"Samantha Sanderson Without a Trace" by Robin Caroll

About this book:

  “Sam Sanderson is an independent, resourceful, high-tech cheerleader. She dreams of becoming an award-winning journalist like her mother, so she’s always looking for articles to publish in her middle-school paper (where she secretly hopes to become chief editor). With a police officer for a father, Sam is in no short supply of writing material.
  In the fourth book of the Faithgirlz Samantha Sanderson series, Sam’s friend Tam Lee is missing. As the days pass, all clues seem to point to something sinister in Sam’s opinion. Sam must decide whether to do what everyone wants her to and let law enforcement continue to work as though Tam is a run-away. Or should Sam follow her heart and keep poking around looking for more clues?”


Series: Book #4 in the “Samantha Sanderson” series. (Which is part of the Faithgirlz line) {See reviews of Book #1 Here!, Book #2 Here!, and Book #3 Here!}{A bit more about the series: “The Samantha Sanderson series is about an ordinary girl with extraordinary dreams. Each book touches on a crime straight from headlines, from bomb threats to bullying, while following Samantha and her friends as they navigate middle-school and questions of faith.”}

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Blessings over food; A bit of witnessing; Talks about God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Church & Youth group.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘heck’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shut up’ and five ‘stupid’s; Some sarcasm; All about missing children & abductions; Mentions of child predators & kidnappings; Mentions of skipping school; A couple mentions of drugs & alcohol; A couple mentions of abuse; A couple mentions of divorce; A mention of the bomb threat in Book #1.

Sexual Content- Butterflies; A married couple kiss; Mentions of crushes & cute boys.

-Samantha Sanderson, 12
                                         P.O.V. of Sam
                                                        217 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add 1-2 stars for girls in Public & Private School.}

Okay, that was great! These Samantha Sanderson books keep getting better and better!

A note to moms possibly concern about the abduction part of the plot--*(Big Spoiler* While there are many mentions of it, there isn’t actually an abduction, it’s an experiment. So the child who goes missing is okay. ;) *End of Big Spoiler*).

Honestly, this was border-line phenomenal and border-line 5-star rating to me. While set in the Public School system & all about it, this homeschooler still found the plot really fascinating.

Just an interesting thing I noticed: Sam & Makayla are both 12, yet have Facebook accounts. While Facebook requires you to be age 13, there are ways around it. I just found it interesting that Sam’s police-office father allowed her to have an account. Semi-odd in my opinion. ;)  

I was excited to see Sam’s mom more in this one, as she was awesome!

I do have to admit, when I opened this book, I was highly disappointed that the cover was changed from the normal matte-like cover (like the previous three books) to a high glossy. Silly, I know, to mention it, but it bugs me a bit. The actual cover is still cute, with Sam’s adorable outfit and the purple theme. The spines of all four of the books lined up look so nice, though!

Soooo, I’m ready for a fifth Samantha Sanderson book. And a sixth. And a…. ;)

See y’all on Monday 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 (Zondervan) for this honest review.

"Samantha Sanderson Off the Record" by Robin Caroll

About this book:

  “Sam Sanderson is an independent, resourceful, high-tech cheerleader. She dreams of becoming an award-winning journalist like her mother, so she's always looking for articles to publish in her middle-school paper (where she secretly hopes to become chief editor). With a police officer for a father, Sam is in no short supply of writing material.
  In the third book of the Samantha Sanderson series, when the school's grades were tampered with, Sam must enlist Makayla's help in hacking the system to discover the virus that was used and who committed the crime. But when the lead suspect is her newfound friend, Felicia, Sam must choose whether to stick by her friends at all costs or report the story as she sees it.
  The Samantha Sanderson series is about an ordinary girl with extraordinary dreams. Each book touches on a crime straight from headlines, from bomb threats to bullying, while following Samantha and her friends as they navigate middle-school and questions of faith.”


Series: Book #3 in the “Samantha Sanderson” series, which is part of the “Faithgirlz” line. {You can see our reviews of Book #1 Here! and then Book #2 Here!}

Spiritual Content- Matthew 22:39 is quoted many times; A few other Scriptures are quoted; Prayers; A couple talks about God & being in His hands; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Going to Church/Youth Group & mentions of Youth Group.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’s, two ‘duh’s, two forms of ‘idiot’, two teasing ‘shut up’s, and Sam says “ohmygummybears!” twice; A mean girl (Aubrey is called a she-beast and then a “speak of the devil.”); A mention of Book #2’s bullying & divorce topics; Sam sometimes sneaks behind her father’s back to do something he told her not to do (but she always gets a lesson when it comes out).

Sexual Content- Mentions of crushes, cute boys, liking a boy, dates to a dance; Sam thinks “eww” when her parents kiss and smile at each other (twice); A comment on a blog post that “Crimes are murders, rapes, and assaults.”.

-Samantha “Sam” Sanderson, age 12 (7^th grade)
                                             P.O.V. of Sam
                                                        228 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

(and a half)

My personal Rating-

(and a half)

I’m a computer nerd. I admit it. It’s just so...fascinating! (I most likely get it from my Grandfather who was an engineer and would bring home tapes of the first computers making sounds to share with my Momma and Memaw. But I digress.) That said, I really, really enjoyed this novel! Plus the Spiritual Content was great! I hope there will be many more Samantha Sanderson books!

See y’all on Monday with the start of Pre-Teen Week!!

*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 e-book for free from the publisher (Zonderkidz) through BookLookBloggers for this review.

"Samantha Sanderson On the Scene" by Robin Caroll

{ Follow us on Instagram ( @lindseyfrombfcg ) to see behind the scenes and seek peeks of BFCG! }

About this book:

  “As Samantha and the rest of the middle schoolers prepare for the upcoming Spring Fest, 'mean girl' Nikki faces the reality that her parents are getting divorced. It's hard for Samantha to sympathize because of Nikki's mean girl reputation. But when Nikki becomes victim of a string of attacks, Samantha takes it upon herself and her super sleuth abilities to get down to the bottom of the bullying. Plus, articles on bullying are just the kind of serious topic the school paper needs instead of fluff like popularity tips. Samantha enlists the help of her tech-savvy BFF, Makayla, and while the two track down clues, they leave a trail of trouble behind, and may even be directly responsible for a break in of their very own school's computer lab!
  Nikki is touched by Samantha's assistance and warms up to her, which only makes Aubrey all the ruder to Samantha, but Samantha doesn't care. She's comfortable in her own skin, and vows to help others feel the same way.
  The Samantha Sanderson series is about an ordinary girl with extraordinary dreams. Each book touches on a crime straight from headlines, from bomb threats to bullying, while following Samantha and her friends as they navigate middle-school and questions of faith.”

 

Series: Book #2 in the “Samantha Sanderson” series, which is part of the “Faithgirlz” line. {Read my review of Book #1, Here!}

 

Spiritual Content- Psalm 32:12-14, Proverbs 31:8, Ecclesiastes 31:1-8; Those scriptures get expanded on at Youth Group;  Many Prayers; Sam learns to Trust God.

Negative Content- Minor Cussing including: a ‘oh my gosh’, a few ‘shut up’s; Bullying is a major part of this story, the girl gets called fat and ugly.

Sexual Content- Crushes & who-likes-whos are mentioned a couple of times.

-Samantha “Sam” Sanderson, age 12

                                   P.O.V. of Sam

                                                                    247 pages

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 Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating- 

(and a half)

While I liked the first book in this series, “Samantha Sanderson At the Movies” (click Here! to see review) a bit more, I did like this book. Fellow homeschoolers might not be completely interested because bullying (at a public school) and divorce play major roles. All in all, a great Christian mystery for girls of all ages, just like the first book.

I’m really looking forward to the next Samantha Sanderson book!

See y’all on Friday for another 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 review.