Category Archives: Christian World-View

Review: Unfolding by Jonathan Friesen

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Magical Realism, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
Unfolding by Jonathan Friesen

Unfolding
Jonathan Friesen
Blink
Published January 31, 2017

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About Unfolding

Jonah’s been in love with Stormi pretty much since the day the twister plucked her up from her home and set her down unhurt in his neighbor’s yard. Mysterious, beautiful, and a gifted mechanic, Stormi often senses things before they come to pass. When one of her premonitions results in a girl’s death, the town rallies against her. Jonah follows her, determined to clear Stormi’s name. In the process, he uncovers a dark secret the town has kept for most of his life.

My Review

Friesen has this ability in his writing to craft guys you can’t help but root for. His heroes have all the odds stacked against them, huge obstacles to overcome and of course hope for impossible love with the most beautiful girl. Which pretty much means I love his novels. Unfolding was no different. It’s a quick read, too—I think I tore through it one evening in just a few hours. So much happens in the story that I kept turning pages and barely noticed anything else.

One of my favorite things about the story was the way the more whimsical/supernatural elements intersected with the reality-based parts of the tale. It gave the story kind of an otherworldly vibe but still left it in a largely contemporary setting. I don’t know if that makes sense. I liked that blend. Sort of like Twister meets The Village, if I can use movie references.

If you like contemporary stories with a paranormal edge to them, you should definitely check out Unfolding. Fans of the Beautiful Creatures series The Raven Boys should add Unfolding to their reading lists.

Content Notes for Unfolding

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
The story takes place in a small Midwest town. Jonah has scoliosis. At times this seems pretty debilitating, but he doesn’t let it stop him from doing much of anything he wants to do. He also has seizures. See spoiler section for more on this. One of Jonah’s friends seems like maybe he could be on the autism spectrum, but it’s never clarified.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Jonah believes rumors about Stormi having sex with other boys. Stormi’s adopted brother repeatedly makes advances and comments to her which she dodges and ignores. Jonah feels some intense attraction toward her, and a couple of times references feeling a heightened physical response to his desire to be with her. The comment is about as oblique as I’m being here.

Spiritual Content
Like a prophetess, Stormi knows things she couldn’t possibly know and warns the town about events to come. Sometimes they heed her warnings and other times blame her for things she predicted.

See spoiler section.

Violent Content
Reference to murder and rape. A man recollects that it was horrible listening to the sound of his daughter being murdered and not being able to stop it. Two people die in an accident. A cult-like group of men threaten to kill one of their own after he betrays them.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

SPOILER

Jonah learns that his town is under a curse. Years ago, innocent teens were murdered. The townspeople covered it up, and now it seems this curse will punish them for refusing to acknowledge the lives lost.

Resolving the curse stops Jonah’s seizures. I wouldn’t think much about this except that I recently read an article about the representation of epilepsy in literature, so it made me consider this character and plot in a different way. One of the things the article discusses is the way that having seizures equated to a curse or something like that is it sort of draws a connection between seizures and evil, which perhaps perpetuates a stigma about epilepsy (which people once used to believe meant demon possession).

While I don’t in any way think this was the author’s heart or intent, it did strike me that, for someone reading this book who has epilepsy, this could be a disappointing component to the story.

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Review: Almost There by Laurel Garver

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

Almost There
Laurel Garver
Createspace
Available May 17, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Just before Dani and her mother escape to Paris for healing and restoration, Dani learns that her grandfather has been hospitalized. The Paris trip was supposed to be the inspiration to create the artwork that will make Dani’s mother a star, plus the project that will save Dani’s own grade in art class. Now, unless Dani can fix up her grandfather’s house, repair the damaged relationships between him and his children, and find someone to care for the ornery man while they’re gone, her trip is a lost cause.

Dani can’t give up, especially when she learns of her grandmother’s dreams that one day her mom would become a famous painter. As Dani struggles to make her life into the perfect happily-ever-after, she discovers that the people she loves most have other plans, other dreams than the ones she imagined for them. She learns that like her grandfather, she, too must learn to love others beyond what they do for her and for themselves.

I really liked this story. I found Dani easy to identify with. Her struggles with trying to make things turn out right for everyone else really resonated with me, as did her confusion over her feelings for her neighbor and her hurt over her boyfriend’s behavior toward her. It definitely echoed my own teen experience in some ways.

The faith elements play a strong role in the story, but they didn’t seem to dominate or steal the show. I liked that prayer was kind of a natural part of Dani’s life, and that the author included it in such an open, organic way. To me it felt more experiential and less preachy, which I think is a great thing.

If you liked To Get to You by Joanne Bischof, check out Almost There for the similar innocent romance and organic expression of Christian faith.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
All characters appear to be white. Dani’s family is wealthy as is her boyfriend’s and friend’s. She meets a boy from much more humble background.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Dani and her boyfriend are very close but have agreed not to have sex until after marriage. They share kisses, and she becomes nervous if she thinks he has ideas beyond that.

Spiritual Content
Dani and her friends pray at difficult intervals throughout the story. Dani shares her faith with her mom, not like salvation prayers, but more like sharing her current experience. For instance, she talks of learning to trust that God will work things out in her life. These deep faith moments happen as though they’re a part of normal life, which might be strange for some readers, but accurately depicts the kind of faith experience of some evangelical Christian families.

Violent Content
Dani’s grandfather becomes violent when he doesn’t get his way. Nothing huge, but his temper is definitely not under control. A fire leaves one man dead.

Drug Content
Dani worries about her uncle, a recovering addict. She learns that her friend’s dad is an alcoholic. The story shows no drug abuse.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Girl Talk by Lois Walfrid Johnson

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Nonfiction, , , , ,

Girl Talk: 52 Weekly Devotions by FaithGirlz
Lois Walfrid Johnson
Zonderkidz
Published May 4, 2010

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

A while back I reviewed a girls’ bible study that left me disappointed—both in the appropriateness of the subject matter for the age group and in some of the teaching. Since then I’ve been on the hunt for a devotional or study that my eleven-year-old and I could do together, something that addresses some of the issues she faces on a daily and weekly basis.

Girl Talk is set up in chapters, one for each week. Each chapter begins with a story in which the main character faces an obstacle or choice. Sometimes the story ends with the dilemma unsolved, and the questions instruct the reader to share what she thinks should happen next and why. Other times the character makes a choice (good or bad) and the reader is asked to evaluate the outcome.

The issues raised definitely fall within the kinds of things my daughter and I frequently discuss. The girls in the stories face issues with friends at school or bullying. They struggle with family situations and challenges with parents or siblings.

Each Girl Talk story is followed by a series of discussion questions meant to be tackled over each day through the rest of the week. The chapters begin with a scripture that addresses a key issue from the story and end with a written prayer also relating to the topic from the chapter.

If you do the devotional this way, it should only take a few minutes to read the story and answer a question on each day. If you wanted to use the book for a more concentrated study, I think it would make a great source for a weekly meeting, as the questions all relate to each other and gradually lead to a conclusion.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this book, and I’ve already talked to my daughter about doing the lessons together. She’s really excited. The only thing I can think to say that I wish was done differently was the fact that culturally it felt very bland. I think it could have been cool to see more of an ethnic feel and some diversity to the characters featured in the stories. Other than that, I loved it and definitely recommend it to girls looking for gentle but grounded, practical devotions.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12

Cultural Elements
A few of the girls featured have ethnic names. One is Chinese, a couple are Spanish. Beyond this, the stories read pretty generically in terms of race or culture. It would have been cool to see them infused with a more diverse feel. I recognize they’re really short stories, and there’s not a lot of time for developing setting and character, but I think it could have had more of a diverse feel than it did.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
See review. The devotional explores real life situations and girls who want to behave in a manner consistent with Christian values. The lessons instruct girls using Bible verses and prayer.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
In one of the stories, a girl’s mother drinks too much and neglects her younger sister.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: Gilt Hollow by Lorie Langdon

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Gilt Hollow
Lorie Langdon
Blink YA/Zondervan
Available September 27, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Ashton Keller has longed for this moment every day for the last four years: the day he returns home to Gilt Hollow for revenge on the boys who ruined his life. He will do whatever it takes to clear his name and prove he didn’t murder his friend Daniel. But the town doesn’t greet him with welcoming arms, and it’s certainly not going to give up its secrets easily. Harder still, being back reminds Ashton of things he’d rather forget, like his best friend Willow.

Willow spent months writing Ashton every day after his conviction, which she believed false. She stood by him, even though all she ever got in return was silence. Now that Ashton’s back, she’s determined to steer clear. But the affection that brought them together once somehow survived their time apart. With Ashton digging up the past, Willow must decide whether to stay away or risk her own life. As the sinister truth about what happened the day Daniel died begins to emerge, Willow and Ashton realize the next murder victim may be one of them.

This story is a bit darker than the Doon series tales that Lorie Langdon wrote with Carey Corp. I wasn’t sure if there would be some kind of supernatural element here in Gilt Hollow. There isn’t, but I didn’t feel like the story needed it either.

The whole perfect pure girl falls for bad boy storyline is not a new idea. I worried that the romance elements would overshadow the rest of the story, but I think there’s actually a really great balance between the plot of solving the murder and the development of the romance.

I enjoyed the antics between her and her best friend Lisa. She was another character who kept the story from getting too swoony. I wasn’t a huge fan of the way Lisa pushed Willow to wear things outside her comfort zone, especially when the goal seemed to be to impress a boy. It’s definitely something that happens, but I guess I would have had more respect for Willow if she stuck to her guts and wore what she was comfortable with rather than trying to be someone else.

The most difficult part of the story for me was the fact that both Willow and Ashton continue to date other people as the romantic tension between them heats up. Neither of them seemed to have any feelings of guilt or remorse for basically leading their dates on or using them to gather information. I feel like at least a pause for reflection or some acknowledgement that what they were doing was wrong or hurtful would have made me like them more. Ashton’s girlfriend does have a frank conversation with him about not wanting to be used, but he doesn’t come clean with her or seem to feel that bad even when he reflects on it briefly afterward.

On the whole, I enjoyed the story, especially the mystery elements. I don’t read enough stories with this blend of mystery and romance. The suspense elements were light enough that I think even younger teens could handle them. See below for content information.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
All major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Two instances of mild profanity. Someone urinates on a popular boy’s football jersey. I’m disappointed in the use of profanity in the book. Blink is an imprint of Zondervan publishing books with no overt Christian message, but even so—profanity? Really? Why is this in a book by a Christian publisher?

Romance/Sexual Content
Ashton and Willow get a little bit fresh with each other in comments that hint at sexual contact. They’re fairly oblique. A boy and girl kiss several times. Both Ashton and Willow date someone else as a means to gather information. They aren’t faithful and don’t really seem to have much remorse about it.

Spiritual Content
Willow’s pastor makes a brief appearance and offers her some spiritual advice. It’s a small moment that doesn’t drive the story, but it felt authentic.

Violent Content
A couple boys have a brief fist fight.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: INFECtIOUS by Elizabeth Forkey

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Infectious
Elizabeth Forkey
Available June 18, 2014

Amazon | Goodreads | Author’s Website

The only thing separating Ivy and her community from a deadly zombie plague is a fence. All day long, she can hear them taunting her from the other side. Once she had the same disease they do. Then she learned a truth that changed her forever: she became a Christian, and her disease was healed.

When a missionary brings a young boy and new Believer to the community, his brother, still plagued with disease, demands that the people let the boy return to him. At first Ivy is disgusted with this outsider and his stink of rot. Just as she’s learning to accept him, he disappears, and Ivy learns that the organization responsible for the zombie plague wants to capture her. Worse still, that someone within the community has betrayed her. When an attack comes, Ivy has to figure out who she can trust and who will help her escape with her life.

I thought the setting was a really fascinating component of Infectious. It takes place after the Rapture has taken Christians and young children from the earth. A deadly plague with Leprosy-like symptoms spreads throughout humanity. The only cure is to surrender one’s life to God and become a Christian. I thought that made an interesting metaphor for faith and lent itself well to a post-apocalyptic zombie story. So that was cool.

In this dark time, most of the Believers sequester themselves inside communities barred to outsiders. Some of the mechanics of how this works were a little bit of a stretch to me in terms of how they got supplies and those sorts of logistics. There are some missionaries who travel among the infected and bring new converts to live in communities like Ivy’s.

At one point, Ivy’s in a bit of trouble, and her attitude definitely needs adjusting. She winds up having a come-to-Jesus moment in which she reconnects with her faith in a deeper way and believes that hiding away in these shut-in villages isn’t the right way to live as a Believer.

I loved that moment, because reading the story, I’d been thinking much the same thing. Why are they hiding away from everyone when they literally have the cure for the disease that’s literally killing humanity? So that was awesome. I thought okay, maybe she’ll become a missionary or something now. Instead, she has this big revelation and then kind of immediately falls back into her usual patterns of thinking and behavior, which I found disappointing.

Sometimes it felt like this story wasn’t sure what it was really about. Is it a love story? Is it an allegory about Christian faith? Infectious explored both of those ideas, but sometimes they didn’t play nicely together.

Overall, I think taking a post-apocalyptic zombie story and adding the faith elements to it made for a fresh, interesting tale. The story didn’t deliver for me in terms of exploring what the church should be in a dark time like that. I found myself disappointed in the whole ‘hiding away in homogenous communities’ thing. I didn’t find that to be an admirable representation of the body of Believers.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
The two cultures at play were Christian versus non-Christian. The story didn’t focus on race or orientation. I think all of the characters may have been white. There was one guard who had sort of an island accent.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some references to sex.

Spiritual Content
Infectious takes place in a community of people who became Christians post-Rapture. Becoming a Christian heals the Believer from a deadly disease. Outside the community, people are sick. Many appear to pursue drug abuse, promiscuous sex, and cannibalism.

Violent Content
Apparently food has become so scarce that outside Ivy’s community, people have resorted to cannibalism for food. In some places women conceive children to later sell them to be used as food. It’s horrible and also honestly, that was difficult for me to get my head around. It’s awful, but also didn’t seem very practical. It seemed like a really difficult, expensive way to attempt to get food.

The story contains brief descriptions of the symptoms of the disease, which causes flesh to rot and fall off, much like Leprosy. A man attacks Ivy and scratches her neck. Another man fatally shoots a girl.

Drug Content
Brief references to drug abuse happening outside Ivy’s community.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: 30 Days of Goodness, Love and Grace by Susie Shellenberger

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

30 Days of Goodness, Grace and Love: A Faithgirlz Bible Study
Susie Shellenberger
Zonderkidz

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

This Bible study contains three parts. Part one explores the power of goodness through the book of Colossians. In part two, the author explores love via the story of Ruth. Part three teaches about the power of grace through the book of 1 Peter. Each part is broken down into sections, one for each chapter. Each section contains “bites,” smaller, more focused portions. The author suggests completing one bite per sitting. Each section closes with a review to complete with a friend or Bible study group.

I’m not sure why the title says 30 Days. I expected the book to be broken down into thirty chunks, but it isn’t. Each section contains roughly eight or ten bites, so even that works out weirdly for use with a weekly study group. If there were seven bites per section, that would break down perfectly. And then it would be a simple thirteen week study. But it’s not. The way it’s mapped out, while confusing, isn’t my biggest issue with the book.

Let me start with what I liked. My absolute favorite piece was a short article about how to choose a Bible that’s right for you. It followed a study on the importance of reading the Bible, which made it very well-timed. The advice was practical (do you want a big Bible or something you can slip inside your purse?) and thoughtful (consider a study Bible, here’s why…). Overall, I found it impressive. Great moment.

I love the story of Ruth and Boaz. It’s one of my favorites, so I was really excited that it’s included in this study. Some of it I really liked and thought was insightful. Other parts were a bit confusing. One such thing was a long passage explaining how mortgages and the Year of Jubilee worked. While it was fascinating to me as an adult, I don’t know that it translates well for girls in the study’s target age and it never really tied to the study in a critical way. I think it could have been left out entirely.

I requested to review this book because my daughter is eleven. The description suggests this study for eight to twelve year-old girls, and I was really hoping my girl and I could work this study together. There are several reasons why that’s not going to happen:

  1. Some of the content is too mature for her age. There are examples about girls sexting and a lot of focus on dating and preparing for marriage (I’d say about 1/3 of the content of the book focuses on this). That’s just NOT where we’re at, and I have to wonder how many families with girls this age are looking for a study with this type of content.
  2. The section on goodness largely focuses on outward behavior. It seems to imply that being a better Christian means talking about God all the time, to everyone, including your Facebook community. While I think spiritual transparency is a good thing, I don’t feel that the true meaning of goodness was deeply addressed in the section. It was more like, here’s a list of things that good people do. Make sure you do all of them.
  3. One the author comes back to several times is that ideas and curiosity can be dangerous. I had a really hard time with this. I want my daughter to ask questions, to think about things. Now, I want her to take her questions to trusted sources: me, other mentors, the Bible, etc. But I don’t want her to grow up thinking that curiosity or questions are bad. Questions are a part of life. My favorite Bible heroes often questioned God in pretty bold ways!
  4. Some examples used to support or explain scripture don’t really fit. For example the author talks about Revelations 3:16: “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” The example that follows is the story about placing a frog in lukewarm water, then heating it, and he dies once the water gets hot. Whereas, if you put him in hot water, he’ll jump out. I just don’t see how those two things connect in a parallel way. The frog stays in lukewarm water. He jumps out of the hot water. It’s the opposite of what the scripture is saying. I get the point, I just don’t think this story supported it.

Overall, I find myself disappointed. I think this would be a better study (if edited for consistency) for girls ages fourteen to sixteen.

I’m still on the hunt for a good study for my daughter and me. If you’ve done one you love, please comment below and tell me about it! I’ll be sure to post about it if I find a good one.

Cultural Elements
Some references to differences in culture in Jews vs. Gentiles in Biblical times.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Conversations about dating. One quiz question asks about a girl who has been “sexting” boys.

Spiritual Content
See above. The introduction to the section on Colossians talks about how combining ideas outside Christianity into faith (adding bits of Buddhism for instance) makes one no longer a Christian. (I do agree with this, but I wish she’d clarified that finding common ground between belief systems is different than adding outside beliefs to one’s own.) There’s a comment later about how Satan will use curiosity to destroy, and the example given is like, people who got curious about Satanism end up in over their heads. I kinda get what she’s saying, but it was a really extreme example that probably doesn’t apply to most kids.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
One quiz question features a girl tempted to smoke a cigarette.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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