"With a Name like Love" by Tess Hilmo

About this book:

  “When Ollie's daddy, the Reverend Everlasting Love, pulls their travel trailer into Binder to lead a three-day revival, Ollie knows that this town will be like all the others they visit— it is exactly the kind of nothing Ollie has come to expect. But on their first day in town, Ollie meets Jimmy Koppel, whose mother is in jail for murdering his father. Jimmy insists that his mother is innocent, and Ollie believes him. Still, even if Ollie convinces her daddy to stay in town, how can two kids free a grown woman who has signed a confession? Ollie's longing for a friend and her daddy's penchant for searching out lost souls prove to be a formidable force in this tiny town where everyone seems bent on judging and jailing without a trial.”


Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Prayers; A few Scriptures are read & mentioned; Singing hymns/songs & Revival/Church going; Set prior & during a revival; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Ollie’s dad is a reverend & they set up revivals (which are described as “preaching, singing & the occasional healing”); Many mentions of preaching, churches, revivals, a congregation, worship, hymns/songs & sermons; Mentions of God; Mentions of Bibles, reading & verses; Mentions of blessings & miracles; Mentions of tithing & an offering basket; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of gifts; A few mentions of salvation & saving souls; A few mentions of Gwen wanting to be a preacher when she grows up (mix reactions on her idea since she’s a girl); A few mentions of denominations; A couple mentions of having Christian character; A mention of Heaven & angels; A mention of sin;

*Note: A mention of a place being “hotter than Hades”; A mention of screaming holy murder; Mentions of superstitious people & ghosts.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘cripe’s sake’, a ‘dagum it’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘dang’, a ‘heck’, a ‘Holy Moses’, a form of ‘hush it’, two forms of ‘give a rat’s tail’, two ‘shut up’s, three ‘stupid’s; “Lordy, Lordy” and “Gracious Lord” in a certain tone is said to be swearing (Ollie disagrees); A fire (up to semi-detailed); A bit of sibling bicker; Many mentions of jail, a murder, a murderer & how it happened and after details (semi-detailed); Mentions of Jimmy’s dad to drank too much, was a mean drunk & nearly beat his wife to death (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of drinking & whiskey; Mentions of injured, abused & brutally murdered frogs and blood (semi-detailed); Mentions of making & eating frog stew & legs (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of card games, gambling, & debts; Mentions of thieves; Mentions of cigars, cigarettes & smoke; Mentions of tobacco; Mentions of hatred & wanting someone dead; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of lies; A few mentions of dead children & babies that didn’t live long (no details); A few mentions of swigging punches & hitting; A couple mentions of dead baby birds (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of a story of a girl who fried her brain it was so hot; A couple mentions of outhouses; A couple mentions of a waste bucket & the smell; A mention of almost wetting a pair of drawers.

Sexual Content- A tiny bit of noticing; A married couple kiss (no details); A few mentions of a date, boyfriends & being sweet on someone; A couple mentions of googly eyes; A teasing mention of sitting in a tree kissing; A mention of whispering sweet nothings; A mention that Jimmy’s dad had girlfriends;

            *Note: A few mentions of unmentionables; A mention of a boy taking off his shirt (no details).

-Olivene “Ollie” Love, age 13
                                      P.O.V. of Ollie

                                            Set in 1957
                                                 249 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This was a really different kind of book—I don’t think I’ve reviewed one like it before. The cover is very cute, I really like the artwork. Some parts of the story, however, about the murder, frogs & murdered frogs could be a bit much for younger girls. I can’t really recommend it to the ages around the main character’s because of those parts. It was more than a bit much on all that. Other than those parts, though, it was a cute story and a sequel would have been nice! ;)

See y’all on Wednesday 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.