In my second novel, Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It, Jolie is a high school junior with mandibular prognathism. Translation: she has an underbite. Since it causes her a lot of issues, she’s getting surgery to correct it. Her biggest problem? She’s totally convinced she’s going to die during surgery.

This story is a personal one for me, because I also had surgery at the end of high school to correct my underbite. I don’t remember when my long journey toward surgery began, but it was full of braces (as in, I had to have braces MORE THAN ONCE), a device that expanded the roof of my mouth (if you think this sounds painful, you’re correct), and countless visits to the orthodontist’s and oral surgeon’s offices.

Much like Jolie, I was afraid I was going to die during surgery. Had anyone ever led me to believe this was a serious possibility? Nope. Did I have any logical reason to think my risk of death was higher than anyone else undergoing surgery? Of course not. But I’m nothing if not dramatic, and I was convinced I had to live life to the fullest pre-surgery, just in case I didn’t make it through.

Unfortunately, my idea of living life to the fullest was pretty tame—the night before my surgery, I went to a Ben Folds/Rufus Wainwright/Guster concert, then forgot that I wasn’t supposed to eat past midnight and had a sandwich from an Arby’s inside a gas station.

And this is what I love so much about fiction—I was able to go back and rewrite my story, this time with absolutely ZERO illicit gas station roast beef sandwiches. Although she’s insecure and afraid of a lot of things, Jolie is so much bolder than I ever was. She creates a list of things she wants to do before she “bites it,” and she gets them done. Sure, some of the things on her list are easily attainable, like eating all the appetizers Applebee’s has to offer (who among us hasn’t dreamed of doing so?), but some of them require more courage. Jolie might be a little scared about taking risks, but she still goes after what she wants.

I could’ve used a book like this when I was a teenager with an underbite. Even though I knew people who had underbite surgeries, I still felt very alone. Jolie spends her time scrolling through a Reddit oral surgery forum, but that didn’t really exist when I was in high school. I would’ve loved to read a book that spoke to my specific anxieties, ones I never saw addressed in the pages of teen magazines.

This is primarily a book about self-acceptance and learning that you don’t have to fit yourself into someone else’s standards—you can make your own. Jolie learns and grows a ton as she completes the items on her list and by the end of the book, her feelings about herself have changed. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Jolie learns that having surgery won’t turn her into a different, or better, person. She’s just fine the way she is, whether she has corrective surgery or not. I learned that lesson eventually but not as quickly as she did. I hope Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It can reach at least one reader, and show them that they don’t need to make drastic changes to start living the life they deserve. 

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Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It by Kerry Winfrey

Jolie's a lot of things, but she knows that pretty isn't one of them. She has mandibular prognathism, which is the medical term for underbite. Chewing is a pain, headaches are a common occurrence, and she’s never been kissed. She’s months out from having a procedure to correct her underbite, and she cannot wait to be fixed.  

While her family watches worst-case scenario TV shows, Jolie becomes paralyzed with the fear that she could die under the knife. She and her best friends Evelyn and Derek decide to make a THINGS JOLIE NEEDS TO DO BEFORE SHE BITES IT (WHICH IS SUPER UNLIKELY BUT STILL IT COULD HAPPEN) list. Things like: eat every appetizer on the Applebee’s menu and kiss her crush, Noah Reed. Their plan helps Jolie discover what beauty truly means to her.

Start reading now.