Books for Christian Girls: "An Unexpected Role" by Leslea Wahl

About this book:

“After a humiliating event and overwhelming peer pressure, 16-year-old Josie flees her home to spend the summer with her Aunt on a South Carolina island. Her fresh start turns into the summer of her dreams as friendships grow, romance blossoms, and a series of thefts surround her with excitement. However, when tragedy strikes someone close to her, Josie realizes there are more important things than her reputation. As she sets out to solve the mystery she has become entangled in, she not only realizes the importance of relying on her faith but along the way also discovers who God wants her to be.”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Scriptures are read, mentioned, thought over, remembered & quoted; Going to Church for mass & a sermon; Going to a chapel; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Josie tried praying before, but when nothing happened to her that she wanted, she stopped (she does try sooner than half-way in this book to pray again); Mentions of God & faiths; Mentions of prayers & making bargains with God; Mentions of churches, mass & praising God; Mentions of a sermon, a priest & thanking God; Mentions of a youth group & leader; A few mentions of those in the Bible; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of being blessed; A couple mentions of religious refugees; A mention of Hail Marys;

*Note: A mention of Medusa; A mention of bad karma.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a “you ass…tronomical jerk” is said, written as quoted; a ‘darn’, a ‘heck’, a ‘holy crud-muffin’, an ‘OMG’, two ‘dang’s, two ‘duh’s, two forms of ‘freakin’’, two ‘gosh’s, two ‘shoot’s, two ‘shut up’s, two forms of ‘suck’, three ‘oh my gosh’s, four forms of ‘screw up’, six ‘geez’s, six ‘idiot’s, nine ‘dumb’s, sixteen forms of ‘stupid’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Josie can be rude and disrespectful to her mom (she think her mother ruined her life) and others; Pain & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Lying & Lies; Many mentions of thieves, burglaries, robberies & a scam; Mentions of wars, the Army, hostages & gunfire; Mentions of an accident, injuries, & pain (semi-detailed); Mentions of kidnapping; Mentions of threats & hatred; Mentions of cruel teens, bullies, crude comments, gossip & rumors; Mentions of blackmail; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of wine & cocktails (martinis, daiquiri & virgin drinks (which Josie has the last one); Mentions of a bar; Mentions of high school parties; Mentions of a divorce; Mentions of a fire; Mentions of jellyfish stings; A few mentions of someone peeing on another for jellyfish stings; A few mentions of an attempted break-in; A couple mentions of con-men; A couple mentions of a wife/mother who left her husband and daughter; A couple mentions of poker; A couple mentions of tattoos; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of puking; A mention of jail; A mention of roadkill; A mention of brownies laced with laxatives;

*Note: A couple mentions of feminists (they’re called dumb and the cause that chivalry is dead); Mentions of musicals & songs.

Sexual Content- two cheek kisses, a forehead kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, two semi-detailed kisses, and a boarder-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Remembering a kiss (up to semi-detailed); Josie thinks she’s going to be kissed and when she isn’t, she’s disappointed; Josie gets tired of hand holding and pecks on the cheek, she wants a real kiss; Wondering about kisses and embraces & when to be kissed; Touches, Tingles & Dancing (semi-detailed); Noticing, Attraction & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; a ‘sexy’ and seven forms of ‘hot’; Many mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends, girlfriends, & breakups; Mentions of dating rules & chaperones; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of a kiss when the kissers’ braces get stuck together; Mentions of noticing; Mentions of dreamy, cute & good-looking guys; Mentions of romances & summer romances; Mentions of flirting, winks & blushes; Mentions of crushes & being interested in someone; Mentions of guys looking at Josie two ways (respectfully and then “I-can’t-get-this-girl-out-of-my-mind”); Mentions of weak knees from a guy’s smile & dimples; A few mentions of seeing others kiss; A few mentions of a girl throwing herself at a guy; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of hormones; A mention of tonsil hockey (kissing); A mention of a guy being checked out; A mention of whispered sweet nothings; A summer romance;

*Note: Josie (accidentally) hits a guy in the unmentionables, later hits another man there (self-protection) and mentions of Josie hitting his “family jewels”; A mention of a daughter from a set of parent’s “uber-cool loins”; A mention of a baseball hitting a guy in his groin; A mention of a guy swimming in just his boxers; A couple mentions of a guy’s cute butt; Mentions of how good guys look in their baseball pants; Mentions of (and noticing) shirtless guys & their abs (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a wardrobe malfunction that exposes someone’s backside; A mention of revealing wet t-shirts; A mention of a girl’s bra size; Mentions of a girl’s bikini top flying off while jumping off a diving board (while trying to impress a guy); Mentions of bikinis (and Josie wears bikinis); Mentions of a locker covered in tampons, a girl starting her period while wearing a white skirt up on stage, & that time of the month and sanitary products.

-Josie DelRio, age 16
1^st person P.O.V. of Josie
250 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add ½ to a full star for those who are in private/public school.}

Okay, this was fun and different from most Christian YA. It reminded me a bit of a Melody Carlson young adult book, but (dare I say) more entertaining and fast-paced. I think this novel reminded me of Melody Carlson's works because of all the mentions of public school cliques, problems and such. Like some Melody Carlson books, there were parts and comments I wasn't a fan of (which was the same story with this author's other YA book, “The Perfect Blindside”), but for those not exactly wanting a super-conservative-Christian read, might be interested in this one.
At first I was on the fence about Josie--she could came across as self-centered and over dramatic at times—but when she wasn't like that I was on her team. She grew in “An Unexpected Role” and it’s always nice to see character development. On the romance side of things, I, of course, liked Ryan. Ryan was great. :) Which bring me to my next point: baseball. Baseball! There was baseball in this book, y'all! Yes! Baseball is truly the only sport I can watch fully, so I really enjoyed those parts. The mystery was intriguing and I had an idea on who it was. I really like reading first person point of views, so that was definitely a positive to this book. All in all, I enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to learning about what will be the next YA book that Leslea Wahl writes.

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!