"Take Charge" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

  “Saving Their Friendships—and their Community—Is No Walk in the Park
   Morgan, Amy, Carlie, and Emily have faced bullies and solved mysteries, but a new club member and problems at the local park may just be their undoing.
   Rescue Chelsea: When Carlie invites a new girl to join the club, no one seems safe from the backstabbing, betrayal, and hurt. The girls must somehow rescue their friendships before the group is destroyed forever.
   Take Charge: When vandals wreck the local park, the authorities threaten to turn it into a parking lot. The girls take action to save it, but a powerful woman with unknown intentions may ruin everything.”


Series: A collection novel of the books three & four in the “Girls of 622 Harbor View” series. Review of the first collection Here!


Spiritual Content- 2 Corinthians 4:18 at the beginning; A Scripture is mentioned a handful of times; Prayers & Inviting Jesus into your heart (two girls); Many Talks about God, Jesus, praying, inviting God into your heart, being Christian, & other Christians; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Amy wishes she know how to pray and wonders about it all; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of faiths, Christians, Catholics, & being saved; Mentions of churches, church going, mass, pastors, & a youth group; Mentions of miracles; A mention of a Bible; A mention of a godsend;

             *Note: A couple mentions of Buddhism; A couple mentions of aliens; A couple mentions of ghosts; A mention of a haunted house; A mention of a witch; A mention of a curse.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bigot’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘sissy’, a ‘wimps’, two forms of ‘retarded’, three ‘dumb’s, three ‘duh’s, and fifteen forms of ‘stupid’; Sarcasm & eye rolling; Dealing with selfish feelings; Some friendship bickering; Trying to help a girl with a horrid attitude against her parents & her insensitive comments towards those of other races/backgrounds; Seeing a friend shoplift & feeling uncomfortable by it; Being caught in a tide & being scared (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a young teen threatening to kill herself & her depression; Mentions of being caught in a tide, being scared, & the possibility of drowning (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of vandals & vandalism; Mentions of stealing & seeing someone shoplifting; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of a group of bullies and mean girls & their comments; Mentions of jealousy & selfishness; A few mentions of wars, deaths, & escaping; A few mentions of wondering if a woman murdered people & has the bodies in her basement (not true); A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of divorces & a man who didn’t want to be a husband or dad; A mention of prison; A couple mentions of signing something in blood (kidding); A couple mentions of juvenile detention; A couple mentions of smoking & tobacco; A couple mentions of piercing body parts & tattoos; A mention of a possible attempted kidnapping; A mention of the lottery; A mention of a horror movie;

             *Note: Mentions of celebrities, singers, TV shows, & fictional characters; Mentions of brand names, designers, & products; A few mentions of Starbucks; A few mentions of car brands.

Sexual Content- Mentions of dates & dating; A few mentions of Morgan’s parents who didn’t get married & others who have kids but do not get married; A couple mentions of crushes;

             *Note: Mentions of bathing suits & bikinis; A few mentions of sleazy-looking clothes with girls showing their belly or their bum hanging out.

-Amy, age 11

-Carlie, age 12
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        271 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.}

Just like I said in my final thoughts of the first collection of this series, “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 [and Chelsea are] 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 truly found myself enjoying this collection of books three and four as well. I would say I liked the fourth one the best because of Amy and her can-do attitude. I honestly have been quite pleased with this series thus far and am highly looking forward to continuing the series. :)

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.