"The Summer of Rice Candy" by Debbie Viguié

About this book:

  “The summer before college Candace discovers a brand new World.

   It’s the summer before her Freshman year of college and Candace Thompson is off to Zone World in Florida. There she discovers a world of firsts as she navigates life away from home, discovers the ins-and-outs of sharing a dorm room with a roommate, finds herself confronted by hostile people at a college orientation, preps for the resort’s summer games, and meets new personalities and challenging situations at her latest job selling rice candy. Everything and everyone she encounters will test her in ways she could never imagined as she struggle to find her place in the World.”

Series: Book #5 in “Sweet Seasons” series. (Reviews of Book #1 Here! Book #2 Here! and Book #3 Here!, and Book #4 Here!)

Spiritual Content- ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; A few mentions of prayers & praying; A couple mentions of monks; A mention of church. 

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘gosh’, a ‘stupid’, two ‘dumb’s, two ‘idiot’s, and two ‘shoot’s; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a person trying to attack others, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of a plot to kidnap a child & ransom; Mentions of alcohol (a comedy club in Zone World limits adults to two alcoholic beverages per evening) & a bartenders; A few mentions of criminals, shoplifting, & stealing; A few mentions of catty girls and their rude/mean comments towards Candace; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of cheating; A few mentions of throwing up & vomit; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of rumors;

             *Note: A couple mentions of brand name clothing.

 

 

Sexual Content- A not-detailed kiss and a barely-above-not-detailed kisses; A ting bit of noticing muscles (not-detailed at all); Blushes; Mentions of a female teacher telling a group of students that (for women) they need to be very aware of sexual assault & that guys are biologically a predator (she comes across as very anti-men and Candace speaks up that that’s sexism and paranoia. Candace gives better tips on how to protect yourself while not being distrustful of everyone you meet); Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, & dating; Mentions of flirting, being checked out, blushes, & cute guys; Having a boyfriend, being in love, & the emotions.

 

-Candace Thompson

                                P.O.V. of Candace

                                                        198 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This series just makes me so tickled. It reminds me why I adore (Christian) contemporary YA books. I was so excited to learn that the author self-published this fifth book as I really enjoyed the prior books of the series and I can’t help but hope there will be more books to come. (Pleeeaaasseee, dear author???) I would have preferred a more faith content, but it did have a bit and was overall clean.

 

 

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.

 

"Carrie's Courage" by Norma Jean Lutz

About this book:

  “Carrie Ruhle stands up for a friend.

For the Minneapolis ten-year-old, friendship with a Jewish immigrant is perfectly normal. So why are many of her other friends uptight about that? Sadly, bigotry is a powerful force in society—so much so that the white-robed members of the Ku Klux Klan plot violence against her new friend.

Will Carrie be able to protect her friend from both the verbal attacks of other girls and the physical threats of the Klan? Can Carrie continue to stand for what’s right, when what’s popular would be so much easier?”


Series: Book #19 in the “Sisters in Time” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to that review: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, & #18.


Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & quoted; Talks about God & Jesus; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Carrie talks to her piano teacher who doesn’t believe God exists & prays for her (*Spoiler* at the end, she says she asked Jesus into her heart *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, & songs/hymns; Mentions of Christmas & Jewish holidays; Mentions of Jews & their beliefs; Mentions of miracles; Mentions of sins; A few mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of Catholics; A couple mentions of blessings & being blessed;

             *Note: Mentions of a piano teacher saying God isn’t real and a crutch for those who need it (Carrie and the teacher discuss this each lesson with Carrie trying to share her beliefs); Mentions of the Klan burning crosses; A few mentions of Greek gods.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘doggone’; A bit of eye rolling; Mentions of the Ku Klux Klan, their hatred, & violence towards others; Mentions of deaths from sicknesses; Mentions of people setting others’ homes on fire; Mentions of prejudice & hatred; Mentions of a cat being hit by a car (it will be okay); A few mentions of Dvora’s baby brother being killed because he was Jewish; A few mentions of wars & fighting; A few mentions of being told to kill a chicken as a threat & writing a hateful message to Jews (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of jealousy.

Sexual Content- N/A

-Carrie Ruhle, age 10
                                P.O.V. of Carrie

                                            Set in 1923-1924
                                                    141 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Because of the prejudice, this is a harder read than most of the prior books in the series. It’s so terribly sad what those like Dvora went through, but I was glad to see this book have a happier ending. For younger readers, this one might need to be skipped or read with a parent to discuss the topics.

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.