Category Archives: Contemporary

Colt O'Brien Grows Up

Review: Colt O’Brien Grows Up by George Matthew Cole

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, New Adult 18up, , , , , ,

Colt O’Brien Grows Up
George Matthew Cole
Createspace (Independent)
Published October 30, 2012

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

With computer certifications under his belt and a new job waiting for him on campus, Colt O’Brien, his best friend Bobby and girlfriend Amy head to their first semester of college. Colt is quickly overwhelmed with school work and problems on the job. His boss Gerry is a UNIX guy in a Windows world, and Colt finds himself the only Windows tech providing support for an entire campus of computers. Despite the unfairness and Gerry’s apparent plot to get rid of him, Colt rises to the challenge and is determined to keep up with his work load.

The first semester of college isn’t exactly what freshman Amy Strong expected, either. With her boyfriend drowning in work and school, she is left on her own to ponder her own future. And to her own surprise, what she really wants isn’t that shiny degree at the end of the four year path. She wants a baby.

As Colt and Amy struggle to maintain their relationship amidst swirling emotions and other commitments, both begin to worry about Bobby, who seems to have fallen off his straight and narrow path. Rumors abound that Bobby is drinking too much, and soon Colt stumbles onto the evidence. It’s clear Bobby needs help, but convincing him of this fact will not prove easy.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Colt’s psychic abilities seem to go on the fritz, and he can’t figure out why or how to respond. When an accident disconnects him from his body, his friends and family must wait helplessly for Colt’s mentor to discover what has happened and attempt to bring him back.

Through his journey, Colt gains some maturity through the difficult work experiences and the counsel of his mentors. He learns to bite his tongue and hold back angry outbursts. He begins to recognize when he is thinking only of himself and learns to see others’ perspectives.

Author George Matthew Cole writes with an omniscient stream-of-consciousness style, providing a broad view of the story, though in some scenes it causes confusion. First mention of Colt’s psychic abilities comes almost as an afterthought, but as the story develops, the connection between the ability and the story becomes stronger and clearer. While Colt’s character is well-developed and shows growth, Amy seems to regress. Her interests shrink and her emotional well-being becomes bound to having a child and future with Colt.

 Colt O’Brien Grows Up is an interesting look at a period in early adulthood not often explored in literature. Though ultimately dominated by the psychic problems Colt wrestles with, the story focuses at first on the practical issues of freshman year of college and the struggles and temptations students face.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Heavy. A few F-bombs with other curses throughout.

Sexual Content
Colt and his girlfriend go on a weekend getaway to have sex. Limited details. Two college girls attempt to seduce him while he fixes their computers. Some crude details.

Spiritual Content
Colt has psychic dreams and experiences which he does not understand. He does some research and finds mentors who explain various techniques and procedures.

Violence
Colt and his friend get into a fist-fight while in jail. Colt is injured when he goes to a party to pick up a friend.

Drug Content
College students drink alcohol, often excessively. Colt experiences a contact high at one party.

Save

Save

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher
Razorbill
Published October 18, 2007

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Thirteen Reasons Why

An unexpected package greets high school student Clay Jenson at home one day. It bears no return address. Inside are seven cassette tapes. Curious, Clay pops one into a dusty player and is shocked to hear the voice of his crush, Hannah Baker, who died by suicide just weeks earlier. Clay is stunned. Through the tapes, Hannah promises to reveal the names and circumstances in which thirteen people contributed to her suicide. But how can he be one of them? He liked her.

Hannah’s story sends Clay spinning through town, visiting locations Hannah has marked on a map, reliving each scene through her eyes. His journey changes his perceptions of Hannah, his classmates, and himself, but not always in ways one expects.

My Review

Author Jay Asher tackles the topic of teen suicide with gravity and realism but without glamorizing or romanticizing it. While Hannah’s tapes cast blame and accusation on others, sometimes justly, the back-and-forth narrative gives Clay an opportunity to raise reasons why Hannah was not out of choices, and why her death was a tragedy but not an inevitability. Gritty and powerfully told.

Content

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some crude language but no cursing.

Sexual Content
Reference to masturbation. Two scenes in which a girl is raped. One is not described at all. The other has some graphic details opening, but cuts off quickly. In one scene teens gather in their underwear in a hot tub.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Reference to a teen killed in a car accident, but no description of the event. See sexual content.

Drug Content
Under-aged drinking at a party.

Save

Review: Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Me, Just Different
Stephanie Morrill
Revell
Published July 1, 2009

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Me, Just Different

Senior year should be everything beautiful Skylar Hoyt can hope for. She has popular friends, a hot boyfriend. But a terrible experience gives her a late summer wake-up call, and for Skylar, it’s time to make some changes. No to parties, and yes to youth group top her list.

Until her family begins crumbling beneath her. Her parents seem to be moving opposite directions, with Skylar and her sister caught in the middle. Then Skylar discovers her sister’s secret. Should she tell? Can her parents’ fragile marriage handle a blow like this one?

With Skylar’s best friend acting weird and her boyfriend’s jealousy skyrocketing, she doesn’t have many places to turn for support. She finds herself lonely, troubled and in need of a real friend. Where can she find one of those?

My Review

ME, JUST DIFFERENT is the first book in the series The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt and author Stephanie Morrill’s debut novel. Morrill authentically tackles the drama of high school and a troubled home life, balanced with questions of faith. This is a clean, real look at surviving high school and the challenges a new Christian teen faces.

Morrill has this amazing sense of dialogue and always manages to write these quick one-line descriptions of things that leave me saying things like, “I know, right?” This book made me laugh but it also pulled my heartstrings. I loved Skylar and her sister and needed them to come through the difficult parts okay. This is a great pick for fans of Sarah Dessen or Sara Zarr. Definitely check this one out.

Content Notes

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
Mild. Some kissing. References to other behavior that has occurred, but nothing explicit.

Spiritual Content
Skylar begins to attend church and youth group again as she tries to reforge her faith.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
Some references to alcohol.

Save

Review: Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You
Hanna Jansen
Carolrhoda Books
Published April 1, 2006 (Orig. published 2003)

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Jeanne’s family and home are destroyed when the radical Hutu group, the Interahamwe, begin a nationwide massacre of the Rwandan Tutsi population. As Jeanne and others struggle to flee the Interahamwe soldiers and simply survive each day, a black hole yawns inside of her, a grief and rage that threaten to swallow her whole. But something else changes. She finds within herself an unyielding strength and will to survive.

It is a before-and-after story, told by Jeanne’s German adopted mother. Each chapter opens with a behind-the-scenes look at the events and the healing that unfolded even as the story was told, as Hanna Jansen walks over a thousand hills with her daughter.

Honestly, as I read Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You, it wasn’t until about the third chapter that I really felt myself captured by this book. But by the middle, I couldn’t put it down. I became entranced by the parallels between mother and daughter, despite their differing backgrounds, and the struggles that Jeanne endured as a child on the run in a very dark time juxtaposed against her battle for inner healing, and the woman who never stopped fighting for her. Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You is raw, painful… and yet ultimately a beautiful and powerful tale of healing.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Spiritual Content
None.

Sexual Content
Contains some references to rape.

Violent Content
Contains some references to the massacre of the Tutsi people in Rwanda.

Drug Content
None.

Save

Save

Review: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Ember
Published August 28, 2007 (Orig. published 2006)

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When the girl who just dumped him walks into the club where Nick’s band is playing a show, he resorts to the extreme and asks the random girl standing next to him if she’ll be his girlfriend for five minutes.

Though Nick’s request at first infuriates Norah (what kind of cheap trick does he take her for?), the approach of her not-quite-friend prompts her to take some desperate measures of her own. Like yanking almost-stranger-Nick into an electrifying kiss.

The agreed on five minutes stretches into a whole night of adventure, misunderstanding, reflection and romance. Cohn and Levithan weave a tale full of teen angst, hormones, confusion and of course music. It’s a wild ride from start to finish.

I sometimes feel like the odd one out on this book. So many people rave about it, and I felt like I just didn’t get it. I didn’t find either Nick or Norah particularly likeable. Some of the plot elements felt a little too convenient to me. When Norah ends up in the bathroom with another girl who kisses her, to show her how to kiss a boy, I remember thinking, this is what some men wish happened in women’s bathrooms. It felt more like a fantasy rather than a believable element to the plot.

Also, the language was pretty over the top. I mean, I get that the scene in which the F-bomb gets grossly overused was supposed to be ridiculous, but it was just way too much for me.

If you’re really into boundary-pushing books about music and unrealistic relationships, this might be exactly the book for you.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently. On one page the f-bomb drops no less than 25 times.

Sexual Content
Several scenes of same sex kissing. Twice Nick and Norah retreat to some measure of privacy to have sex. Those scenes are pretty heavy and specific. Several times sex and sexual topics are discussed in conversation. The couple also goes to see a burlesque show that features “nuns.”

**SPOILER**
Nick and Norah do not actually have sex in the story… both times they’re interrupted for different reasons, but it’s by a hair’s breadth.

Spiritual Content
Norah comments somewhat sarcastically in prayer a couple of times.

Violent Content
None

Drug Content
The club where the band plays serves alcohol and some underage drinking occurs. (Nick and Norah drink virgin drinks at the burlesque club.)

Save

Review: In Between by Jenny B. Jones

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

In Between
Jenny B. Jones
Sweet Pea Productions
Published March 25, 2014 (Originally published 2007)

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Sixteen year old Katie Parker is not too excited when she discovers she’s moving to a new foster home in In Between, Texas, home of the Chihuahuas. And to top that off, her new “dad” is the pastor of one of the local churches. Not exactly consistent with Katie’s formerly religion-less life. At her new school, she finds herself at home with the other outsiders. At least, so she thinks. When one late night stunt turns to trouble, Katie finds herself sentenced to time with her new nonGrandmother– Mad Maxine. Could things get any worse? And does the God thing really work?

Jenny B Jones tells Katie’s story with just the right mix of tenderness, humor, and sarcasm. It was an entertaining read, one I didn’t want to put down from the minute I read the first page. Katie is lovable and endearing– and even Mad Maxine really gets to your heart. She’s a trip.

There are three books in the Katie Parker Production series. So Not Happening, the first book in a new series by Jenny B. Jones, will be released in May 2009. Can’t wait to check it out!

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Katie wrestles with finding her a place in her new family– and her new faith. The God thing is a unfamiliar and a little uncomfortable at first. Katie wrestles with doubts and a tenuous new hope. Her view as an outsider coming into a pastor’s family and her questions about faith seemed really authentic.

Violent Content
One scene of vandalism pretty early on in the story. Pretty mild.

Drug Content
None.

Save

Save