Fool's Gold

I have seen Melody Carlson's True Colors series for teens on the shelves of my Christian bookstore but had not read one until I received Fool's Gold: Color Me Consumed (NavPress). It is excellent, and I can't wait for my girl to read it.




BOOK SUMMARY:
Hannah Johnson is pretty happy as a missionary kid in Papua New Guinea. But when she visits her cousin Vanessa for a summer in America, everything changes.

Vanessa and her friends try to catch Hannah up on all the latest fashions, but in the end, Hannah feels hopeless. She doesn't think she'll ever be able to keep up with the rich girls--but that doesn't stop her from trying.

In the process, Hannah is forced to come to grips with what she values most: beauty on the inside or beauty on the outside.


MY THOUGHTS:
This book does a great job of portraying the temptations and situations common to many teenage girls. The lure of popularity. The enticement of credit cards, checking accounts, and sales. The attitude of the "haves" toward the "have nots" and the insecurity and lack of self-worth that often results - on both sides. And the spiritual numbness that results when one "takes a vacation" from Bible-reading and prayer. The reader is privy to Hannah's struggles and thoughts each step along the way, and her eventual disillusionment, while predictable, was still painful. This should be required reading of every teen girl who lives within driving distance of a mall!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Over the years, Melody Carlson has worn many hats, from preschool teacher to youth counselor to political activist to senior editor. But most of all, she loves to write! Currently she freelances from her home. In the past eleven years, she has published more than 150 books for children, teens, and adults--with sales close to three million and many titles appearing on bestsellers lists.

Several of her books have been finalists and winners of various writing awards including The Gold Medallion, The Christy, and The Rita Award. And most recently she is in the process of optioning some of her books for film rights.

Carlson’s passion for writing has been greatly focused on teens. Informed and aware of the challenges and struggles facing teens today, she writes young adult novels that she hopes will change lives. Her popular series, Diary of a Teenage Girl (Multnomah), has sold more than 300,000 copies. Her TrueColors series (Nav Press) focuses on hard-hitting issues like suicide, addiction, and cutting. And her latest series, The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor, explores the paranormal from a Godly perspective.

She has two grown sons and lives in Central Oregon with her husband and chocolate lab retriever. They enjoy skiing, hiking, gardening, camping and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains. You can learn more about her and her many books at her website.


You can purchase Fool's Gold at Amazon, Christianbook.com, or your local Christian bookstore.


Thanks to NavPress for providing a copy of this book for my review!