,’” she said.

It spurred her to not only begin focusing on her own writing but also to make a career change.

Becher decided to return to St. Louis to be closer to her family and to attend graduate school. She was immediately attracted to UMSL. Her research led her to the counseling master’s program in the College of Education as well as the Children’s Advocacy Center of Greater St. Louis.

Working at the CACGSL proved to be an excellent entry point into the mental health field. Becher learned a great deal before she even stepped foot into the classroom, and the role confirmed her desire to work with children in the future as a licensed professional counselor. The master’s program has been an equally positive experience.

“I’ve learned so much,” she said. “I’m halfway through officially, so I’m 10 classes down, 10 classes to go. I’m feeling confident about the program. I can’t say enough good things about my professors and classmates.”

While Becher continues to make progress toward her degree, she’s finally finished “Penn & Ava,” a project that has been in the making for seven years. Becher estimates she spent about five years writing the novel and another two years editing and working to publish it.

Becher has always gravitated toward young adult fiction, particularly in her early 20s as her novel began to take shape, and she counts books such as “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Eleanor & Park” and “Love & Gelato” as significant influences. She also leaned on her own experience as a teenager for inspiration.

“Penn & Ava” tells the story of Ava, a Pennsylvanian high schooler growing up in the shadow of her older sister, Jacklyn. When her sister leaves for college, she cuts off contact with Ava without explanation. Amidst the family turmoil, Ava is paired with Penn, a class know-it-all who she’d prefer to ignore, for an English project. However, Penn makes it past the walls Ava’s put up and leads her in a new direction.

“It’s about Ava finding her footsteps and discovering her unique path,” Becher said. “She has to leave behind a lot of relationships. She’s meeting new friends. She has to reckon with memories of a sexual assault that she has deeply repressed. There’s generational trauma and healing with her family. She confronts her family on some important issues like boundary setting. By the end of the book, she finds the path that she wants to go on and a community that fully supports her as she graduates high school and heads off for college.”

Fans of the YA genre will be familiar with the general beats of the story, but Becher was also very intentional about including mental health themes and characters such as a school counselor and a psychology teacher.

“I wanted to try to get the most important tools that I had into those characters,” she said.

Ideally, readers will be able to pick up some of those tools, such as meditation, to utilize in their own lives. Becher also hopes they will be inspired by Ava’s difficult conversations with family members.

“Families are complicated, and we don’t have to always put up with what the adults in our lives are doing,” Becher said. “We can confront and set boundaries when needed. I think that’s really important.”

She added that, surprisingly, it wasn’t too difficult to get back into the mindset of a teenager during the writing process. But it was cathartic.

“There’s a lot of things as a high schooler that I didn’t get to say, or I didn’t get to experience in the moment,” Becher said. “So, it’s nice as an adult to look back at it and be like, ‘Oh, this is what was going on.’ It’s really cool that that happened then, and this has prompted me to go into mental health counseling.”

Becher said it still feels a bit surreal to have the novel on bookshelves after seven years of work, but she’s thankful Pen & Publish, LLC, a small local publisher, helped her make it happen. Currently, Becher is working on recording an indie pop album and a follow up to “Penn & Ava,” but she’s also trying to take a moment to enjoy her accomplishment.

“So many people have been celebrating it and celebrating me, and that’s been amazing,” she said. “As somebody who doesn’t like to be in the spotlight and doesn’t like to be recognized, I think it has kind of forced me, in a good way, into being like, ‘This is something that I’m very proud of.’”

“Penn & Ava” is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org.