Young novelist Laire pens first novel about teen romance

Blontank Poer, Contributor, Jakarta

Many fiction writers start their climb to the top by getting their short stories published in newspapers or magazines. But 16- year-old Laire Siwi Mentari prefers to do it her own way, by publishing her first novel.

The daughter of poet and writer Sitok Srengenge found she was frustrated in her efforts to write a good short story, even for her own diary, although her interest in writing began when she was a fourth grader in Pekalongan, Central Java.

"I've never finished writing a short story, so I've always torn the paper into pieces," she said on the sidelines of a recent ceremony for the announcement of the winner of SIH Award for poetry at Teater Utan Kayu in East Jakarta.

Born in Depok, West Java, on Nov. 20, Laire, now a first year student at SMU 1 Depok senior high school, titled her first novel Nothing but Love, a work that is sure to attract the attention of the literary community as well as her peers.

Set in senior high school, Nothing but Love centers around the friendship of two teenage girls -- Airel and Reval -- and their feelings as they try to navigate the awkward period between childhood and becoming an adult.

Both girls are first year students; Reval has a boyfriend but Airel does not. Like others her age, Airel easily falls in love and in this story, she becomes infatuated with three boys.

One boy, Tama, is a same year student as Airel, only of different class. In her eyes, Tama is a kind boy and she is jealous because the boy is close to another girl.

The encounter with the second boy, Reksa, happens in the school cafeteria when she is asked to leave her class for not doing her homework. As they talk, Airel feels she is falling for his maturity, kindness and intelligence.

In her confusion about her crushes, Airel is reminded by her mother of Aryan, her childhood friend who now lives in a faraway city.

Airel likes all three and at times thinks about getting close to them, but is held back by a fear of being rejected. Caught between hope and fear, she tries to determine the different qualities and failings of the boys.

The novel offers some interesting features. The linear plot offers surprises in all of its 12 chapters, like when Laire includes the novel as part of Airel's literature. Every event that Airel has to go through and all her spiritual experiences are found in the novel that she is reading.

On the whole, Laire is adept at building atmosphere in the story, while the traits of her characters are vividly described. The novel may be considered as falling into the category of metafiction since it offers the author's layers of imagination.

As a youngster growing up in the metropolis of Jakarta, Laire brings a youngsters' vernacular to her novel. Intentionally, she breaks with standard Indonesian grammar and transfers slang into her work.

Theoretically, she applies the pragmatic function of language in her novel. In this way, the ideas will be more effectively conveyed despite the grammatical deviations.

Another strong and admiring feature of the novel is the author's efforts to convey a moral message.

For instance, Airel, who is actually the personification of the author, places herself as equal to her housemaid although she is the only child of a wealthy diplomat. The boy she worships, who comes from the well-off family of a TV star, is similarly depicted in his relationship with his housemaid.

Airel is also depicted as a person with good social awareness, such as by expressing her deep concern about women migrant workers.

Still, Nothing but Love seems to come from Laire's admiration for her father.

Laire began writing the novel secretly in January this year, and for the next five months she devoured many kinds of translated novels, although she is quite proficient in English.

Her father also bought her two novels -- Eiffel, I'm in Love by Rachmania Arunita and Dealova by Dyah Nuranindya -- to inspire her to write.

Without her parents' knowledge, Laire also bought several other novels -- like Princess in Love (Meg Cabot), Mates, Dates and Portobello Princesses (Cathy Hopkins) and Sheila by Torey Hayden -- to use as references for her future writing. She also read several more serious works, such as Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum and Young Love, a psychological exploration by M.A.W. Brouwer.

Despite her accomplishment, Laire remains a teenager. She often nags her mother, Farah Maulida, to prepare a drink and a bowl of instant noodles for her, threatening that she will stop writing unless her request is met. She also makes similar threats to her father, but this time to buy her some chocolate.

The girl who loves photography and is a vocalist in a school band now wishes to improve her writing skill, and will soon pen her second novel.

"Who knows, someday I can write a film script," said Laire.