"Katie Sue: Heading West" by Eleanor Clark

About this book:

  “Set in the mid 1800's when Americans were heading west.
    Nine-year-old Chelsea Marie isn't happy about the fact that her family is getting ready to move all the way across the country. Why does she have to start all over again, making new Friends? When Grand Doll shares the story of Katie Sue – a young relative who traveled by wagon train with her family from Tennessee to Texas in 1850 – Chelsea learns that she can truly trust the Lord with all of the changes in her life, even the really big ones.”


Series: Book #2 in “The Eleanor” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Proverbs 3:5-6 at the beginning & also quoted many times throughout the book; Other Scriptures are read, remembered, quoted, mentioned, discussed, & thought over; Many Prayers, Praising God, & Thanking God; Church going, singing hymns, & sermons; Many talks about God, God being trustworthy, trusting Him, & witnessing to others; Most ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Katie’s parents feel lead to go west to start churches and make disciples (her father will be a pastor); When a tragedy strikes a family, Katie Sue asks her mother what that family will do and her mother responds that “They will go on living, sweetheart. That’s what you do when tragedy strikes—you go on. And somehow in the midst of it, you remember that God is for you, not against you. You keep on trusting Him, even when things are really, really hard.” (Katie Sue asks if God could have healed the family, but her mother tells her that while yes, He could have, trusting God makes the most sense during times like this); Katie witnesses to a friend and leads her to accepting Christ; Many mentions of God, Jesus Christ, trusting Him, being called by Him, & having peace; Many mentions of prayers, praying, praising God, & thanking God; Many mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, hymns, & preachers; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events from the Bible; Mentions of God healing someone’s heart (a physical heart problem); A few mentions of different Christian churches/denominations (Baptist, Methodist, & Catholic; This is brought up by Katie Sue’s father and she remarks that the people on the wagon train “were from different kinds of Christian churches, but they all seemed to love the Lord just the same!”); A few mentions of Heaven (and how going there as nothing to do with good deeds); A mention of being Blessed; At the end of the book, in bonus content, there is a devotional-like lesson about trust with many Scriptures and Biblical events shared.
 

Negative Content- Both Chelsea Marie and Katie Sue do not want to move, but neither of them share with their parents about their feelings (Chelsea Marie shares with her grandmother and says it’s not fair she has to move; Katie Sue is very sad and her heart hurts just thinking about it); Mentions of wars/battles & deaths; Mentions of illnesses (yellow fever), injuries, deaths (including a pregnant woman and her baby), & grief; A few mentions of a raid & kidnappings (Fort Parker in 1836); A couple mentions of a mule having to be shot after a broken leg (which Katie Sue overhears two men talking about it); A couple mentions of a grandfather who recently moved to a nursing home; A couple mentions of cigar smoke & tobacco; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of hunting & a deer; A mention of the possibility of a wagon catching on fire; A mention of a bank robber; 
             *Note: Katie Sue is frightened to hear stories about Indians and freezes when she meets a group of them (they are afraid of her as well, but the meeting goes well); Mentions of historical figures (Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, Francis Scott Key, & Corrie ten Boom). 
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A; 
             *Note: A woman comments about Katie Sue’s dress making her wish she was “young and slender again” and pats her own hips. 
 
-Chelsea Marie, age 9
-Katie Sue Herod, age 11
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                            Set in 1851
                                                        220 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was another sweet story with great lessons in it! A major part of this book is that Katie Sue has to learn to trust & fully rely on God during her family’s travels. She was a sweet girl with a good heart and attitude, which made me like this book more. 

 

The events of this book (like the prior books in the series) do have a slight rose-tint to them. I would compare them to the “American Girl” books in that way, but I appreciate and enjoy them better than the “Sisters in Time” series. The emphasis on Christian morals, lessons, and good attitudes is definitely making the “Eleanor” series stand out in my mind.

 

 

See y’all on Wednesday 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.

"Lady Georgiana" by Taylor Paige

About this book:

  “In 1841 England, Lady Georgiana Etheridge knows how to balance being both a noblewoman and a spy. It comes naturally to her, being raised in an aristocratic household of spies her whole life. However, disguising herself as a servant and working in the scullery is completely strange to her, and so is doing an assignment with no assistance or supervision besides the help of her cousin. They weren’t given much of a choice with the assignment, but neither would they have changed it—it’s all in the name of saving Georgiana’s father, falsely arrested for crimes not his own. Georgiana and her cousin are happy to take on servant work in order to find proof of her father’s innocence, but time is of the essence. If they don’t find their proof before his trial, it will diminish any hope Georgiana has of seeing him again.”


Series: Book #3 in the “Savantor Spies” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Psalm 37:3 at the beginning & Ephesians 1:3 in the acknowledgments; Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, remembered, & thought about; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going; Talks about God, His will, Him being with us, trusting Him, forgiveness, & praying; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God, Jesus, & the Holy Spirit; Georgiana has long ago decided to trust why God gave her condition (of being unable to speak) to her; Georgiana wonders if God gives people inklings of the future and others’ lives, but comes to the conclusion that God doesn’t do that often (but still finds it interesting to think about); Many mentions of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, His will, Him being with us, & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, a rector, services, sermon, & hymns; Mentions of Christians; Mentions of forgiveness & sin; A couple mentions of Heaven; A mention of paintings of stories from the Bible; 
             *Note: The phrase ‘Heaven forbid’ is said once; A mention of luck. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, a ‘dumb’, and a ‘kiss up’; A bit of eye rolling; Georgiana “curses” herself for when she thinks she’s made a big mistake; Due to their spying and missions, some side characters have to lie to others (including about fake identities); Georgiana and the others also sneak into a place & have to steal an item for an assignment (her grandfather comments to her cousin about being a capable thief, but cautions her to not use that skill unless absolutely necessary); Georgiana tries to ignore the gossip of the servants; Georgiana and her cousin accidentally eavesdrops on adult family members’ conversations; Mentions of deaths & grief; Mentions of a murder, trying to find the murderer, imprisonment, & a trial/arrest about it; Mentions of crimes, criminals, thieves, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of a kidnapping & being drugged (Book #1 & Book #2); Mentions of poison; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of possible exile or execution for a criminal; A few mentions of a missing (runaway) sibling; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of hatred & jealousy; A couple mentions of fighting & hurting others; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of smugglers; A mention of gambling; 
             *Note: Georgiana can’t speak (she is called mute and refers to it as a disability) and faces a couple peoples’ negative comments and ridicule (including one girl saying she’ll “amount to nothing” and means no offense to Georgiana by saying that; Other girls stick up for Georgiana, though); A few mentions of stillborn babies & losing a child.
 
 
Sexual Content- A few blushes (when Georgiana wonders if she’s trying to impress a young man & later when she’s teased by a family member about the same young man); Georgiana finds a young man’s attentions towards her at a ball to be exhausting; Mentions of jilted couples & other couples running away together; A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of a young woman tarnishing her reputation by running off with a young man.
 
-Georgiana Etheridge, age 16
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Georgiana 
                                              Set in 1841
                                                        298 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

It took me a bit to get into this story and keep track of all the new characters as this third book is 28 years later and follows Elizabeth’s oldest daughter. It was neat to have a generational kind of story and see the original characters’ grown, married, and their own children as the stars of the next book. There’s a family tree at the very end of the book, which would have been more helpful to have at the beginning, I think. By the end of the story, though, I did a happy sigh as it was lovely to see a big, happy family represented in a MG/YA Christian Fiction book. 

 

I really liked Georgiana and her sweet personality. I would almost say this was my favorite book of the series so far. 

 

As a note for parents, I think this book could work as an option for avid readers 10/11+ like the prior books in the series. In this third story, there’s accusations of murder, but there’s no details about it—not even how the person was murdered—and very little other content to note. There’s a couple mentions of servants running away together, but other than some hints to a possible romance for Georgiana in the far-off future, there’s really no romance. It definitely had an emphasis on family love which was so sweet to see.

 

 

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 Author for this honest review.

"River of Life" by Kathleen Y'Barbo

About this book:

 

  “The Inn Crowd is plunged into another mystery when their contractor stumbles across a trunk containing an old, tattered quilt in one of the secret rooms that housed runaway slaves. Just moments earlier, they had learned that the famous River of Life quilt was stolen from the National Archives. Could this be the missing quilt? And how did it come to be at Wayfarers Inn? As Tess, Janice, and LuAnn set out to uncover the truth, they are shocked to find the spotlight of suspicion turned on them, especially after the quilt disappears again. Can they convince the authorities they were not behind the quilt’s theft?

   Meanwhile, the producer for the popular Arts & Antiques Network’s Quilt Mysteries comes to Marietta to film an episode about the River of Life quilt, and asks the friends if he can interview them. Will he provide the missing piece to finding the quilt?”

Series: Book #2 in the “Secrets of Wayfarers Inn” series. Review of Book#1 Here!

Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are remembered & quoted; A prayer; A couple talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; A hymn is sung; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, church events, pastors/reverends, & sermons; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of those in the Bible; A mention of someone being in the arms of Jesus (Heaven); A mention of a godsend; A mention of a spiritual gift; A mention of a miracle; A mention of a Christmas hymn; A mention of the Quaker denomination;

             *Note: Mentions of a rumor of a quilt having a curse on it.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘shoot’, a ‘stupid’, two ‘idiot’s, and seven of the phrase “goodness gracious goat!”; A bit of sarcasm & eye rolling; Dual-time period is set before the Civil War started; Being chased by slave hunters & gunfire (up to semi-detailed); Some pain & injuries; Seeing someone shot, nearly drowned, & a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of the deaths of slaves pursuing freedom; Mentions of slaves, runaway slaves, & slavery; Mentions of slave hunters, them shooting, gunfire, & kidnapping former slaves to sell them again; Mentions of pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of drownings & near drownings; Mentions of fires; Mentions of a theft, thieves, stealing, stolen items, crimes, crime scenes, arrests, & jail; Mentions of trespassing; Mentions of blackmail & threats; Mentions of rumors; A few mentions of serial killers (with a couple famous ones being mentioned); A few mentions of grieving the death of a spouse; A couple mentions of booze & the Prohibition era; A couple mentions of lying & liars; A couple mentions of tattoos; A mention of World War II; A mention of a hanging; A mention of a slave’s tongue being cut;

             *Note: Mentions of car brands; Mentions of brand names/items (Yankee Candle, an Apple iPad, GoPro, & Coca-Cola); A few mentions of magazines and newspapers (GQ, Rolling Stone, Chicago Tribune, & the Houston Chronicle); A few mentions of social media sites/websites (Netflix, Twitter, Google, & PayPal); A couple mentions of Ghostbusters; A couple mentions of movies (a Disney one (not named) & The Blues Brothers); A mention of Girl Scouts; A mention of a TV show (Good Morning America).

 

 

Sexual Content- A (married couple) cheek kiss; A younger man tells LuAnn that he would give her a second look because she has “it going on”; Mentions of dating & dates; A few mentions of a firefighter being called “hunky” and a “cutie”; A couple mentions of seeing couples kissing; A mention of a out-of-wedlock pregnancy (not specifically mentioned, but alluded to); A mention of flirting;

             *Note: A few mentions of a firemen’s calendar (& how they’re typically “full of muscled firemen wearing spray tans and not much more than is necessary to be legal”, but the one the local fire department will be doing, the men will be going about their duties and will be fully clothed); A couple mentions of advice to “accept what has already been decided” that a couple won’t have children (the husband does not take this well); A couple mentions of a man being possessive of his wife (historical time period); A couple mentions of a woman using her “womanly/feminine wiles” on a man to get a discount at his store; A mention of “[loosing] babies to death” (miscarriages/stillborn).

 

-Tess Wallace

                                P.O.V. of Tess

                                 Dual-Time period (contemporary & 1859)

                                       275 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

 

I think this series is a miss for me as I’m not big on dual-time period novels or books dealing with the Civil War time period. I find the trio of friends to be a little overwhelming when reading their conversations. Those who enjoy the Civil War time period would most likely enjoy this book/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.

"A Midnight Dance" by Joanna Davidson Politano

About this book:

  “The best moments in dance are the unscripted ones.

   At their core, all theater romances are tragedies. Ella Blythe knows this. Still, she cannot help but hope her own story may turn out different than most—and certainly different than the tragic story of the Ghost of Craven Street Theatre.

  After a chance encounter with one of the ballet company’s handsome dancers late one night, Ella is swept off her elegantly pointed toes. The dance they share and the promise he makes to her feels like a new beginning. Yet as she faces the mounting challenges in the ever-shrinking ballet company, Ella cannot deny the uncanny feeling that her life is mirroring that of the ghostly ballerina.

   Is she dancing ever closer to the edge of her own disastrous end? Or will the secrets that are about to come to light offer release from the unyielding grip of the past?”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures (Psalms) are remembered, quoted, & mentioned; Prayers; Talks about God & your dreams; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; A hymn; Because of comments from others, Ella wonders if God and dance really are separate and not able to both be in her (she struggles with this a lot (as well as dance becoming more important to her than God) but, about midway, she realizes that she can worship God through dance); Ella is called a nun by other dancers (because she is not interested in men) & mentions of it; Jack says she doesn’t put much stock in religion & was disappointed to learn about “Ella’s obsession with religion” (towards the end, he asks God what He wants from him, but not much else is said); Mentions of God; Mentions of the Psalms & David; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, denominations, & stained glass; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of being blessed; A couple mentions of sins; A mention of a Christian’s duty;

             *Note: Mentions of a haunted place in a theater & a rumored ghost; Mentions of a pair of ballet slippers being called ‘enchanted’; A mention of a devilish smile; A mention of Greek mythology.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’ and a ‘for all that is holy’; Some eye rolling; A fire (up to semi-detailed); Falling down the stairs, a body, & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of a death, fire, & possible murderer; Mentions of pain, injuries, & burns (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of an attempted robbery & assault; Mentions of stealing & stolen items; Mentions of drinking, drunks, an addiction, alcohol, & pubs/bars; Mentions of cigars & smoking; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deception; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of threats; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of animal manure; A mention of a thief; A mention of hatred.

Sexual Content- A couple hand kisses, two forehead kisses, barely-above-not-detailed kisses, a semi-detailed kiss, and a detailed kiss; Dances & Touches (including a thought by Ella after a man touches her waist, now understanding what the finer set of London declared dancing as immoral, barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing, Nearness, Smelling, & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); A man touches Ella’s hair when it’s down (an intimate thing in this time period, barely-above-not-detailed); An older man touches Ella (a boss, not in a creepy way) and she wonders what other decent profession allowed a man to put his hands on a woman whenever he wished; Ella’s father hasn’t been in the picture (her parents were married, *Spoiler* but it’s revealed near the end that her father wanted her mother to see a surgeon to take care of “the leech/problem” because of their careers were starting to be successful; her mother decided to fake her death and raise Ella herself as she said he had no right to force her to end a life God created out of their love; Ella does meet her biological father *End of Spoiler*; *Spoiler* Ella’s close friend (like a sister) falls in love easily and prior to the story was pregnant, Ella delivers the baby on the doorstep to a family and tells her mother and her sister that the baby passed away. While this decision haunts Ella, she stands by her decision as the sister would have never properly loved the child (we see Ella’s confirmation of doing the right thing, as Lily, the sister, says she doesn’t care about being respectable and only wants to be loved (by a man who happens to be married) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of a boss not wanting his dancers “to be inflicted with immorality” (with child); Mentions of prostitutes & a comment about them not working during the day; Mentions of married man having affairs & mistresses (a man makes an offer to Ella and she quickly says she’s not for sale); Mentions of romances and marriage never working for dancers & that no man will marry a female dancer, but will make them a mistress; Mentions of comments about dancers’ reputation & virtue; Mentions of kisses, hand kisses, & expecting a kiss; Mentions of a bet about kissing a girl; Mentions of a flirt & flirting; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of blushes/blushing; Mentions of impropriety; A few mentions of a female dancer not having a speck of sensuality or allure; A few mentions of the possibility of a women having two husbands; A couple mentions of illegitimate children; A mention of wondering if a couple was in love when they produced a child; A mention of secret kisses; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: A mention of imagining a man in his knickers (to look bashful/blushing in front of him).

 

-Elodie “Ella” Blythe, age 18/21 (unsure based on the timeline and comments)

                      1^st person P.O.V. of Ella & 3^rd of Jack (x5), Josefina (x1), & Maymie Dobbs (x1)

                                              Set in 1833 (first two chapters), then 1838-1839

                                                        373 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Oh, where do I begin?

 

While I’ll easily admit, when first learning about this book, the plot-line didn’t interest as much as past books by this author (such as “A Rumored Fortune” which quickly got my attention). Once I started reading, though, this book quickly grabbed me into story. There was many events and secrets I wasn’t expecting that shocked me again and again. That would probably that number one reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It takes good book to pull in me to not try to figure out what will happen and try to predict the next events.

 

While the characters were interesting (more on that in a minute), I can’t say they’re the ones that hook me into the story. It was the plot with the mysteries and all the secrets.  

 

I liked Ella, her dedication to ballet and her mother. I can’t say I always agreed with her thoughts or actions, but I could understand (most of the time) where she was coming from and why she did the things she did.

 

I wasn’t sure where the romance would go in this story, but besides those couple kisses, it was pretty clean in the romance regard. Other Sexual Content comments and hints (mistresses, affairs, illegitimate children & abortion) were not over the top, but I hesitate about recommending this book of those under 16 because of that content.  

 

I’ve been sitting here at my laptop for a few minutes now, debating not only my own personal rating but the higher two age groups’ ratings. This is why: “A Midnight Dance” felt more grown-up (I prefer to avoid the word “mature” as each girl is different and one word with a broad meaning cannot cover for every girl) then most books I’ve reviewed on here—but also enjoyed. (To clarify, there has been plenty of books that have been more “grown-up” because of sexual content that have received low ratings. Trust me, plenty of books.) This novel was different in the way that the Sexual Content that was there (see above) was typically more glossed-over then expounded upon like other books, so it felt cleaner than most, even while it was dealing with some similar topics.

 

Another reason for my debate: Ella’s Spiritual Content parts were great, however, I do question her kissing a man (quite soundly, I might add) who was not a Christian and did not seem open to sharing her faith. There’s a moment at the end with him and his own walk with the Lord, but I wish it would have been clearer and obvious. But, I suppose that could mimic life in a way, that someone’s witness takes more “pages” than what’s written down in a story. I do wish, though, it had been more precise, especially with the rumors about him being a flirt. (He does say in one of his own point of view chapters, that it’s a role he’s given himself, but I would have preferred that also be told to Ella for clarity’s sake.)

 

So, yes, I’m not sure if I was able to put my feelings about this book into words well, but it was a fascinating novel. I’m becoming quite a fan of historical mysteries, so I’m curious to see what this author will write next.

 

 

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 (Revell) for this honest review.