A safe, readable book on a challenging topic that offers conservative, prayerful advice for young teens.
Rue, who maintains a Christian teen blog, has gathered questions from female preteens and young teens on a variety of topics related to interactions with boys, and here she expands that into an advice resource.
Chapters follow the same general format but focus on slightly different topics. First she quotes from a few young women and then presents a brief quiz so girls can identify where they fall on an emotional spectrum. She follows with a few comments from young men summarizing their group perspective, some related scriptural material and topics for conversations with parents. Finally, she includes a blank section where girls can record their feelings. Most of the topics seem to center around how to comfortably interact with boys or how to accept not being able or willing to do so. The chapter entitled “Do They Really Just Want One Thing?” addresses the issue of sexual activity, with a caveat: “We’re not going to discuss any of the actual details of the act.” For girls that have already engaged in sex, she offers this comfort: “[P]lease don't feel like you’re damaged goods. You are a human being who has made a mistake, and who among us hasn’t messed up somewhere?” Most of the gently but unapologetically preachy advice steers girls toward parental guidance and soulful conversations with God.
A safe, readable book on a challenging topic that offers conservative, prayerful advice for young teens. (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-310-72684-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Zondervan
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Insofar as the reading level of the book for adults is on a par with this effort—for the most part, only the substance has...
This distillation of the best-selling Killing Jesus: A History (2013) retains the original’s melodramatic tone and present-tense narration. Also its political agenda.
The conservative pundit’s account of Jesus’ life and, in brutal detail, death begins with a nonsensically altered title, an arguable claim to presenting a “fact-based book” and, tellingly, a list of “Key Players” (inserted presumably to help young readers keep track of all the names). Like its source, its prose is as purple as can be, often word for word: “There is a power to Jesus’s gait and a steely determination to his gaze.” Harping on “taxes extorted from the people of Judea” as the chief cause of continuing local unrest, the author presents Jewish society as governed with equal force by religious ritual and by the Romans, and he thoroughly demonizes Herod Antipas (“he even looks the part of a true villain”). Alterations for young readers include more illustrations, periodic sidebars, far fewer maps and a streamlining of context so that the focus is squarely on Jesus, with less attention on the historical moment—an unfortunate choice. Assorted notes on 16 various side topics, from a look at Roman roads to the rise of the cross as a Christian symbol, follow. A mix of 19th-century images, photos of ancient sites and artifacts supplement frequent new illustrations (not seen) from Low.
Insofar as the reading level of the book for adults is on a par with this effort—for the most part, only the substance has been simplified—it’s hard to see the value of this iteration. (source list, recommended reading) (Biography. 12-15)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9877-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
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