K.L. Walther on her Ferris Bueller’s Day Off-inspired book, While We’re Young
While We're Young by K.L. Walther is the perfect one for when we just want to escape our life for a bit.
We all love a fun YA read every now and then, and While We’re Young by K.L. Walther is the perfect one for when we just want to escape our life for a bit. Inspired by the classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, this book follows several friends who manage to skip school for an epic day out. It’s a fun adventure, but K.L. Walther didn’t forget to touch upon some deeper topics as well.
To celebrate the release, we are honoured to have K.L. Walther here to chat all things While We’re Young, including a glimpse into her childhood.
What do you think made Ferris Bueller’s Day Off such a classic movie?
Essays could be written on this, but I think that for many generations, almost every high school—whether it be public or private—has some type of senior prank or senior skip day (my sixty-something aunt calls it “Senior Cut Day”). Ferris Bueller’s Day Off shows us one epic skip day that is both outrageous and aspirational, and we ourselves want to live it, too.
What’s it like to retell the story then? Was it difficult to make sure that your story stays original?
Overall, it was so much fun! At times, it definitely was a sticky wicket because there are so many iconic moments in the film, and I wanted to include them all. But the further I got into the story, the more my characters took on lives of their own; they ended up indicating which Ferris Bueller beats fit and which didn’t, or which ones needed to be reinvented. Nearly running into Mr. Bueller was hilarious in the movie, but knowing Isa’s hangups and hardships, I knew my take on the scene wouldn’t work as anything less than heart wrenching.
The friends managed to skip school easily enough. How did you come up with their tricks to skip school? Tell us about K.L. Walther when she was in high school!
Oh, wow…in high school, K.L. played ice hockey, sat on student council, and was a senior prefect, as well as a certified goody two shoes (and I totally own that about myself). One of the reasons James was so delightful to write was because he and I have absolutely nothing in common beyond our love for ice cream! But in all seriousness, I watch a lot of sitcoms and standup comedy specials—I love to laugh—so I was able to lock in to a crafty or class clown-like mindset while writing. My dad was also a bit of a prankster, so I thought a lot about the stories he told over the years. I might’ve borrowed one or two.
There are 4 POVs in the book. How do you keep the voices separate when writing?
The multiple POVs were the most challenging part of writing this book, but I’m so happy with how they turned out. To vary them, I kept track of the characters’ individual “vocabularies” in my notebook. For example, if James’s pulse quickened, another character’s heart rate sped up or spiked. There was rarely any crossover with various phrases or expressions. And while writing, I tried to limit myself to writing one character a day, or if I was on a real tear, I’d take a break for a couple hours to make sure I wasn’t still in “Grace mode” when I started writing Everett. Very different narrators!
The book touched upon some deeper, emotional topics. Why do you think it’s important to have that in While We’re Young?
Sometimes it’s difficult to truly address deeper emotional issues in an hour and thirty-minute movie! One thing I’m especially proud of in While We’re Young is that I had and took the space to not only unfold the fun of Ferris Bueller, but also tackle tougher topics. Growing up is hard! Especially in this social media-ready world we live in! I want my readers to know they aren’t alone with their feelings, that they will find people in their life who care about their well-being, and also that friendships can be tightly woven and true while still being complicated. My characters were inspired by my life, my friends’ lives, and real-life circumstances. I believe that makes for more relatable and richer storytelling.
Finally, can you recommend to us 5 songs you think are perfect for the friends’ day off?
*pulls up Spotify playlist*
Long Live (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – BBC Live Version – Shawn Mendes
Tenderness – General Public
The Louvre – Lorde
The Band and I – Maisie Peters
While We’re Young is available to buy now, here.
