"Liabetes" by Shanna M. Heath

About this book:

  “She’s got a dream school, a nightmare budget, and she’s headed for a doozy of a rude awakening...
    Olivia’s goal is within reach. She’s been accepted to her dream school, Vanderbilt University, alma mater of famed comic illustrator Paige O’Donnell. Despite gaining multiple scholarships and grants, Olivia’s just shy of tuition. Desperate, she applies for a $15,000 scholarship offered by the Wonderbrink Foundation, to be awarded to a high-achieving and athletic senior with diabetes. One little problem… Olivia doesn’t have diabetes.
    In her quest to pull off a whopper of a lie, Olivia attends a diabetes support group meeting, where she meets and befriends Paul Roberts, a smug yet handsome member of the Sugar Shatterers. Her best friends Xavier and Amber aren’t thrilled about Olivia’s new mysterious, one-sided friendship with superstitious, entitled Paul. Xavier may secretly be a *little* jealous, and the scholarship application deadline rapidly approaches.”


Series: As of now, no. A stand-alone novel. 


Spiritual Content- A handful of Scriptures are quoted & read; A few Prayers & Thanking God; Church going & parts of sermons; A few talks about God; Some ’H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus; A teacher reads a quote from ‘Counter Culture’ by Pastor Platt in class (which the teacher says he isn’t grading his students on agreeing with him or not and that he can’t think of a better reason to get fired when a student asks him about that); Mentions of God, Jesus, & grace; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, youth group, pastors, service, & sermons; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of Christian-based entertainment (such as Veggie Tales and Berenstain Bears, but also a fictional one); A couple mentions of a missionary & mission trips; A mention of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of thinking a person is an angel (because of her kind actions); 
             *Note: A Scripture is mentioned in a flippant way (a pastor comments on keeping a DVD in pristine condition “for such as time as this [when meeting the actors to sign it]”; A side character is very superstitious and shares many of his superstitions (which Olivia is at first taken back about, but later finds it sad; Olivia doesn’t believe in luck as it undermines her hard work; In class, superstitious people are discussed and the teacher says it’s about control or the person having certainty in their lives; *Spoiler* At the end, she reads a Scripture to the person about overcoming the fear that is fueling his superstitions which seems to speak to him and make him try to be less superstitious *End of Spoiler*); Olivia calls her friend group her “rock”; Olivia feels her cheeks heat from the “sin of omission”; Olivia’s brothers tease her that she treats a hoodie as if it is sacred (she says she does not); Many mentions of superstitions & luck; A mention of a child being a holy terror.
 

Negative Content- Three implications or cut-off moments implying curses such as an ‘an as—‘ and two ‘shi—’s; Minor cussing including: a ‘crud’, a ‘doggone’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘gah’, a ‘flipping’, a ‘Holy Moly’, a ‘oh em gee’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘crap’s, two forms of ‘dang it’, two ‘duh’s, two ‘gosh’s, two ‘sucker’s, two ‘wuss’s, three ‘dang’s, three ‘good grief’s, three forms of ‘idiot’, four ‘geez’s, six ‘heck’s, eight ‘stupid’s, and ten ‘oh my gosh’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Olivia finds out about a scholarship for athletes with Type 1 diabetes (which she is not one) and while she feels unsettled about it and has guilt for her actions, she is concerned with the price of college and looks into it (*Spoiler* She starts going to a diabetes support group and asks questions to a guy she meets there; She is horrified by some of her own actions about possibly filling out the paperwork for the scholarship; Towards the middle, she applies for the application and doesn’t sleep for days because of the guilt; She later tells Xavier and he is very hurt that she didn’t tell him about it; Her parents find out in the next chapter and she is incredibly relieved when the application was returned incomplete; Olivia tells everyone about it and is grounded by her parents *End of Spoilers*); While Olivia doesn’t lie, she does keep things to herself and omit certain details when telling her family or friends about anything related to the diabetes scholarship (knowing her deception); Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; Mentions of parents divorce, their kid struggling with it, and the teen making a couple negative comments towards his stepmother; A few mentions of a car accident; A few mentions of injuries & pain; A few mentions of a father not being physically abusive, but having intense expectations for his son; A couple mentions of (good natured) betting (between siblings); A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of rumors & gossip; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of vomit/throwing up; A mention of hiding a body; A slang mention of going to the bathroom (“take a whiz”); A mention of farts.
             *Note: Going to Comic-Con (twice); Olivia and one of her best friends have a conversation about being very superstitious often means having a lot of “serious anxiety issues” and some people with anxiety dealing with their anxiety in healthier ways; A side character has a diabetic emergency (hypoglycemic, up to semi-detailed); A line from a song by Stevie Wonder is shared at the beginning of a chapter; Many mentions of movies, fictional characters, & quotes (mainly from Shrek, but also Mamma Mia, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Mean Girls, Cutting Edge, Legally Blonde, Teen Wolf, 10 Things I Hate About You, Princess Bride, The Goonies, The Parent Trap, Top Gun: Maverick, Inside Out, Schindler’s List, Princess Diaries, Wonder Woman, Hobbits, Weasley twins, Goot, Avengers, Paw Patrol figures, X-Men characters, Mario and Luigi, Klingon, & the minions); Mentions of stores, brand names, & brand name items (Blockbuster, Goodwill, Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, Target, Prisma colored pencils, MacBook, Chrombook, Omnicom, Jolly Rancher candy, Sour Patch Kids, Hershey, Nutella, Almond Joys, Swedish Fish, Tic-Tacs, Gatorade, Red Bull, Ale8s, PlayStation, Lululemon, Hanes, Vaseline, NyQuil, & Mod Podge); Mentions of celebrities (Nick Jones, Eddie Murphy, Beckham, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, & Mary Kate & Ashley); Mentions of social media platforms & websites (TikTok, Instagram, Google Classroom, & Merriam-Webster); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of colleges; A few mentions of artists (Michelangelo, Sam Cox, & Rembrandt); A few mentions of books and authors (‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell & a poem by Edgar Allen Poe); A few mentions of FaceTime; A mention of Olivia’s friend dressing up as Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she has to dress up as a superhero; A mention of TED Talk; A mention of the Discovery Channel; A mention of Bigfoot.
 
 
Sexual Content- A forehead kiss, a not-detailed kiss, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Flutters/Goosebumps, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a couple snuggle, hold hands, & kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing hot and attractive guys (including muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); Flirting; Winks & Blushes; Four ‘babe’s and four forms of ‘hot’, A guy also comments on his “smokin’, rock-hard body”; Olivia wishes that Xavier would give some indication that he feels the same way she does about him (more than platonic best friends); A friend teases Olivia and Xavier about “getting a room” when she hugs him; A boyfriend teases his girlfriend about having a foot fetish after she takes a picture of his foot with the nails she painted when he was asleep (which she tells him to stop making things weird); Olivia teases that she ate so much she has a “food baby” which makes Xavier blush; Mentions of touches & nearness; Mentions of a couple being a “giant mushfest”, snuggling, & holding hands; Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, break-ups, & exes; Mentions of crushes; Mentions of winks & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of a guy getting distracted by a group of girls showing their mid-drifts/bellybuttons; A couple mentions of one of Olivia’s brothers being a ladies’ man and her teasing him choosing his college based on the female-to-male ratio; A couple mentions of a guy’s charms and all the girls at school noticing them; A couple mentions of heartthrobs; A mention of appreciating a guy’s looks; A mention of a mating ritual on the Discovery Channel; Some love, being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Mentions of butts/bums/tushes (mostly in humor); A couple mentions of pregnancy hormones; A mention of panties getting in a wad; A mention of estrogen.
 
-Olivia James
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Olivia 
                                                        177 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Ratings are for Public or Private School girls; Remove a star for those not in those settings or preferring to avoid implications of curses}

Last year, my mom was diagnosed as Type 1.5 diabetic—not Type 2, but Type 1.5 which is closer to Type 1 and is proved by even more blood tests—and though I knew the general idea of diabetes, it was a crash course in learning all about it, giving insulin, managing prescriptions, meal prepping, and carb counting as I managed all of it for her (because of other side effects she was facing that came from having high blood sugar for so long without us knowing, my mom has been unable to handle it herself). Like Olivia experiences at the beginning of this book, I’ve also had the Frequency Illusion Principle (when you hear something new to you and all of the sudden you hear about it again and again) since that beginning diagnosis with the topic of diabetes seeming like it’s everywhere. 

 

You could say it was exactly that when after reading “Salvaged” by this author a couple months ago, I learned about this new release about, you guessed it, diabetes. Or rather, a teen girl finding out about a scholarship for those with diabetes. The problem? She doesn’t actually have diabetes. 

 

I was concerned about this book mainly because of the idea of the main character lying that she has diabetes to get the scholarship. She actually doesn’t technically lie, though, it’s assumptions others make and her not correcting them. Still not right by any means and she questions herself many times, but I appreciated the author was able to do this book without a heavy amount of lying. Olivia needed to do a ridiculous amount of research on diabetes, but didn’t, so that lead to some awkward moments for her. There’s a lot of guilt on her part where a reader can tell that Olivia knows what she is doing isn’t right. 

 

As far as the romance element, I found Paul to be a superstitious weirdo and I didn’t see why Olivia was interested in him. Thankfully—for my sanity and Xavier’s—she’s not really interested in Paul that way, but gets put into his life to be a good influence. Olivia frustrated me a bit about her friendship with Xavier and he frustrated me at times too because of their lack of guts about confessing their feelings for each other. I was definitely Amber in their friend group, waiting for them to admit their feelings while holding popcorn. 

 

I do have to note that I didn’t care for the two implications to one of Olivia’s classmates cursing. Later, Xavier also gets cut-off when fixing to call someone a rude (but appropriate for the character’s actions) name. They are all cut-off and missing a letter to complete the word, but it still got the words stuck in my head. Those in public school settings probably hear all of these and worse during the day, but it’s something I try to actively avoid to keep those words from falling out of my mouth. Hence the lower rating than “Salvaged” and a heads-up on that detail. 

 

All of that said, I enjoyed different parts of this book and will be looking out for what this author writes next as a major Christian Contemporary YA fan.

 

 

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.

"Snake in the Grass" by Elizabeth Penney

About this book:

  “When Harriet Bailey’s young cousins discover an unusual lizard wandering around Cobble Hill Farm, she is stunned to learn that the reptile is not only endangered, but originates from the Caribbean. So how did it end up in White Church Bay? Exotic-animal veterinarian Dr. Jason Peel and private Zoo owner Victoria Langford tells her that animal smuggling is a big problem in Britain and that their new lizard friend, Mango, may be the latest case. When more non-native creatures begin to pop up left and right, Harriet has to wonder if someone in White Church Bay is behind it all.
    Meanwhile, Victoria’s long-lost brother, Nick, arrives at Moorland Zoo. Twenty years ago, Nick vanished in a boating accident and was presumed dead. Now he claims he wants to explain his absence and reconnect with his family, but the timing is certainly suspicious. Is there an ulterior motive behind Nick’s reappearance?”


Series: Book #10 in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Review of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, Book #4 Here, Book #5 Here, Book #6 Here, Book #7 Here, Book #8 Here, and Book #9 Here!


Spiritual Content- Luke 8:17 at the beginning & later quoted in the book twice; A couple prayers; Church going & part of a sermon; “Thank God” is said once; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Harriet finds comfort by the “idea of eternity” as it “meant that people weren’t truly lost, that she’d see them again someday”; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, services, & sermons; A mention of a Bible study; A mention of a miracle; 
             *Note: Mentions of luck & being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: Some eye rolling; Unintentional eavesdropping; A man grabs Harriet’s arm in a “distinctly unfriendly way”; Harriet treats an injured zebra (which required a tranquilizer gun and dart, up to semi-detailed); All about & many mentions of smuggling animals, smugglers, the possible mistreatment of the animals, crimes/criminals, thieves, stealing, stolen items, & arrests; Many mentions of deaths and assumed deaths (drownings), a boating accident/shipwreck, the remains of a body being found, trauma, & grief (including shown on-page with someone sobbing over the death of a family member, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of an attack & injuries; Mentions of injured animals, mistreated animals, & Harriet’s veterinary clinic treatments (including vaccines, barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a possible murder (or accidental murder); A few mentions of a possibly robbery; A couple mentions of possible violence; A mention of World War I; A mention of kids setting fires & causing mischief; 
             *Note: Mentions of protestors being against zoos and calling them cruel (some characters refute this as most of the animals at the zoo in this book no longer have the ability to take care of themselves in the wild and wouldn’t make it in the wild); Mentions of a possibly corrupt law enforcement officer; Mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of books in the bonus content at the end (Wuthering Heights and All Creatures Great and Small).
 
 
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss; It’s noted that Harriet and Will are dating on a “casual basis” adding that “It was too soon to think about the future. [Harriet] was having too much fun enjoying the present”; The romance content in this book is light with Harriet thinking Will is handsome, her pulse rate rising when talking to him, and he kisses her cheek once; Mentions of relationships, dates, dating, couples, & break-ups; A mention of Harriet knowing “too many people who had been swept away by romance, married too soon, and regretted it”; A mention of jealousy.
 
-Harriet Bailey, age 33/34
                                P.O.V. of Harriet 
                                                        261 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’m not a snake person, so I’ll admit to slightly dreading this book. Just the cover alone gives me heebie-jeebies! 

 

It did bother me that at the beginning of this book, Harriet and Will’s new relationship is described as “casual”. The prior book implied it being more slow or cautious, but to say a relationship is casual usually implies being unserious about it or flippant, neither which I got from the prior book. 

 

The faith content was super light and if I could nit-pick one thing, it would be that there were more mentions of luck and being lucky than mentions of God. Some were said by side characters, but also quite a few were said by Harriet as well, which was disappointing. 

 

I feel like Harriet was more of a therapist to a new character in this book compared to her usually vet job. The mystery wasn’t very exciting as it felt 105% obvious to who the culprit was which really hindered my enjoyment of the book. I would say it was okay compared to the rest of the series, but I’m giving it a three star rating personally because it was overall fine, I suppose.

 

 

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.

"The Keeper of the Tower" by Michaela Bush

About this book:

  “Protect the royal family at all costs, and eliminate traitors in their ranks.
    As Queen Sylvi closes in, the decision is made to use Evangeline to bait a trap for the unstable queen. She finds herself returning to the last place she wanted to her old watchtower, where she was once held captive by Amaranth Argent—Sylvi’s role model.
    But as war approaches Lanaria’s shore, it becomes clear that this battle has been prepared since long before Evangeline’s return to the with enemy sympathizers, it’s up to Horace and select others to root out the evil waiting in their own ranks. Are they already too late?”


Series: Book #5 in the “Legends of Lanaria”. Review of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, and Book #4 Here!


Spiritual Content- James 1:12 & Psalm 73:26 at the beginning; A few Scriptures are mentioned and implied; Many prayers; One character calls God “Dhia” as that is His name in her country; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Gabriel wishes that the Lord would smite down their enemies and while he knows he shouldn’t question the Lord’s timing or wish fire to rain down from Heaven on their enemies, it would be nice; A character asks for confirmation about his role in the war and the Lord gives him a clear answer; Another character has dreams she believes are warnings from the Lord, but her father brushes her concerns aside saying that those dreams could be “misdirection from the devil just as much as they are from the Lord”; Many mentions of God, His will and timing, prayers, praying, & faiths; Mentions of a Prophecy; A few mentions of healing through prayer & a character believing that anyone can do it; A few mentions of a character who has dreams that seem to be prophetic; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a question that will last until eternity; 
             *Note: “Holy mother” is exclaimed once; Horace hates threatening to send one of the villain’s followers to “eternal damnation”, but realizes it’s a sure thing because the person couldn’t “practice darkness with no repentance or hope for a future”; The villain led a cult and indoctrinated her followers; The villain and her apprentices make it seem like they have “dark magick” but one main character calls it “simply a trick, a slight of hand” and another says the villain never had power to begin with; A few mentions of bloodletting and blood rituals & witchcraft (done by the villain’s group); A few mentions of the villain training warlocks for her cause; A few mentions of some believing that a country is cursed (but was actually another country poisoning them); A couple mentions of dismantling a woman’s “wicked items she’d worshipped and burning them” and then a group praying over the space they held those items; A couple mentions of luck; A mention of someone aligning himself with darkness; A mention of a woman thinking of another as a goddess; A mention of an old man seeming to have “some otherworldly sense of knowledge from time to time”.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: A ‘hang it, three ‘shut up’s, and four ‘stupid’s (including in another language); A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling; A bit of sarcasm (negatively, which the character corrects her attitude); Some eavesdropping & lying (due to the upcoming war & characters not wanting to be kept out of plans or knowledge); Aurelie has a couple moments of bitterness or a bad attitude towards someone, but then checks herself; Killing enemies in fights/battles, Fighting, Gunfire, Being attacked, Being knocked unconscious, & Injuries (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Seeing fighting, blood, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Some of the characters talk about if they don’t make it through the war & their plans in case that happens; One character thinks he is going to be executed for standing up against the king’s words (he imagines the noose or the guillotine being used); One character wishes that the villain was drowned and later catches herself looking forward to the destruction of the enemy, but tells herself that it is not something to take pleasure or joy in; All about & many mentions of the war looming over Lanaria, assassination plans/attempts, deaths and possible deaths, executions (beheadings with a guillotine and hangings), murders (by slashed throats), & grief (including for a sibling and what is to come); Mentions of near-death experiences; Mentions of injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of threats; Mentions of prisons & attests; Mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of deaths from a “manmade ‘plague’” happened (poison); A few mentions of a kidnapping; A few mentions of blood stains (from an event in Book #1); A few mentions of lies; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of slit/slashed throats (as a threat, but also happens to side characters, barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of human trafficking; A couple mentions of children being held prisoner; A couple mentions of a woman’s deep hatred for men; A couple mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of someone trying to cut another’s horse which if the horse’s tendons were sliced, would ensure “a gunshot awaited the horse in the morning”; A mention of a possible massacre; A mention of jealousy;
             *Note: Aurelie prays that Evangeline’s baby doesn’t have any malformation like her due to knowing the pain and shame she’s had because of it (even while also knowing she’s been privileged to live in a country that doesn’t see her as a curse); A few mentions of babies born sleeping (stillborn, which a character recalls being told that is a “glimpse of what the mother will meet when she arrives in Heaven”). 
 
 
Sexual Content- Married couples cuddle/embrace and share some kisses that have no details (a hand kiss, six head/forehead kisses, a nose kiss, two cheek kisses, four+ kisses, and two remembered kisses); 
             *Note: Labor pain (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of nursing.
 
-Evangeline
-Gabriel
-Horace
-Aurelie
-Isla
-Nicolas
-Asta
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        193 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’ve had books where I’m anxious for the last bit of the book or even in the last quarter, but I think this maybe one of the very few books where I was anxious nearly the entire time reading it. I messaged a dear book friend to deny my fears about the ending about halfway because I couldn’t take the stress. (Thank you, Sarah!) Thus, I felt like a pendulum swinging back and forth between “oh, this isn’t going to go well 😰” and “oh, maybe it will all work out fine and the last book will be pure happiness 😌” for the rest of the book. 

 

And, well, it’s definitely leaning towards one of those two. 😬

 

I don’t feel like I can say too much about this book because this is such an intricate series where the books must be read in order—it’s required, really. 

 

Because it’s been so long since I’ve read some of the prior books of the series, I didn’t remember everyone’s backstories or details besides the couples from the first two books. So some things or comments were a bit murky at times or I was re-surprised by facts I most likely already knew from the prior books. That said, I did remember more as the book continued. 

 

One thing I’ve really enjoyed about this series and was highlighted yet again in this book is the faith content and how natural it is for the characters. I greatly enjoy how the author has written it and how strong it is shown throughout the series. 

 

This book is less than 200 pages, but it’s packed and gearing up for the grand finale that is releasing in November. I can’t wait for it now, but I’m also incredibly nervous after events in this book—particularly at the end. 😭

 

 

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.

"Keep 'Em Flying" by Nell Branum

About this book:

  “Sixth grader Riley Abercrombie is determined to win—even if she has to gulp down her nerves and speak in public. The Historical Society is having a contest with a cash prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to where her great-grandma once lived. But a winning essay about her brave relative, a Rosie the Riveter in World War II, may launch Riley on an adventure far bigger than she’d imagined. She soon finds herself in a real-life mystery. A famous tool, an antique rivet gun, is missing, and Riley is sure she can uncover the culprit. Chasing clues and suspects with her new friend Marcus through a museum’s vintage artifacts and aircraft, Riley just might discover she needs more than good detective skills. Will she learn to trust God when the wrong person has been accused? Can she be brave in the face of danger like her beloved great-grandma? When the kids’ sleuthing puts them in peril, they’re going to need faith, friendship, and even forgiveness to get them through.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Heroes on the Homefront Mysteries” series.


Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted, mentioned, & remembered throughout the book; Prayers; A couple discussions of God & also on forgiving others; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Riley hopes that God is listening to her prayers about keeping her father safe even if “He does have a lot of soldiers to keep up with” (adding that she wishes the Army would just send her dad home and then God would have one less solider to keep up with); Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of Bible reading; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, sermons, a pastor, & church events; A mention of being sure that a loved one is having a great time in Heaven; 
             *Note: Religious phrases like ‘for Pete’s sake’ and ‘honest to Pete’ are both said once; Riley recalls a friend in her gymnastics class laughing at her for wearing a T-shirt that had an American flag on it which made Riley tried to tell her stories that her great-grandma told her, but the girl said “what were they trying to prove by having a war, anyway? War is evil. They should have just walked away.” and while Riley agrees that war is evil, she doesn’t agree with her about the walk-away part (Riley told her grandmother this and she also agrees that war is evil, but adds that when “an enemy starts up an attack, you’ve got to either defend your country or lose it”); A mention of aliens (teasing).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’ and a ‘for crying out loud’; A bit of eye rolling & sarcasm (good natured); A handful of scenes of eavesdropping on adults; Being locked in a closet; Riley’s father is in the Army and has deployed months prior to places her and her family don’t know and she misses him greatly (she also wonders how the Rosies and others during WWII handed their loved ones being gone and missing them, up to semi-detailed); Prior to her father being deployed, Riley’s dog passed away and she misses him as well (barely-above-not-detailed); All about many mentions of World War II, events and groups during the war (including Pearl Harbor bombing and the Battle of Iwo Jima), Rosie the Riveter and soldiers, factories for airplanes/bombers, & air raids; Many mentions of thieves/burglars, a theft/robbery, stealing, stolen items, the crime scene, & the culprit possibly going to jail; Mentions of soldiers being killed, wounded, or captured during events in World War II; Mentions of deaths & grief (including for mothers and a great-grandmother); A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of the Doolittle’s Raid mission in 1942 being called a “one-way mission” and not all of the soldiers making it back; A mention of bank robbers;
             *Note: Discussions about & mentions of women being able to do jobs now that wasn’t a choice or commonplace back in the 1940s and it being an option now thanks to the impact of Rosie the Riveter noting that “The Rosies not only helped win the war, but also made it possible for women to keep working in all kinds of jobs after the war—jobs that had always been just for men” and later that back then, there wasn’t many women who worked outside of the house, but if they did “there weren’t as many kinds of jobs open to them as there are today” (such as work in a factory then or even be a plumber or a surgeon now which a couple of women thank Rosies for their influence on that being possible; One Rosie says that Riley is able to wear pants all the time now because of Rosies having to change the dress-skirt fashion for safety in the factories; In bonus content at the end of the book, the author shares that “after the war, many women decided they wanted to continue working.” And that while many women were happy to return home, “many other women decided they liked the challenge of work and the paycheck, and so continued to look for jobs that suited them. So, Rosies opened the way for women of the future to work in many kinds of jobs that previously had been only for men.”); Riley’s grandmother warns her to let the police handle the burglary, but Riley plans to keep her eye out for ways to help them solve it (at the end, her grandma tells her that her sleuthing days are over and she doesn’t want Riley following bad guys or assumed bad guys all over the place; Riley then apologizes to someone she thought was the thief); A few mentions of political figures during World War II; A few mentions of historical songs (‘The Rosie the Riveter song’ and ‘The Boogie Woogie Bungle Boy of Company B’); A few mentions of Sherlock Holmes; A mention of Halloween.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Riley Abercrombie, sixth grade
                               1^st person P.O.V. of Riley 
                                           193 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book made me want to stand up and sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ or even ‘America The Beautiful’. It was truly delightful and charming with a strong patriotic story. I was so pleasantly surprised by how many different elements of “Keep ‘Em Flying” I enjoyed!

 

Throughout the book there are “Riley’s Riveting Research Notes” added in with historical details and facts about World War II which makes this great for readers wanting to learn more about this time and/or homeschooler families doing a study on it.

 

I really enjoyed Riley and her personality. She was determined to solve the mystery and help her new friend, but she didn’t overstep besides a bit of eavesdropping (which the speakers were often speaking loudly anyway) and there were no scary or intense moments, which I greatly appreciated! 

 

Whenever I see books about World War II and the impact Rosie the Riveter had, it usually leans to a slightly feminist perspective (even in some Christian Fiction books) and I was very impressed (and glad) that this book didn’t have that angle. I listed some of the comments about how the world changed for working women—and just women working outside of the home in general—in my review above because I want to highlight that this book showed that yes, things definitely changed after the war, but it wasn’t in a “girlboss” or “girl power” kind of way.  

 

As far as the writing style, I thought it was very apt for a girl Riley’s age because while she says “like” in between a sentence, “BTW”, or even saying “IDK”, it never felt over-the-top or overused. I did think Riley saying “IDK” and “BTW” was a little strange as I don’t know anyone who actually says it in a talking conversation, but perhaps some do. As a note for parents, Riley and her brother (who is a grade younger) both have their own phones. 

 

I thought this was a great story and I can’t wait to read and review the next book in the series soon! As an additional comment, for Tenderhearts or Explorers in American Heritage Girls, I’m nearly positive this book could work for a part of some patriotic-themed badge!

 

 

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.

"Ly-Lan and the New Class Mix-up" by Hà Dinh

About this book:

  “Sometimes things don’t turn out the way we plan! In this chapter book series about a daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, Ly-Lan navigates her life as a new third grader—complete with old and new friends, unexpected (and disappointing) changes at home and school, and finding a way to thrive.
   Third grade is not starting the way Ly-Lan pictured. First, her best friend Cece is put in another class--even after Ly-Lan prayed they would be in the same one. And then Ly-Lan is tasked with showing the new Vietnamese student around. Ly-Lan wants to hang out with Cece, not play translator to the new girl, and she doesn’t understand why her prayers aren’t being answered. If Ly-Lan is going to survive and thrive in third grade, she must learn to trust in God’s plans, especially when it means making some adjustments to her own.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Ly-Lan Finds a Way” series. 


Spiritual Content- A prayer (that Ly-Lan does with her parents); Ly-Lan shares with her best friend that whenever she needs something, her father has told her to get on her knees, which her friend thinks she means begging, but Ly-Lan explains she means praying and shows her how she prays under a cross in her room to Jesus (there is an illustration of Ly-Lan on her knees praying and a note that she prays with her parents before bed every night); Ly-Lan tells her best friend that her father told her to pray to Jesus whenever she needs help or has a special wish (her best friend says that “that’s cool” and she usually just yells out loud to her parents in hopes one of her parents can get her wish for her); Ly-Lan believes her prayers to be in the same classroom as her best friend has worked since kindergarten, but her mom says she’s not sure that’s how prayers work; When she finds out she’s not in the same class with her best friend, Ly-Lan wonders if she said the wrong name in her prayers; Ly-Lan’s parents tell her that God isn’t a genie to grant our wishes and that sometimes things don’t work out the way we want even when we pray about it (adding that “prayers are like wishes from our hearts, but sometimes our wishes aren’t always the best thing for us. Only God can decide that. We have to trust Him.” and encourage her about trusting God, but Ly-Lan decides that if praying is not going to help and God doesn’t grant wishes, she’s going to take her chances on someone at school who can grant her wish); Ly-Lan doesn’t think prayers will work after her disappointment and wonders what the point of praying is if it doesn’t come true; *Spoiler* At the very end, Ly-Lan realizes the good that can come from being in a new class and prays with her parents *End of Spoiler*; Talks about God, Jesus, trusting Him, & praying/prayers; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of praying & prayers; 
             *Note: A few mentions of magic (in the sense of Ly-Lan thinking her mother can work magic like creating a certain yummy food and could help her out with the classroom problem; Later, Ly-Lan thinks that moms are magical when her best friend tells her something that her mom said that was the same thing her mom said too); A mention of being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Ly-Lan is upset about her hopes and plans not being able to happen (such as being in the same classroom as her best friend or sitting with her at lunch) and thinks “Adults choose everything for kids—whose class we’re in, where we sit at lunch, and who we sit with!” and adds that “today is officially the worst first day ever.”, but she still follows the directions of her teacher; In a moment of being upset, Ly-Lan whines and says a hurtful thing to her best friend (which her friend says to take back her mean words, but Ly-Lan is still upset); *Spoilers* Towards the end, Ly-Lan realizes that she was wrong and writes an apology note to her best friend and plans to make a new friend or two in her new class; Her best friend forgives her *End of Spoilers*; A couple mentions of jealousy.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Ly-Lan Tran, age 8
                                P.O.V. of Ly-Lan 
                                                        96 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

To get the technical stuf out of the way: I’m not the best judge for the writing quality of beginner chapter books, so I did think it was a bit simple at times, but I think that can be expected. I don’t know how realistic it was for Ly-Lan’s writing skills either. There were a few times of extra exclamation points in a sentence or amazing being said as “AMAZINGGG!!!” by our main character and her friend. 

 

I thought this story was very cute overall and how important it is for Ly-Lan has to learn that it’s okay and even possible to have more than one best friend. The illustrations were adorable and definitely added to a cute charm to the story. 

 

 

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.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Zonderkidz) for this honest review.