Monday, June 13, 2022

"Second-Best Friend" by Beverly Lewis

About this book: 
 
   “Holly's best friend has a pen pal visiting from Austria. And to make things worse, she has to give up her precious cat. Holly needs a lesson in overcoming jealousy--before she ruins all her friendships!”


Series: Book #6 in the “Holly’s Heart” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here! Book #2 Here! #3 Here, #4 Here, and #5 Here!


Spiritual Content- A Scripture is read; Prayers & Blessings over food; Talks about God & praying; Some ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Church going, youth group, & a message/sermon; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, services, a hymnal, & church offerings; Mentions of missionaries, sponsor kids, & giving to them (Holly struggles with buying expensive ski gear when there’s starving children in the world); Mentions of a (fictional) Christian pop singer; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of a Bible study; A mention of a devotional; A mention of an interesting Christian attitude (Stan says that Holly has one after calling another girl “pathetic”); A mention of getting the impression that someone isn’t a Christian (*Spoiler* but at the end, says she wants to know more about God and going to church *End of Spoiler*).
 
 
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shoot’; Holly is sarcastic & snaps at her mom, sister, and a couple others (she calls her sister a brat and another girl pathetic); Holly has to give away her cat because of her stepfather’s allergies & is upset about it (when he gets sick and needs a home, she’s concerned that she’ll have to put him down and gets very mad and ugly towards someone involved in making him sick); Holly says a few white lies & eavesdrops (including her and Andie making fun of another girl and say they’re not when asked by a mother); Mentions of jealousy (Holly is very jealous of her best friend’s new friend and also a pair of twins who are “so perfect looking and rich it made [Holly] sick”; Holly knows she’s jealous but doesn’t care; *Spoiler* At the end, she finds out that one of the twins who has been nice to Holly lately is sincerely trying to be her friend and that Holly has hurt her, so Holly tries to be nice and friendly back *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of pranks (Holly is the recipient of a couple, including someone stealing her clothes in the locker room which causes her to have a nightmare about being naked in front of everyone); A few mentions of Holly’s father leaving and her parents’ divorce;
             *Note: Mentions of movies & actors (Deep Space Invasion, 102 Dalmatians, and John Wayne); A few mentions of brand names (Colgate, Coke, Barbie, & Goodyear); A few mentions of aliens. 
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand squeeze from a boy; Blushes & Winks; Mentions of a girl being “after” Holly’s guy friend & Holly not liking her (he has assured Holly that the girl isn’t his type, but she still doesn’t trust her and calls her “as flaky as a Barbie doll” though she does know she was rude to her and feels guilty); Mentions of who-likes-who & crushes; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of Holly’s father telling her to “develop lots of friendships with guys” and that there’s “plenty of time for romance later” (when Holly shares this with Andie, she doesn’t see the big deal about “a little mushy stuff” but Holly thinks that Andie’s parents aren’t as strict as her’s); A couple mentions of dating; A mention of a newly married couple kissing & snuggling; A mention of a cute boy; A mention of a girl looking like a flirt with a lot of make-up on;
             *Note: A mention of Holly thinking that she doesn’t fill out another girl’s clothing like she does.
 
-Holly Meredith, age 13-14
                                1st P.O.V. of Holly
                                                   149 pages

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Pre Teens- 
 
New Teens-
Early High School Teens- 
 
Older High School Teens- 
 
My personal Rating-
{Add a full star for girls in Public or Private school.}
The last chapter was good! I hope it will continue the rest of the way through the series, as Holly has really been frustrating me so far. Especially in this book. I can’t say that she’s a great role model for young girls, though, so it might be best for a parent or trusted adult to read this series with or before the girl.
 
 
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.

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