Wednesday, July 15, 2015

"Christy Miller Collection - Volume 1" by Robin Jones Gunn {Teen Week!}



{Welcome to Teen Week! Every quarter we're going to try and do a Teen Week! A week where every weekday has a new review of a Christian book written just for teens! This week will be a little different with a new review and an updated review on Friday! You’re reading the third one of this quarter's! :) } {Day 1 Here!} {Day 2 Here!}

{I'd share the original covers, but they're so 90s.}
About this book:

  “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.


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“Summer Promise” by Robin Jones Gunn

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- Prayers; A handful of Scriptures are read, quoted & mentioned; Many, many, many talks about God; Many talks about what it means to be a Christian; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of Church going; Witnessing; Christy wonders about Heaven & Hell; A funeral; *Spoiler* Christy asks God into her heart *End of Spoiler*; Aunt Marti believes that God helps those who help themselves; Alissa doesn’t believe in God.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘give a rip’, a ‘Holy Mackerel’, a ‘sheesh’, two forms of ‘idiot’s, six ‘dumb’s, nine ‘stupid’s; Curses are said but not written; Christy yells “I hate you” to her reflection after mean kids laugh at her and criticizes her body; A bit of sarcasm; A party where people are drinking, smoking, drunk & talking about marijuana; Todd’s parents are divorced; Mentions of surgery, blood and someone dying (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of suicide; Christy acts like a brat at one point to get back at her aunt.


Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Christy wants to be touched & kissed by Todd (barely-above-not-detailed); Hugs (barely-above-not-detailed); Married couples kiss; Talks about & mentions of the perfect guy and cute boys; A mention of making boys notice Christy; A mention of being a late bloomer; Mentions of staring/checking out the opposite gender; Mentions of girls in bikinis; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of touching & kissing; Mentions of dates; Erik tries to take Alissa to her bedroom (he leaves when he sees Christy packing her clothes); Aunt Marti thinks that Christy “had her first intimate encounter with a young man.” (Which Christy didn’t).

-Christy Miller, age 14-15
                                         P.O.V. of Christy
                                                        176 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens- 
Early High School Teens- 
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
(and a half)
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“A Whisper and a Wish” by Robin Jones Gunn

About this book:

  “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- Prayers; Many talks about God & being a Christian; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Scriptures are quoted and read; Church going & lessons; Alissa believes that Jesus is dead but was “a good man, a good example—like Buddha and Mohammed.”;  


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: five ‘dumb’s and six ‘stupid’s; Mentions of drug overdosing & Shawn being stoned when he died; A mention of marijuana; Mentions of drugs & jail; (Toilet) Papering a guy’s yard; Brittany has bulimia, takes diet pills and tries to get Christy to try them (Christy does not); When the girls do something (like toilet paper a guy’s yard), Janelle’s mom says she did worse as a teen.


Sexual Content- a ‘babe’ and 5 forms of ‘hot’ when referring to how someone looks; Christy has a major crush on Todd; Mentions of cute boys, crushes & who-likes-who; Mentions of boyfriends, girlfriends, dating & kissing; Mentions of flirting, blushes & smooth talkers; Many mentions of losing weight by pills & eating disorders;

-Christy Miller, age 15  
                                         P.O.V. of Christy
                                                        160 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
(and a half)
My personal Rating-
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“Forever Yours” by Robin Jones Gunn

About this book:

  “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- Prayers; Many talks about God & Him not giving up on us; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; A couple Scriptures are quoted & read; Christmas!; Mentions of those in the Bible; Aunt Marti is (sill) not a believer, witnessing to her and Uncle Bob.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘wimp’, three ‘dumb’s and six ‘stupid’s; A mention of drinking; A book called “One Hundred Twelve Uses for a Dead Hamster” (barely-above-not-detailed).


Sexual Content- Four barely-above-not-detailed kisses and a Brotherly kiss; Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Hugs (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of boyfriends, girlfriends, dating, dates, crushes & all that; *Spoiler* Alissa is pregnant with Shawn’s baby. A mention that Erik “never went to bed with her. He tried, but he never did.”; Mentions of abortion; Todd is excited that Shawn and Alissa made a human life (though he doesn’t discount that they shouldn’t have done it), he says “A soul, Christy! Even angels can’t do that!”. *End of Spoiler*.

-Christy Miller, age 15
                                         P.O.V. of Christy
                                                        141 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
(and a half)
Older High School Teens-
(and a half)
My personal Rating-
(and a half)
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
(and a half)
My personal Rating-
(and a half)
Right under 500 pages, the “Christy Miller Collection – Volume 1” brought back many memories for me. This is my second time reading this series and while I enjoyed it much more the first time, it was still a great read. :)
Trying to find more books like this series is actually what started BFCG, fun fact! :D



See y’all Tomorrow with another Teen Week review! :)


*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.

4 comments:

  1. 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?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jaimie! You're a very good detective! ;)
      Before 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

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    2. Hey!
      Thanks 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. :)

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    3. Hi there, Jaimie!
      Exactly, but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! :)
      Hugs, dear girl!
      ~Lindsey

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