Books for Christian Girls: "Allison O'Brian on Her Own, Volume 1" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

“Join Allison on the adventure of a lifetime!
It's 1948, and fourteen-year-old Allison O'Brian has never known what it's like to have a real family. She knows nothing about her father, and her mother is a glamorous movie star who has little time for her. But when Allison stumbles upon a long-lost letter, she learns there is more to her past than meets the eye, and she embarks on a coast-to-coast adventure to find the love of a family she has always dreamed about.
Volume 1 includes the first two stories in Allison's adventure: The Hope and The Wish. In The Hope, Allison discovers a mysterious letter that leads her on a cross-country train trip to find her family. In The Wish, Allison's movie-star mother wants to take her back to New York, but Allison must find a way to stay in Oregon with her newly discovered family.
Join this sweet and spunky girl as she makes her dreams come true!”

Series: Book #1 & #2 in the “Allison O’Brian Chronicles” series. (This is a review of the first volume which includes the first two books.)

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Blessings over food; Church going; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God in the first but are capitalized in the second book; Talks about God & trusting Him; Allison isn’t a firm believer and tries to pray to God *Spoiler* towards the end of the second book, she asks God to have her life *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God, forgiveness, & prayers; Mentions of prayers, praying, the Lord’s prayer, & blessings over food; Mentions of Heaven; Mentions of churches, church going, Bible studies, & pastors; Mentions of Christians & testimonies; Mentions of a Christian camp; A few mentions of a Bible; A few mentions of being Jewish; A couple mentions of missionaries & the mission field; A mention of a miracle; A mention of the Garden of Eden;

*Note: Mentions of a haunted cabin & ghosts;

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘cruddy’, a ‘crummy’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘pain in the you-know-what’, a ‘sissy’, two ‘holy cow’s, two ‘idiot’s, three ‘shut up’s, and seven ‘stupid’s; A bit of sarcasm & eye rolling; Allison does lie quite a times at the beginning of the story (she mentions that her mother does a lot of deceptions so now Allison finds it easier to create her own lies; Allison does comment a bit later that she doesn’t like how easily she lies); When something sad happens, Allison comments that she wishes she was dead *Spoiler* and towards the end of the second book, Allison goes near a cliff, but thinks about her father and backs away *End of Spoiler*; Allison wonders at one point if everyone would have been happier if she wasn’t born; Allison sneaks into the head mistress’ office & pretends to be her mother to get out of going to summer camp; Allison runs away & goes across the country by herself; Allison’s mother insists that she call her by her first name & also play the part of a younger sister; Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (barely-above-not-detailed); Many, many mentions of the World War II, deaths, injuries, fighting, prison camps, & Nazis (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of boats crashing, drownings, & almost drowning; Mentions of burglars, thieves, & stealing; Mentions of embezzlement; Mentions of alcoholic, drinking, & a drunk father; Mentions of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, & tobacco; Mentions of lies, lying, & deceptions; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of divorces; Mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of the Great Depression; A few mentions of blood/bleeding & injuries; A few mentions of blackmail & threats; A few mentions of road kill & fish guts (up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of a dead cow & messing with it (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of furs of animals & the heads being attached (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of World War I; A couple mentions of (a fictional story about) a girl who blew up; A couple mentions of worrying about a plane blowing up; A couple mentions of mean girls & their jokes/comments; A mention of a death of an infant;

*Note: Mentions of authors, books, singers, designers, actresses, & movies.

Sexual Content- Blushes; Some hints about Allison & Andrew and her feelings; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of dates & sweethearts; Mentions of older boys staring at Allison, winking, & whistling; A few mentions of liking someone & interest/feelings; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of an affair; A couple mentions of hand holding (during a prayer); A couple mentions of cute boys; A couple mentions of a boy crazy girl; A mention of a married couple kissing;

*Note: A few mentions of butting into someone’s life; A few mentions of Allison’s mother being married to a much older man; A couple mentions of lacy lingerie; A mention of Allison’s new feminine curves.

-Allison O’Brian, age 14
P.O.V. of Allison

Set in 1948
331 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This volume collection has the first two books in the “Allison O’Brian Chronicles” and I enjoyed reading them. Content wise, my biggest disclaimer would be regarding Allison’s lies at the beginning and some of her thoughts/actions being not the best choice.

On the first book, “The Hope”, I definitely didn’t agree with everything Allison did, but I liked how things worked out. I would have preferred the ending to be a little less rushed, but since the next book is right there, it’s not too terrible.

With the second book, “The Wish”, I don’t believe I can say much for fear of spoiling the first book, but, personally, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first. While I wish things happened a little differently, I look forward to reading the next two books in this series to see what happens next with Allison.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!