"Holly Jean and the Secret of Razorback Ridge" by Bonnie Compton Hanson

About this book:

  “When her father is drafted during World War II, motherless Holly Jean Roberts must leave the big city of Cincinnati to live with her Granny in a tiny log cabin in the Eastern Kentucky mountains. She misses her other family and friends and her big Junior High School, but she soon discovers that life is anything but boring on the farm. There she discovers secret waterfalls, what is really behind those strange sounds in the woods, someone called "Madman Max" and other mysteries that she eventually solves with the help of her new friends she met at a small country church.
  How she solves these mysteries as well as coming to understand herself and her need to trust God wholly is the story of Holly Jean and the Secret of Razorback Ridge.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Holly Jean” series.

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Blessings over food; A couple Scriptures are mentioned & read; Church going, sermons, singing, worshiping, & a preacher; Bible reading; Talks about God & creation; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Holly Jean gets mad at God a couple times for the unfairness in her life; Many mentions of hymns, hymnbooks & the song God Bless America; Mentions of God; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of prayers & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, sermons, a youth group, Sunday school classes, singing revivals/prayer meetings & choirs; Mentions of Christians & faiths; Mentions of some people who think believing in God is foolish; Mentions of Heaven & angels; A few mentions of praising the Lord; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of blessings;

*Note: Many mentions of superstitions, magic, ghosts, fairies, spirits, haunted places, visions of things from another world.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dadblast it’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘sissies’, a stinking’, a ‘what the Sam Hill’, two forms of ‘biddy’, two ‘dumb’s, two ‘what/why in tarnation’, and five ‘stupid’s; A mean, snotty girl; Set during World War II & mentions of fighting, battles, & imaging someone dying (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths, killing, a broken neck, blood, hurting, & coffins; Mentions of a bus crash, fires, deaths, burned people & injuries;  Mentions of a death & car accident; Mentions of pain, blood & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of threats of killing & beatings; Mentions of screams & scary situations; Mentions of a skunk & foul smells; Mentions of hating, attitudes & sass; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of lies; A few mentions of prejudice comments (which Holly Jean shuts down quickly); A couple mentions of drunks; A couple mentions of crimes; A couple mentions of throwing up;

            *Note: a mention of Martians.

Sexual Content- a ‘hussy’; Mentions of dating, love, break-ups, boyfriends & being sweet on someone; Mentions of winks, flirting & hand holding; A few mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of good-looking & cute young men;

            *Note: A few mentions of short skirts and scandalous dresses (above the knee-length); A couple mentions of unmentionables; A couple mentions of female figures; A mention of someone being told they had great legs.

-Holly Jean Roberts, age 12-13
                                          P.O.V. of Holly Jean

                                               Set in 1942
                                                        159 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This was different, but an interesting different! While not set in the same time period, I was reminded a bit of the Mandie series, so girls who love Mandie might enjoy Holly Jean. At first I wasn’t sold on the plot & all the “ghost” stuff, but it got better as it went on. (And it there were no actual ghosts. ;) ) A couple thing didn’t seem historically accurate, but the ending was very cute. I plan to look into the sequel to this pre-teen book. :)

See y’all on Friday with a new 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.