Language arts teacher, Mrs. McNemee, teaches her students about classic authors and novels every school year, but what some students don’t know is that she’s the author of a novel of her own. After nearly three years of edits and rough drafts, Mrs. McNemee published her first book, Just Daisy.
“I’ve written five manuscripts of
full-length novels, but Just Daisy is the only book I’ve published so far,” McNemee said.
Just Daisy is a modern-day retelling of The Great Gatsby from the perspective of the character Daisy Buchanan. The setting of The Great Gatsby is set in Jazz Age New York, while McNemees retelling pits her characters in modern-day Chicago.
“Just Daisy has the same themes, conflicts, and personality types of The Great Gatsby, however, it is set in the modern era and told through Daisy’s eyes, not Nick Carraways,” she said
She found passion and inspiration for writing Just Daisy from two different outlets.
“One of the main inspirations for writing the book was my students, but my other inspiration was when The Great Gatsby came out into the public domain,” McNemee said, “I knew there were going to be a plethora of retellings, and it got my wheels spinning about creating a retelling of Daisy and what her story might be.”
Both The Great Gatsby and Just Daisy have the same characters and similar plot points, but the books are not entirely the same.
“All the other characters from the Great Gatsby are in Just Daisy as well, however, the ending is not exactly what you would expect and certain climactic points turn out differently
because Daisy has different choices,” McNemee said.
Students interested in reading Mrs. McNemee’s book can
purchase Just Daisy from Amazon or check out a copy from the school library.
About The Author: Mrs. McNemee was born and raised in Kansas. She received her
Bachelor’s degree in Secondary English from Friends University and received her Masters degree in English at Wichita State University. She’s wanted to be a teacher since second grade. Before becoming a teacher though, she worked in several other occupations including as a retail associate, an insurance secretary, an advertising salesperson, an adoption agency director, and a freelance writer. She has been teaching for over ten years now. At Andover Central, Mrs. McNemee teaches the classes AP Language and Composition, AP Language, and English 2. Her favorite author is Mark Twain, her favorite book is The Great Gatsby, and her favorite movie series include Marvel, Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings.
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