Part of the reason why I wanted to write Hot-Rod Bunny was for my kids. My wife and I adopted older children that didn’t have the benefit of good morals being modeled for them. They needed life lessons! Now, I wanted them to know about cars, my hobby, but I also wanted them to have an interesting and confident role model. It is important – especially these days – that young girls learn that they are great the way they are. In one survey, 59% of girls in 5th-12th grades were unhappy with their body shape. I’m sure it can be said of many boys too!
For me, Beverly represents something that all young women experience. She is wonderful and excels at her passions, but inside she’s battling with her own self esteem. To the outside world, her flaws are hardly noticeable or even admired. Beverly’s prodigious car knowledge and great personality are both things that everyone admires about her. As Beverly transitions from a young lady into an adult, we see her blossom into someone fantastic. The flaws she thinks she sees in the mirror are actually things that other people admire about her.That is what I wanted my children to see – that despite what the world says about your flaws, you are unique and have tremendous potential!
The same story applies to Cynthia; who at the beginning of the story is a young girl who struggles a lot with her self-image. She’s got bright red hair, big teeth, thick glasses, and knobby knees. By society’s standards, Cynthia is in what many people refer to as their “awkward years”. But by the end of the story (Cynthia’s 17th birthday) she gets her braces removed and she’s a tall, leggy, beautiful girl. She grew into her looks. And while both Beverly and Cynthia started the story with physical flaws, it’s those same flaws that we learn to love them for later. All three girls have physical characteristics that make them uniquely who they are; Beverly has her oversized ears, Cynthia has her big eyes and big teeth and Brunhilda has her sarcastic smirk with one eye brow that’s constantly raised. But they wouldn’t be who they are and lovable without these “flaws”.
You’ll notice that in the Hot-Rod Bunny series, each girl has a different body type and different skin tone. There is a girl for everyone to relate to in these stories.
For girls these days, it’s important to have a clear definition of success beyond physical appearance. And that physical appearance is only temporary, our bodies are always in a state of change. The girls in the story all started out with a very minimalistic upbringing at the orphanage. They didn’t have a lot, but they had role models and a strong father figure who taught them well. (That’s a hint guys!) Despite the circumstances that made them orphans, with hard work and diligence they still managed to find their own forms of success.
At the end of Hot Rod Bunny book, we find out where they were headed in life. The bright futures they were pursuing. The following three books cover the humorous stories on how they got there and the incredible adventures they had along the way!