An Incredible Book for Teen Girls

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Nancy Rue

and the book:

Boyfriends, Burritos & an Ocean of Trouble (Real Life)

Zondervan (April 20, 2010)

***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nancy Rue has written over 100 books for girls, is the editor of the Faithgirlz Bible, and is a popular speaker and radio guest with her expertise in tween and teen issues. She and husband Jim have raised a daughter of their own and now live in Tennessee.

Visit the author's website.



Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (April 20, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310714850
ISBN-13: 978-0310714859

MY THOUGHTS:

Nancy Rue is an amazingly gifted writer. I love her grown-up novels (It sounds too risque to say adult novels! LOL), and my girl was (and still is) a huge fan of her books for tweens; she has read the Lily series (along with their companion books), the Sophie series, and the Lucy series multiple times. Now Nancy has begun the Real Life series for teens (timed just because my girl is in high school now, I'm sure!) and it is delightful. My girl enjoyed the first book, Motorcycles, Sushi, and One Strange Book, and I may have to "borrow" it now that I've read Boyfriends, Burritos, and an Ocean of Trouble. As indicated in the trailer, these are stand-alone books tied together with a common thread: in each of the four stories, a girl finds a mysterious book that helps her sort through the crisis or issues that she is dealing with. Once the problem is resolved, she puts her first name or initials in the book and leaves it where someone else will find it. Nancy has carried this over into real life by suggesting that readers leave these books in a public place; my girl is leaving one in the hotel or airport while on her mission trip.

Boyfriends,Burritos, and an Ocean of Trouble begins with Bryn O'Connor being treated in the Emergency Room after being in a car accident with her boyfriend. The scrapes from the wreck aren't bothering her nearly as much as the fact that the bruises her boyfriend has given her are discovered. When charges are pressed against Preston, Bryn's "friends" suddenly turn on her in support of the ever-popular, potential-Olympic-swimmer, Young-Life-attending boyfriend. When her young, quirky, surfing grandmother shows up to help Bryn and her dad (mom & sister are on a much-anticipated educational international trip) life goes from bad worse to "worser." The waves in the ocean are as harrowing as the turmoil in her life, and Bryn just hopes she can keep her head above water. The only thing that offers hope is the unusual book she picked up in the hospital waiting room. Will the truth that she's found in its pages see her through the storm? Credible characters, timely teen issues and a practical spiritual lesson all combine to make this a book that I could not put down. If you parent, teach, or befriend teenage girls, get them this book. Highly, highly recommended!

Nancy also has a phenomenal blog for teens; be sure to check it out. (Just don't let anyone under 18 know that you did. My girl was horrified that I might have read it!)

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