ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michelle Sutton, otherwise known as the Edgy Inspirational Author, is Editor-in-chief of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, a member of ACFW, a social worker by trade, and a prolific reader/book reviewer/blogger the rest of the time.She lives in Arizona with her husband of nineteen years and her two teenaged sons. Michelle is also the author of It's Not about Me (2008) and It's Not About Him (Sheaf House 2009). She has nine other titles releasing over the next three years.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Susie passed out while drinking at Jeff’s party and later discovered she’s pregnant. She has no idea who the father is and considers having an abortion, but instead decides to place her baby for adoption. Following through ends up being more wrenching than she imagined, but she’s determined to do the right thing for her baby.Jeff feels guilty that Susie was taken advantage of at his party and offers to marry her so she won’t have to give up her baby, like his birth mother did with him. But Susie refuses, insisting he should he marry someone he loves. Can he convince her that his love is genuine before it’s too late? Can she make him understand that it’s not about him—it’s about what’s best for her child?
If you would like to read the prologue and first chapter of It's Not About Him, go HERE
MY THOUGHTS:
This book follows Michelle Sutton's novel It's Not About Me, which I reviewed here. Once again, she has written a powerful and frank novel addressing the many temptations teenagers and young adults struggle with today. While it also clearly depicts painful consequences which can remain in spite of repentance and forgiveness, it demonstrates the strength God provides to begin making right choices. As with the first book, I recommend this only for mature older teens and college-age students/young adults. I do think this would be a great book for those about to move away from home into an apartment or other independent living environment. There are a whole host of scenarios that can come up in such situations, and this book is straightforward in its realistic portrayal of the struggles many young adults face.
I was very careful about checking out novels throughly -- sometimes going so far as to read them myself first -- before I bought them for my teenage step-daughter so don't consider this criticism: WHY do you think this book should be restricted to older teens? Is the material too explicit? Are you thinking it might encourage rather than dissuade? Or is it simply the topic itself?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should get this for my daughter who's going away to college next year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your email answer. I hadn't gone back and read your other review, although if I still had a teen I would have.
ReplyDeleteI wondered if the book didn't perhaps make the forbidden seem somehow more glamorous than reality, or perhaps introduce ideas younger teen may not yet have considered.
I highly disagree with you about the age suggestion for this series. My 16 yr old daughter has read both of them and I only wish that they had been written when my two older daughters had been going through high school. My comment is this . . . if you think that Michelle's book will put ideas in there head it couldn't possibly. The ideas are already out there just ask any teen, and go and watch any youtube video. It's the nature of parenting teens. We can only advise them so far and then their on their own.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the only reviewer who has said mature older teens. I don't recommend these for 13-14 year olds in general. Sadly, some are at this point. But some still are not, and I would want parents to be aware of what's in them before handing it to a younger teen.
ReplyDeleteI also did not recommend this for young teens, but only older teens and young adults. I did so because of the subject matter...rape, alcohol and drug use, sexual relationships, ect...
ReplyDeleteThis book does not glamorize any of this - as a matter of fact most of it is approached through the lens of new Christians learning the consequences of their wrong choices. I think any parent would care enough to read this before deciding whether or not it was right for their children to read. Every child is different in their maturity, their faith, their understanding of adult issues, and only the parent can discern if their child can handle these topics.
I enjoyed both of these books, and I think the message is timely and accurate. I have two sons in my home, ages 14 and 16, and this is not something I'd introduce to them without some serious teaching going on.
Just my two cents.
Hey all, I found this little conversation through alerts. I want to just tell you guys that both of my sons have read my books. My seventeen year old read both when he was thirteen and again when he was 16 (to help me proof them) and he still doesn't have a girlfriend, so it hasn't tempted him to do anything. My sixteen year old just read my first book this year. They both enjoyed it and ironically only mentioned the spiritual stuff in the book to their friends. Neither of my sons have even kissed a girl yet and because they go to public school they see the value in the content and tell their friends about it. There is a flock of girls at the high school who think my son is cool because his mother wrote this book they love, but that's where it ends. I do have a group of girls who discovered my book while in the 8th grade (they were 13) but they were also Mormon girls and they got to read the truth about salvation so I was pleased with that. You just never know how someone is going to benefit from something. The characters in both books are 19 and 20 and up so it's recommended for college aged kids. My only point was that it hasn't hurt the younger crowd as far as I know. Most teens say they wish they'd read it when they were younger (those who are now out of high school).
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