"A Simple Song" by Melody Carlson

{{This is an updated review. Originally posted June 24^th, 2013, it was updated on May 1^st, 2020 to the Official Rating System.}}

About this book:

  “From Amish country to Hollywood, Katrina Yoder is in for the ride of her life!
  Katrina Yoder loves to sing, but her strict Amish parents view her singing as vain. Still, Katrina's best friend, Bekka, is convinced Katrina is good enough to try out for American Star, a televised singing competition that Bekka has been secretly watching. Katrina has a good voice, but really--try out for a TV show? Her parents would probably disown her!
  But when her family faces a crisis, it seems to Katrina that the competition might be the way to get the money needed to cover the emergency expenses.
  How will Katrina handle herself as an Amish teenager out in the world? Is she truly good enough to win? Will her parents ever forgive her? And will she be accepted back into her community when it's all over?”


Series: No, a stand-alone.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned & quoted; Prayers; Talks about God & praying; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of Amish beliefs, the Ordnung, church services, sermons, bishops/ministers, hymns, worship; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & Blessings over food; Mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of being blessed; A mention of a child being a miracle;

             *Note: A couple mentions of the devil (or cameras) stealing souls; A mention of idle hands being of the devil.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: A cut-off “[someone] needs to get their heads out of their—“; a ‘stupid’; Katrina lies to her parents about how she is feeling (once); Mentions of injuries & pain; Mentions of alcohol, getting drunk, & partying; Mentions of drugs, addicts, addictions, & someone who overdosed; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of cheating; A few mentions of wars & killing; A few mentions of smoking & drinking; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of tattoos; A mention of someone using foul words;

             *Note: Mentions of songs, singers, & celebrities; Mentions of brand name items.

Sexual Content- A boarder-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; A sudden desire to hold & kiss a boy; A tiny bit of embraces & touches; a ‘sexy’ and two ‘hot’s; Mentions of love & falling in love; Mentions of courting & being interested in a boy;

             *Note: Mentions of immodest/revealing clothing, modesty, underwear, & underwear showing; A few mentions of shaving legs & underarms; A couple mentions of a clothing designer commenting that Katrina isn’t too curvy but not too skinny either; A mention of a(n English) girl saying her shoes make her look sexy; A mention of a dress being sultry.

-Katrina Yoder
                                P.O.V. of Katrina
                                                        280 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

When I first read this book years ago (when it came out), I really enjoyed it. I’m not sure if that was because I was new to the Amish genre and was excited to see a YA Amish book or because I enjoyed watching a batch of those singing competition shows. This time, while I still enjoyed the book and found it to be overall clean, it did feel a little young at times but I liked seeing Katrina’s faith and I do like the ending as well. :)

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.