"Girl Power" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

  “Harbor View Was No Place for a Girl … Until Now
  Meet Morgan, Amy, Carlie, and Emily, unlikely friends brought together when they come to live in the Harbor View Trailer Park. Discover what happens with these four friends join forces to make their world a better place.
  Girl Power: When local bullies begin tormenting the girls, they decide to work together to transform and rejuvenate the trailer park—only to have their work destroyed. Together, the girls must find the courage and means to transform their lives.
  Mystery Bus: The girls’ trailer park renovations are rewarded when the landlord gives them an old, abandoned bus to fix up and use as a clubhouse. It seems like a simple project, until the girls uncover long-hidden mysteries involving old records, dusty books, and a private journal filled with secrets that someone at Harbor View does not want revealed.”


Series: A collection novel of the first two books in the “Girls of 622 Harbor View” series.


Spiritual Content- 2 Corinthians 4:18 at the beginning; A Scripture is mentioned & talked about; A few Prayers; Church going, sermons, & skits about those from the Bible; Talks about God, praying, churches, & church going; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Christians; Mentions of inviting Jesus into your heart; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, going to Mass, sermons, & pastors; Mentions of blessings; A few mentions of church denominations; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of the Christian group, the Newsboys;

             *Note: A few mentions of when Emily’s dad would call her a jinx & bad luck (she wonders if it’s true); A couple mentions of atheists & other religions; A mention of a ghost.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘moron’, three ‘dumb’s, three ‘idiot’s, four forms of ‘crud’, and sixteen ‘stupid’s; Some sass, sarcasm, & eye rolling; Some friendship bickering; Dealing with bullies/gangs and their rude/mean comments, threats, & actions (up to semi-detailed); Accusing & Jumping to conclusions; Mentions of one of the girl’s abusive (and alcoholic) father who would hit her mother & running away from him (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of bullies/thugs, gangs, threats, & their mean/rude comments and actions; Mentions of wars, fighting, & deaths; Mentions of murdering someone (but not really); Mentions of a possibly death; Mentions of drinking & an alcoholic/drunk; Mentions of vandalism, vandals, & graffiti; Mentions of tattling; A few mentions of stealing & burglars; A few mentions of foul-play; A couple mentions of an ax-murder; A couple mentions of violence; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of nightmares; A mention of a felon; A mention of a wife leaving her family; A mention of profanity;

             *Note: Mentions of celebrities (Elton John and Oprah); Mentions of SpongeBob SquarePants; A few mentions of TV shows (The Addams Family and Antiques Road Show); A couple mentions of car brands; A mention of a werewolf.

Sexual Content- three ‘hot’s; Mentions of a teen guy having a lot of female admirers; A mention of (not) doing an obscene sandcastle; A mention of a date;

             *Note: A couple mentions of one of the girls wearing a two-piece bathing suit (but also that she has the figure of an 8 year old, so it doesn’t seem so risqué).

-Morgan, age 12-13                -Amy, age 11

-Emily, age 12                        -Carlie, age 12
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        261 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add a ½ star for girls in Public School.}

In all honestly, I didn’t have high hopes for this book, but it turns out that I actually enjoyed it! I really love that the four main girls are diverse, but also very real in their backgrounds, thoughts, and actions. {For those wondering: Morgan is African-American, Emily is Caucasian, Amy is Vietnamese, and Carlie is Hispanic.} Since these books were originally published in 2007, a few parts did feel a bit dated, but it wasn’t noticeable enough to take away from the story.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series and am happy to know about another Christian Fiction series with diverse characters. :)

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.