Bookshelf: For the island youth who felt written off, ‘Always Never Knowing’ writes them back in

Georgiana Quintanilla Tyquiengco

By Ron Rocky Coloma

Jiavonna “Vonna” Cepeda is not your typical island teenager. She’s observant, restless and torn between what she feels and what she’s expected to say out loud.

In “Always Never Knowing,” author Georgiana Quintanilla Tyquiengco lets Vonna speak — not just for herself, but for an entire generation growing up in the southern villages of Guam.

Published by University of Guam Press, “Always Never Knowing” is a debut collection of fictional short stories that traces the inner world of adolescence through Vonna’s perspective.

Written in an inventive mix of formats — from poems to text messages to school reports — the book is equal parts experimental and deeply rooted in lived experience.

“I joined a writing group back in 2020, and one of the writers commented that I captured the youth voice well,” Tyquiengco said. “I wanted to see that through and explore stories through that lens.”

That voice, at times humorous and other times quietly heartbreaking, feels authentic because it is. Tyquiengco said the stories were inspired by conversations she had while growing up, as well as her work with local youth.

“So much of the book is inspired by real conversations I’d had as a kid or while working with youth,” she said. “One of my favorite things to witness is the curiosity, emotional range and train of thought they’re capable of. I love seeing the conclusions they’re able to draw themselves, and I wanted to showcase that.”

Though categorized as young adult fiction, the collection is layered enough to resonate with adults who remember what it felt like to be misunderstood, to crave independence or to navigate unspoken family dynamics.

“Everyone is young at least once — that’s where the universal truth comes in,” she said. “Even if you don’t live here (on Guam), most people can relate to being young, having a complex family dynamic and questions about the world around them.”

Tyquiengco said she hadn’t initially set out to write for teens until the University of Guam Press released a call for submissions in the young adult genre. “A challenge fell into my lap to write from a teenage perspective in contemporary Guam, and I couldn’t say no,” she said.

She also embraced the creative freedom of storytelling formats not typically seen in traditional short fiction. One story, “Meet Althea,” pulls readers through scraps of school assignments, texts and handwritten notes.

“At first, I wanted the story told only in notes and texts, but it wasn’t working,” she said. “I had to get creative and connect all these parts of the story through different modes of a paper trail.”

The characters themselves are often amalgams of students she’s worked with, including one who stood out for his sudden shift in tone.

“He was always joking, but one day, he’d expressed what was bothering him, and it showed how much he’d felt he’d been written off when he was being serious,” she said.

Bicultural identity is another central theme, explored not through academic analysis but through offhand remarks and awkward moments that shape how young people see themselves.

“They’re not sure what to make of it, and they’d never felt ‘other’ before until someone points it out,” she said. “I relate to it a lot. I’d never felt like I was half of anything until a stereotype comes along to remind me.”

While writing the stories was personal, the responses from readers have been unexpectedly emotional. Poet and educator Terisa Siagatonu, who wrote the book’s foreword, told Tyquiengco the stories helped her reflect on “tender relationships” with loved ones.

“I don’t have a mission to change everyone who comes across this book,” Tyquiengco said, “but if any of the themes resonate with the reader in such a way, I’m glad they felt they weren’t alone.”

That sense of validation — of being seen — is exactly what Tyquiengco hopes future writers and readers take from the book.

“I hope, for both the Marianas and Federated States of Micronesia, that it sparks some of the courage that’s necessary to tell truths in fiction,” she said. “I also hope it shows them that there is room for them to exist in this world and the world they make up.”

Always Never Knowing is now available for pre-order online at uogpress.com and in-store at UOG Press for a special early-bird price of $15. After the promotion ends on Monday, June 16, the book will retail for $17. Following the launch, Always Never Knowing will be made available at local bookstores.

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