Because I especially enjoy middle grade and young adult fiction, you will find a lot of books geared toward these audiences. Additionally, I am particularly interested in books that deal with teen issues including, but not limited to, bullying and teen dating violence. Because I am issues-oriented, a lot of the books I review will deal with an "issue" of some sort.
Additionally, because most of my audience is comprised of parents, I do indicate whether a book contains violence, sexual references and profanity. This is intended only as a guide for parents who are sensitive about material containing these elements.
Here's a list of the top books I have read this month.
Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK by Betsy St. AmantMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a very wholesome book about the challenges a young Christian girl faces when she finds herself attracted to and interested in the town's "bad boy." As she wrestles with who she is and who she wants to be, she realizes that her life as a preacher's kid isn't as authentic as she wants it to be nor is her relationship with God. Whether your daughter is a PK or not, she will be able to relate with the real-life struggles Addison is dealing with and the tough choices she must make.
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Don't Breathe a Word by Holly CupalaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was one of those books I just couldn't put down. The author does a fantastic job keeping the book moving at all times. Additionally, I love how she transitions seamlessly between describing the surroundings or feelings and the dialogue. Cupala is definitely a very skilled author and readers will breeze through this book. Furthermore, she tackles the issue of homelessness among teenagers with such insight and truth that at times your heart will break reading this -- even though it is fiction. As an added bonus a portion of the sales go to help teenagers who are homeless.
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Small Town Sinners by Melissa C. WalkerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Overall I thought this book was very well crafted and it is obvious that the author did a great deal of research. I appreciated that the characters examined double standards that sometimes exist in churches and that they explored their feelings about the religion they had grown up with. I got the sense that it needed to become "authentic" for them. My only complaint with the book is that the author labels the church and its attendees in the book Evangelicals (I think the book would have been just as powerful without a label -- perhaps more so.) For instance, the examples she uses to portray the adult characters doesn't hold true with the Evangelical Christians I know. The author portrays them as very "fire and brimstone" rather than "grace oriented" as most Evangelicals are. I think it would have been better to let the reader to determine in his or her imagination which sect of Christianity these folks belonged to. With that said, I believe the author's overall goal was to show the extremes that religion can take and how this can impact kids growing up in this type of scenario. That being the case, this was well done and thought-provoking.
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Check this page often, because the reviews will change periodically.
