Monday, April 26, 2021

"Mandy the Outsider" by Norma Jean Lutz


About this book:

  “Mandy McMichael just doesn’t fit in.
Ten-year-old Mandy McMichael doesn’t fit in at her new school in Seattle. She’s very smart, but the “in crowd” teases her so much that she decides to play dumb just to be quiet their taunts. Then there’s her friendship with a Japanese family—and in 1939, with the world on the brink of the war, hers is not a popular position.
Mandy must find the balance between her desire for acceptance and her need to do right—to be the person God wants her to be. Will she pass this important test?”


Series: Book #22 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, #19, #20, & #21.


Spiritual Content- Church going & sermons; Talks about God & Jesus; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles & those in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, Sunday school classes, sermons, & pastors; Mentions of Christmas, a play, & songs; A few mentions of blessings; A couple mentions of writing down a Scripture & reading it in class; A couple mentions of missionaries.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: nine forms of ‘dumb’; Bullies & being teased by them (Mandy gets teased & sees them tease a girl with walking disabilities, but does not do anything about it even though it bothers her, towards the end she decides not to care about the teasing and tries to talk to the other bullied girl); Seeing someone fixing to get hit; Many mentions of wars, fighting, deaths/killing, prejudice, & threats; Mentions of bullies, them picking on a girl with disabilities, & others trying to beat up Japanese-Americans and those who have them as friends; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of bad dreams;
             *Note: A few mentions of movies & actresses; A mention of zombies.


Sexual Content- A few mentions of a young couple kissing & being in love; A couple mentions of dates; A mention of jealousy; A mention of a man’s ripping muscles and broad chest;
             *Note: A mention of a burlesque house.

-Mandy McMichael, age 9-10
                                P.O.V. of Mandy
                                            Set in 1939-1940
                                                    142 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
While this is set just before the attack on Pearl Harbor (and therefore meaning Japanese-Americans were treated even worse by their fellow Americans), there is still quite a bit of prejudice and war comments in this book. Mandy was a decent character, but I think I would have preferred to see the point of view of all this from a Japanese-American girl as this series lacks Asian diversity. Mandy didn’t ever really stand up against the bullies, but by the end of the story, she did learn to not care what they said about her.   


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.

Friday, April 23, 2021

"Dog Show Disaster" by Missy & Mia Robertson

About this book:

  “When Allie is unanimously elected by her schoolmates as the Student Project Manager of this year’s end-of-the-year school carnival and fundraiser she is excited. Her friends and family love her idea of having a dog show as part of the festivities and know it will be the perfect way to raise money for the local animal shelter.
   But almost immediately things start going haywire. Big and small disasters start to happen, one after the other, and soon Allie cannot imagine how the Ouachita Middle School Bark Fest can possibly be a success. But with the super support of the Carroway cousins, family, and friends, and a strong faith and trust that God knows exactly what is needed and when, things start to turn around … but not without a few hurdles, including a bit of bullying and rivalries, along the way!
   This third book in the Faithgirlz Princess in Camo series is the perfect addition to this unique storyline about a fun and faith-filled family in a world of class and camouflage.”
 
 
Series: Book #3 in the “Princess in Camo” series. Review of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Ephesians 4:31 at the beginning; Many Scriptures are read, quoted, & mentioned Bible reading; Many Prayers, Thanking God, & Blessings over food; Talks about God & forgiveness; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of bulletin boards with Scriptures on them; Mentions of churches, church going, & church groups; A few mentions of Christians & asking Jesus to forgive you; A few mentions of those in the Bible; A mention of a miracle; A mention of a Christian camp;
             *Note: Allie wants to pray in school when something scary happens and says she doesn’t care if she gets in trouble when someone mentions it.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘gah’ and three ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling; A girl has an attitude (chip on her shoulder) towards Allie; Mentions of wrestling a gator, duck-taping its mouth shut (Book #1), & them attacking their prey (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of having to put down a sick dog; Mentions of animal poop; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of a divorce; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of hunting; A few mentions of peeing your pants; A couple mentions of drowning (not seriously, said somewhat teasingly); A couple mentions of rumors;
             *Note: (Not negative, but a possible trigger for some: A baby is born four and a half months early and has a lot of hurdles to go through (including possible bleeding on her brain)); A few mentions of zombies; A couple mentions of a Beetle’s song.
 
 
Sexual Content- Mentions of crushes; A few mentions of love songs; A couple mentions of a teacher thinking Allie was flirting with a boy (she wasn’t).
 
-Allie Carroway, age 13
                                1st person P.O.V. of Allie
                                           192 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Okay, I really liked this one. Allie reminded me of myself when I was around her age and I also really appreciated all the faith content and Scriptures in this book. Definitely my favorite of 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.