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| {I'd share the original covers, but they're so 90s.} |
“Bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn packs each one with enough action, romance, and drama to keep you reading and wanting more. It all starts the summer Christy vacations on a California beach and meets two friends who change her life forever. But after moving across the country with her family, Christy must begin her sophomore year of high school uncertain where she’ll fit in. A red-headed new best friend, a try at cheerleading, a job at a pet store, and expectations for the prom fill Christy’s high school years with a string of laughter-and-tears moments. Fireball Katie keeps everyone guessing what she’ll do next, and surfer Todd keeps showing up while popular Rick has determined to get her full attention! As these memorable years unfold, Christy and her God-loving friends find out what it means to be a “peculiar treasure.” Follow Christy Miller as she stays true to her identity in Christ, drawing closer to God for help in realizing her dreams and dealing with her disappointments.
Whether you’re meeting her for the first time or have known her for years—
Christy Is a Forever Friend”
Series: The “Christy Miller” series. A total of 12 books are in this series, but this series also has spun off four other series and have a few other connecting books.
“Summer Promise” by Robin Jones Gunn – Book #1
About this book:
“Fourteen-year-old Christy Miller has the dream summer ahead of her in sun-kissed California, staying with her aunt and uncle at their beachfront home. Aunt Marti loves to shop, and those surfers are cute—especially Todd. Christy promised her parents she wouldn’t do anything she’d regret later, and some of her beach friends are a little wild. But Todd and his “God-Lover” friends are giving Christy a new image of all things eternal. Can this summer live up to its promise?”
Spiritual Content- A handful of Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & discussed; Prayers & Talking to God; Going to a Christian concert & hearing a couple songs; Being witnessed to; Many talks about God, His way, accepting Christ, Heaven, Christians, & faiths; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Christy goes to a funeral and hears someone witnessing about becoming a Christian; Christy wonders if God cares about how people feel, but recalls a Scripture mentioned at the funeral and decides that He must care; Christy thinks that if she talked about “the Lord” with Todd that maybe he will more interested in her; A teen comments on wanting to find peace to ease “all the pain in [her] life”; Christy envies another girl’s openness about God and viewing Him as a friend and not a “distant, almighty power ready to strike whenever someone did something He didn’t like”; *Spoiler* At the end, Christy prays to accept God into her heart & feels happy and not alone anymore afterwards *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God, Jesus, His way, faiths, being a Christian, & getting baptized; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, Sunday school, & a clergyman; Mentions of Heaven & Hell (including Christy wondering if Hell is a real place); Mentions of a Christian concert; Mentions of sins & being a sinner (which makes Christy upset to hear others talk about sin so much);
*Note: Christy’s uncle tells her to “always do what [she] wants to do”, “follow your own instincts” and “be your own person” which are all his philosophies (later, Christy questions this because someone else did those exact things and it didn’t go well); Christy’s aunt tells her to “take control of your destiny” & Christy attempts to do that; Christy asks her uncle about God after he says “Thank God” (can be looked at as flippant) and he says that religion is something personal, not to be publicized, and that he’s always felt that God is all around and you don’t have to go to church to worship Him (Christy has never known anyone who believes in God but didn’t go to church); Christy’s aunt tells her that God “helps those who help themselves” and all you have to do is be a good person & Christy asks how you know for sure that you will go to Heaven (her aunt bristles and closes the conversation); Christy’s aunt tells Christy to not “overdo” a religious approach to life as she’s capable of taking care of things without waiting on God (*Spoiler* Christy disagrees with her and says she’d rather be true to the Lord *End of Spoiler*); A mention of kismet (which Christy’s uncle describes it as “some things you just can’t explain. You have to figure a higher source is orchestrating the whole program”).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘give a rip’, a ‘holy mackerel’, a form of ‘idiot’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘ticked off’, seven ‘dumb’s, and nine ‘stupid’; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Some sarcasm; A bit of pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Grief for someone who passed away (Christy didn’t know him well, but is still sad, up to semi-detailed); Recalling a nightmare (nearly drowning, up to semi-detailed); Christy starts to lie about her age, but corrects herself; After having enough of her aunts comments and advice, Christy is sarcastic, does things to bother her aunt on purpose (called “silently rebel against her aunt’s manipulations”), & goes to spend a lot of money on clothes but feels guilty and doesn’t go through with that fully (Christy notes that this isn’t like her to be vengeful, but lets the bitter darts fly at her aunt and fights back the guilt of acting like a brat); Christy lashes out at someone & then apologizes; Christy goes to a party where there is underage drinking, smoking, & illegal drugs (She recalls when she tried beer at a friend’s house when they were ten and how awful it tasted; There is also a misunderstanding when she’s looking for a Coke to drink and is nearly handed drugs instead (up to semi-detailed); Todd says that he used to smoke marijuana but doesn’t after becoming a Christian, which Christy doesn’t understand what that has to do with it; *Spoiler* A teen at the party gets stoned and tries to go bodysurfing, but ends up dying (barely-above-not-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of deaths (including from a surfing accident & cancer), grief, & thinking about the accident again and again; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, underage drinking, illegal drugs, smoking, someone being stoned, & parties; Mentions of a mother being a violent alcoholic, her hitting her daughter, injuries, & rehab; Mentions of a nightmare (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of hippies, a protest march, & jail; A couple mentions of almost punching someone & a fight almost happening; A couple mentions of a divorce; A mention of a suicide attempt (*Spoiler* The “perfect” girl Christy becomes friends with prior to the book starting *End of Spoiler*); A mention of not killing someone (and thus being a good person); A mention of not cheating;
*Note: Christy has negative thoughts about herself after being teased by a group of teens at the beach (this including her looking into the mirror yelling “I hate you!”, saying she has stupid eyes, & crying); Christy thinks badly of a friend in a moment of annoyance; Christy feels very insecure often and sometimes depressed (some are due to comments from her aunt), but feels better at times after getting the right clothes and hairstyle (Later, she feels depressed again and wishes she had something stable to latch on to); Christy hates a girl for being so perfect but at the same time “would have given anything” to be like her (*Spoiler* Towards the end, Christy learns the girl is not as perfect as she appears and has prior tried to commit suicide; Christy is at lost for what to say to her until the very end when she accepts Christ into her own heart *End of Spoiler*); A girl talks harshly to Christy about life being hard, people dying, & that if you want happiness you have to make your own (Christy wants to tell back and tell the girl she’s wrong, but does not); Christy recalls the “lecture” her parents gave her about her trip and making her promise that she wouldn’t do something she would regret later; Christy and her father do not have a close-relationship as he doesn’t leave room for free thought or discussion on topics she’s interested/wondering about; Christy thinks about how she won’t be able to have the freedom back home like she’s had in California (such as full makeup when she’s only allowed to wear lip gloss at home & that her parents will “clamp down on everything—makeup, dating, clothes, curfews.”); *Spoiler* Towards the end of the book, Christy’s parents call her to let her know that she has to come home early and Christy is upset, but her father hangs up on her when she asks questions and her parents do not wish her a happy birthday which is the next day, so she is hurt *End of Spoiler*; Going to & mentions of Disneyland, rides there, & characters; Mentions of car brands; Mentions of brand names, designer brands, & stores; A couple mentions of stuck up people (in Christy’s opinion); A mention of a teen going to a psychiatrist to work through things.
Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Remembering a kiss (not detailed); Christy is disappointed to not receive a kiss; Wanting to be kissed & thinking about it (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed on the details but Christy focuses on them and her thoughts); Wanting to be touched & embraced (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Christy has a major crush on Todd shortly after meeting him & often thinks about him (adding that her crush has become “something deeper than she had ever felt for any guy before”); Christy wonders if some guys are checking her out & her uncle confirms and teases her about it (she secretly loves the attention from the guys); Later, she’s excited by other guys noticing her; Christy gets jealous when around other girls due to her own insecurities (sometimes thinking negatively about the other girls & thinking one of the girls is perfect and has it made in every way because of her body and personality; She wishes she could be like her so she would have a better chance of getting a guy like Todd to like her; *Spoiler* Towards the end, she learns that the other girl is not perfect *End of Spoiler*); Christy feels uncomfortable when a certain guy looks at her; When a couple goes off by themselves, Christy is confused by it & Todd looks at her “strangely” (implied the couple is going off to do something sexual); Christy & a friend back home have a contest going about who can go on a date first; Christy finds another girl’s birth control (not named as Christy doesn’t know what it is, but is described) & the teen says she’s been looking for it (*Spoiler* This is the seventeen year old that Christy thought was perfect and will find out she’s pregnant in the third book from events in this book *End of Spoiler*); A guy tries to take a girl to the bedroom where Christy is at (the other girl tried to stop him and he gets upset about being interrupted); Christy’s aunt thinks that she had her first “intimate encounter with a young man” and feels guilt that she didn’t prepare Christy for it (also commenting that men can make you feel used—“especially the first time”; Christy is stunned because her aunt was imagining much more than the kiss she was thinking about and nothing happened like that); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of guys touching girls & being wrapped around the other; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, & dating; Mentions of flirting & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of cute guys, “the perfect guy”, & crushes; A couple mentions of a married couple kissing; A mention of a couple moving in together the day after meeting for the first time; A mention of a teen girl seeming like she’s “been around” and an adult commenting that that’s not the best way to be (regarding her having a lot of boyfriends); A mention of a place not being raunchy;
*Note: Christy feels like she’s as skinny as a green bean and white as a frosty cone after some comments by others; Christy’s aunt calls her a “late bloomer”; Christy’s aunt pushes her to eat healthy & to not eat much at times (to have her skin to gleam and hair to shine (and to have boys notice her), but while Christy follows it a couple times, she mostly sneaks around with her uncle to avoid the healthy foods/snacks); Christy’s aunt comments on her legs and gives the advice for Christy to “watch the starches” and “keep those legs slim as long as you can”, especially if Christy takes after her mother’s side of the family (Christy gets irritated at the endless advice, so her aunt quickly adds the “nobody can ever be too rich or too thin!”); A couple mentions of skimpy bathing suits & bikinis.
-Christina Juliet “Christy” Miller, age 14-15
P.O.V. of Christy
176 pages
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“Christy’s family has moved to California just in time for her sophomore year of high school. But they’re not in Newport Beach, where she spent the summer. Instead they’re an hour and a half away and Christy has to start all over making friends. Despite an embarrassing escapade at a slumber party, things are going pretty well...until some midnight fun leads to a trip to the police station. Does God really hear every whisper? Does He know our every wish? Then why is it so hard to know who your friends really are?”
Spiritual Content- A handful of Scriptures are mentioned, read, remembered, quoted, & discussed in sermons/lessons; Prayers & Talking to God; Church going, Sunday school, Youth group, & a sermon/lesson; Talks about God, Him being in control, Jesus, being a Christian, saying no to things the world wants you to do, & saying yes to what God wants you to do; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Christy talks to her friend about becoming a Christian & is hurt when the friend doesn’t get it; Alissa writes to Christy that she doesn’t understand how Christy gave her heart to Jesus who is dead (she adds that she believes Jesus was a good man like Buddha and Mohammed & while doesn’t understand how Christy can make promises to a man who “no longer exists”, says Christy can believe what she chooses; Christy isn’t sure how to answer Alissa *Spoiler* until the very end when she writes to her about Jesus no longer being dead and living inside of her *End of Spoiler*); Christy doesn’t think her life has changed that much by being a Christian, but Katie says her life has; Christy has a hard time focusing on a pastor because of a guy but tries to pay attention; Christy recalls a verse about God being with her and feels Jesus give her peace in a scary situation; Mentions of Christians, becoming one, & having God inside of you; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & books of the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, youth groups, Sunday school, pastors, services, sermons, & a summer camp; Mentions of “missionary dating” & how it isn’t a good idea; A mention of becoming a nun;
*Note: A mention of the word ‘gweek’ being a “prehistoric, total nerd-ball”; A mention of an alien.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: five ‘dumb’s and six ‘stupid’s; Some sarcasm; Christy toilet papers a guy’s house with other girls during a sleepover (the girl who is hosting the sleepover’s mom is okay with them doing it and takes them because she did “much worse stuff” when she was a teenager; The girls say you only do it to people you like—"like really cute guys”; Christy isn’t sure about it but tries to get her spirits up like everyone else); A new friend of Christy has an eating disorder, throws up after eating often, & takes prescription diet pills; Christy and her friends sneak out of the hotel without permission (Christy didn’t think it was a good idea but went anyway; *Spoiler* The friend with the eating disordered lied to Christy and the other friend & not only picked up prescription drugs that where not her own, but attempted to steal other items and puts the blame on Christy when they are questioned by a security officer; The two friends runaway and Christy is detained, questioned by the police, and has a mugshot taken where it will be on her record; Christy is very shaken by all of this and is grounded when she gets home, including from church *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of drugs (including marijuana and cocaine), smoking, a party with drugs and underage drinking, someone being stoned, & a death (events in Book #1); Mentions of lies & lying (including to law enforcement); Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of a divorce & a mother leaving to go “find herself”; A few mentions of drug overdoses & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of shoplifting & stealing; A couple mentions of a possible burglar & mugger; A couple mentions of runaways; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of an injury & stitches; A mention of cheating;
*Note: Christy can be very insecure and self-conscious at times, feel like she doesn’t belong, & wants to be accepted by new friends and be liked (examples of these times include: when her best friend has a new friend and feels like she lost her to this new friend, likes the idea of being friends with someone who is popular, loving being the center of attention in her new friend group, feeling snubbed when her new friends don’t reach out to her, & tries to project her best “I’m too good for the rest of you” look in the mirror); Christy’s father snaps at her when tired & can be very grumpy; Christy is embarrassed by her mom when dropping her off at a sleepover (Christy thinks that she “can’t stand being treated like a baby” and hopes the other girls didn’t hear); Christy finds her little brother annoying & yells at him once when upset; Christy thinks her family is a mess, but after comparing it with a new friend’s family, she realizes she has it made; Christy’s parents are upset with her at her lack of communication & being gone longer than they expected; Christy’s aunt can be pushy on her thoughts in what others should wear & Christy hates how it makes her feel; Mentions of side characters having “problems” (Alissa in Book #1 and Brittany in this book); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of brand names (Aqua Velva, Folgers coffee, M&Ms, 7-Up, Coke, & Visa); Mentions of Disneyland & fictional characters; A few mentions of places (Dairy Queen, Burger King, & Macy’s); A mention of an artist (Norman Rockwell); A mention of a TV show (Leave It to Beaver); A mention of a “punker” look (punk rocker); A mention of “shrinks” that help those with eating disorders.
Sexual Content- Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; A ‘babe’ and five forms of ‘hot’ when referring to guys; Christy is asked by a new friend how “involved” she was with Todd (Christy isn’t sure what she means, so the girl clarifies as “kissing and stuff”); Christy’s new firend tells her that guys use girls and that “guys are famous for making promises they never keep”; Christy has a big crush on Todd; Christy’s friend Paula has a crush on an eighteen-year-old (she’s fourteen & Christy says it doesn’t sound good); Christy is told by her parents that she can’t date (later, she says to a guy that she can’t date until she’s sixteen); A girl comments on liking both Italian and Chinese guys and food; A girl comments on finding a guy scary because he’s mysterious and untouchable (though she likes that, she still is scared by it at times); A friend tells Christy that there’s nothing wrong with liking two guys at the same time (adding that her mom says that this is the time of their lives where they “should go for as much attention” as they can get & that the girls should decide who they want to go out with without waiting on the guys to decide if they’re interested in them); Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, dating, group dating, crushes, who-likes-who, exes, & break-ups; Mentions of cute & handsome guys; Mentions of a sweet talker guy who knows he can get any girl he wants; Mentions of homecoming & dates; A mention of flirting;
*Note: One of Christy’s new friends has an eating disorder and takes her mom’s prescription diet pills and laxatives & there’s many mentions of and talks about it throughout this book (she compliments Christy on her outfit making her look thin, throws up after eating often, lost a lot of weight after her boyfriend said he liked skinny girls, quotes her mom’s magnet that said “one moment on the lips, forever wear it on the hips!", recalls her father giving her mother a magnet of a lamb that said “ewe’s not fat. Ewe’s fluffy” and her mom getting really mad, her mom taking prescription diet pills and being really skinny, makes Christy not tell anyone that she’s taking the diet pills and gives some to Christy with advice, saying she’s getting more attention from guys since she’s lost weight, an ex-boyfriend commenting on her losing her “baby fat”, and then mentions of those with eating disorders having a voice in their head that tells them they can’t be anything or do anything unless they’re thin, & mentions of professional places who help those with eating disorders, a few mentions of the actual names of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, & a mention of a clump of her hair in the sink); The new friend gives Christy some of the diet pills with the comment that a certain guy will pay more attention to her if she loses a bit of weight (Christy thinks about taking them because she thinks she could stand to lose some weight around her “stomach and thighs” and is curious if the guy will pay more attention to her; This plants the seed in Christy about being unhappy with herself and she starts to pay attention to what she eats to lose weight; *Spoiler* Christy doesn’t take them as she remembers about saying no to marijuana in Book #1 and while this is “different” she decides not to take them, thinking that the guy can like her with the extra five pounds and all; She goes to give the girl the pills back and it never works out, so she plans to throw them away; See Negative Content Spoiler on what happens about this; Christy is told at the end that the friend needs professional help *End of Spoiler*; Christy’s aunt notices the girl’s hip bones sticking out and how she “hardly has enough bottom to hold her bathing suit on” plus comments on the girl needing professional help (she comments that Christy has never had a problem with that because of her healthy appetite, which Christy isn’t sure if that was a compliment or a put-down); Christy tries on a dress (borrowed from a new friend) and isn’t able to get it on (there’s few comments about it being a size three and Christy’s disbelief over someone wearing that size); Christy is described as being tall and slim; Christy notices the difference between her mom and aunt, how her mom looks like “the frumpiest, plainest, dullest woman in the world” next to her aunt, & wonders if her mom will let her aunt change her into a socialite, but then realizes that maybe she doesn’t want her mom to be remade and be the “plain, old mom” that she is; Christy wears a dress that her aunt bought her & her father comments on it making her look older (Christy tells her diary that she’s not trying to grow up fast and puts the dress in the back of her closet to wear when she’s at least eighteen); Because Katie is the cougar mascot for their high school, she is called “Katie Cougar”; Mentions of clothing accidents where clothing is forgotten in front of the other gender, when a pair of shorts ripped showing off the girl’s underwear, & when a girl’s bikini top came off and got stuck in the pool filter; Mentions of teen girls dressing to look older & wearing “excessively wild” makeup (Christy’s parents have the rule that if they can tell she’s wearing makeup, it’s too much); A mention of girls stealing another girl’s bra at a sleepover with the intent to freeze it.
160 pages
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“Christy is back at Aunt Marti and Uncle Bob’s house on the beach for the entire week between Christmas and New Year’s...and Todd is in town, too! The cute surfer completely captured Christy’s heart last summer, and she’s eager to spend every possible minute with him. But soon Christy and her aunt are barely speaking, and it seems like all her friends are mad at her, too—including Todd! Is he hers or isn’t he? And why would God let things get so tangled?”
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read, mentioned, & discussed; Bible reading; Prayers & Talking out loud to God; Talks about God, being His forever, & those and events in the Bible; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Set during Christmas; Christy feels ashamed when she doesn’t hear a prayer because she was focusing on a guy’s hands; Todd has a discussion with Christy’s aunt and uncle about God not giving up on us, those and events in the Bible, and has a deep conversation about it all which gives them something to think about; See Sexual Content Spoiler about reactions to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; Many mentions of God, Jesus, Christy’s promise to Him last summer, being His forever, asking for forgiveness, faiths, & Christians; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, Bible studies, books of the Bible, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, & a preacher; A few mentions of a nativity set; A couple mentions of evangelists; A couple mentions of angels; A mention of hell;
*Note: Christy’s aunt makes a comment about giving prayer and God a few tries “but then we wise up and give up!” (this starts a discussion with Todd saying that God never gives up on us); Mentions of Santa.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘tick off’, a ‘what a rip’, four ‘dumb’s, and seven ‘stupid’s; A bit of sarcasm & eye rolling; Mentions of a death in the first book; Mentions of alcohol & drinking; A few mentions of a restaurant called “The Quiet Woman” and shows a headless woman; A couple mentions of the party from Book #1 with drugs and alcohol; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A mention of an alcoholic rehab center; A mention of nightmares;
*Note: Christy & her little brother argue at times (she apologizes after pushing him when in a bad mood); Christy is upset to have to bring her little brother with her to an event, but realizes deep down that it’s her fault for stretching the truth to her parents; Christy’s parents talk to her about earning their trust & she feel awful; Christy and her aunt’s relationship is strained at times because of her aunt’s manipulation (thinking she wants the best for Christy) & Christy wanting to be her own person (Christy gets irritated by her aunt and lashes out a couple of times; *Spoiler* Christy’s mom shares with Christy and Aunt Marti had a daughter who passed away right before Christy was born which makes Christy view her aunt differently and see why her aunt treats her like a daughter she never had; Christy mentions the baby to her Aunt and is very upset and yells at her; They make-up at the end of the book *End of Spoiler*); Christy has a heart-to-heart with her mom and didn’t think it could be that easy to talk to her (adding “probably because an opportunity like this had never come up. Or maybe because she never tried, because she had assumed her mom wouldn’t understand.”); Mentions of a book titled ‘One Hundred-Twelve Uses for a Dead Hamster’ (Christy finds this repulsive); Mentions of brand names & items (Barbie, Folgers, 7-Up, M&Ms, Oreos, & iPods); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of a movie & actress (Captain January & Shirley Temple); A couple mentions of McDonald’s.
Sexual Content- A not-detailed kiss, two brotherly/protective kisses on her forehead, and two barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Wanting to be kissed, touched, hold hands, and embraced & dreaming about it happening (barely-above-not-detailed); Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Warmth, & Nearness (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Christy isn’t sure where she stands with Rick or Todd (relationship wise, even though she’s not allowed to date until she’s sixteen) & is very confused about it all; Christy thinks a guy (Rick) is coming too fast at her after a kiss & is very confessed by his actions; Christy and some friends discuss being in between ‘in like’ and ‘in love’, making someone jealous, & playing games with another (one friend encourages Christy to make Todd jealous by hanging out with another guy, which Christy isn’t sure about but ends up doing something that results in that and feel bad about it); *Spoilers* Christy receives a letter from Alissa sharing that she is pregnant and while she thought about having an abortion because it “seemed like it would make everything easier, and my problem would disappear. But like they say, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”” And tells Christy about a friend who had an abortion and regretted it as she still has nightmares about it; Alissa went to a Crisis Pregnancy Center and met a Christian there that is helping her; When Christy’s aunt tries to control Christy and comment on Alissa being a good role model, Christy lashes out and says that Alissa is pregnant and will be giving birth before she finishes high-school; When Christy tells Todd, he knows it’s Shawn (his friend who passed away in Book #1)’s baby because while another guy tried go “to bed with her” he never did; Todd is thrilled that Alissa is giving the baby life, but Christy is very confused by his action because she didn’t think “sin was something Christians were supposed to get all excited about”and Todd says that he’s not excited about the sin because Alissa and Shawn should have never “gone to bed together”(adding that it was totally wrong and he knew about it, which ate him up inside) but that God is not limited by their mistakes—that they created a human life/a soul and that even angels can’t do that *End of Spoilers*; Many mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, crushes, who-likes-who, flirting, jealousy, playing games, & being in between ‘in like’ and ‘in love’; Mentions of kisses & kissing; A couple mentions of junior high girls hovering around high school guys & dreaming about them; A mention of prom;
*Note: Christy dresses up for a guy’s attention & hopes to look a bit older for another guy; Christy wears a dress her dad doesn’t approve of (mentioned to be too old for her in Book #2) because it’s the only dress she has for a dressy event; Christy’s aunt gives her a back-handed compliment about her figure and face.
P.O.V. of Christy
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It’s a bit wild having read this first when I was a bit younger than Christy, then a bit older than Christy, and now over a decade older than Christy how much my thoughts have changed and yet stayed the same about the events in this book. Christy has her moments of being slightly obnoxious and bratty but she’s fourteen and very innocent (which isn’t a bad thing!) and has been thrusted into a whole other world without much guidance or monitoring. I did find myself a wee bit frustrated with her attitude at times, but in all honesty, I probably would have acted very similar at her age in some of those same situations. Only some of them, though, haha!
I definitely think this is better for teen girls who have already been introduced to boys/crushes because Christy is a little obsessed with Todd very quickly after he appears. There’s a lot of character development for Christy throughout this series, but will mainly straight to take place in the next book. Christy isn’t the best role model for some girls in this book, but it’s the character development and lessons learned that make this a classic series.
It’s a quick jump back into Christy’s life and the news that her family is moving—to California! But the freedom she was given in the summer while visiting her aunt and uncle plus the news that they won’t be living in the same area has put a damper on her excitement.
Like the first book in this series, there’s a lot of lessons for Christy in this book as well. That’s honestly part of the neat thing about this series—even though it was written 20+ years ago, it doesn’t feel very dated. No one has cellphones and they send letters instead of texts. But the lessons she has to learn are ones still needed today for many girls.
I was excited to see Katie introduced in this book, but way less excited to see Rick introduced. Some details of things that will happen soon are lingering in my mind and I’m glad to see more character development for Christy.
Book #3:
Christy’s hormones are a bit of a wreck in this book and making her emotional at times, but, quite really, it’s relatable at this age especially. š
While she still has a lot of character development that needs to happen, she’s better in this book compared to her actions from the first book already. Todd can be frustrating at times for her—and me too, if we’re being fully honest—but those ending chapters and faith discussions are why so many fans of this series—myself included there too—love the guy. He’s one of a kind in his thoughts and actions.
If you’ve read the first book or even the first two books and you’re still not sure about this series or Christy—give it till this third book. This is the book I feel like you can really see the direction of where this series is going.
*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.
Hi!! so I know from watching your videos on youtube that you read the Christy Miller series before you started BFCG. And from another video you said that you started BFCG when you 13/14. Anyway My question is why do you rate the Christy Miller series 2 stars for 13/14 when you read the book and loved it when you were 13/14?
ReplyDeleteHi Jaimie! You're a very good detective! ;)
DeleteBefore I started BFCG I had read a lot of secular YA books with....interesting content, so when I read this series after all of that, it was a good fit for me because of the dating/relationship stuff this series talked about.
Like every review's ratings, it really just depends on the girl reading and what content/comments her and her parents are okay with. This series is overall very clean, but there are some comments that caused the lower rating. ;)
Hopefully this clears that up, but let me know if you have any more questions! :)
~Lindsey
Hey!
DeleteThanks so much! I've finished reading the 4 volumes and I understand why you gave it a 2 star rating. The mention of drugs and other things might be a little uncomfortable. But I love it and I want to read the spin-off series soon. :)
Hi there, Jaimie!
DeleteExactly, but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! :)
Hugs, dear girl!
~Lindsey