Winner of FOREVER RICHARD and NEVER CEESE

And the winner of the Thirsting for Blood duo is................bigguysmama!! It might have helped her to have three posts, but there were quite a few more to add from my other blog sites. Congratulations, Mimi!

I can't give away books every time, but I will as often as possible. I hope you will check out the books I write about in any case; I have decided to only blog about books that I feel are worthwhile. This means you probably won't see any negative reviews here (although I may point out some things I see as weaknesses), but I don't think this is my purpose. My purpose, my mission if you will, is to connect readers with worthwhile books that present a Christian worldview.

WINNER from CFRB Blog Tour of Mohamed's Moon

And the winner is {*drum roll*}....David Brollier!!

Usually the winners of my giveaways are not members of the group doing the reviews, but in this case, I knew David threw his name into the hat so he could give it to the library where he works. He left comments with all of the bloggers. To be honest, I was disappointed with the sparsity of comments all around although we know there was a fair mount of traffic with readers during the tour. Hopefully, some of you who read our reviews will decide to get a copy of your own. It's definitely a worthwhile book.

End of Sue Dent/ Vampires and Verevulf Veek: So How is it Okay For Christians to Read?

Now I'm no theologian and no expert on the genre, but I will attempt to answer one of the questions often asked about a book about vampires and werewolves that appeals to Christians: Is it Christian? Remember, this is just my opinion, but I hope it will be helpful to any who read it.

Firs of all I want to let you in on my on preferences. I don't care for horror at all--not in literature nor in movies. It just doesn't interest me, although I could go further at another time, another place. My preferences run to historical fiction, fantasy, and mystery, and I have many friends who have no interest in any of those genres. I have never read any other book about vampires or werewolves. The only vampire movies I have seen were a couple of the old black and white ones and George Hamilton's Love at First Bite, which I thought was pretty funny. Oh, and a couple of Abbott and Costello movies, also pretty funny. Werewolves? I saw Michael Landon's I Was a Teenage Werewolf, those black and white movies with Lon Chaney Jr., and Michael J. Fox's movie. That's it, and that's all I cared to know. So my knowledge of the lore and how others have portrayed the beings is extremely limited. I can't tell you how Sue's characters stack up next to any others, although I do know that she has added her own touches to the legends. And why not? From what I hear, so did Anne Rice (and I have no intention of reading her older work to find out more about it--I'm pretty sure her pre-conversion books are too erotic for Christian mores).

Initially I was drawn to buy a copy of Never Ceese after reading a couple of reviews written by Christian reviewers. And originally I bought it for a teenager I know who was deeply interested in dark things like vampires and all the Goth stuff. My hope was that this would help turn her back to more Godly things. It wasn't dark enough for her at the time (which really worried me), but she liked it and also read some other titles that I found. I'm happy to say that this girl has done quite a turn-around spiritually in the couple of years in between; I don't know if Never Ceese was a part of it or not. It may have been. Since then, I have seen messages left for Sue on Shoutlife, messages written by fans of the Twilight series who love her stories. Never Ceese came out before those books, so this wasn't any jumping on the band wagon for Sue Dent. Coincidence? I doubt it. I can't help but believe that God had a hand in the timing so that an alternative would be there for those who are drawn to such a genre, to such stories, an alternative with a Christian worldview.

How is this a Christian worldview? First of all, there are some Christian elements even in the old superstitions of the older vampire/werewolf stuff. Why is there such an aversion to crosses and all things holy? Yes, I know, there's garlic and wolf's bane, too, but the cursed ones cannot abide any mention of God or scripture and are kept at bay by crosses. This reminds me of a passage from C. S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength, where the workaholic Mark is asked to desecrate an image of Christ on the cross (I don't have the exact details; someone borrowed my book), at which point he started wondering why this was so important to them. Mark never even thought much about Jesus Christ before, just rejecting him out-of-hand, but the insistence on rejection and hateful treatment of the image seemed overkill. Why such rage at the pitiful image? It's the same thing with the atheists in America who are so enraged by any referenced to God or Christ, no matter how innocent it might be (I had many Hindu and Buddhist students who thought the teaching of the Bible were valuable, and they didn't understand this venomous attack against all things Christian, either). So it is with the aversion to all things Godly in the vampire/werewolf mythos. The very fact that crosses and even the name of God or anything to do with the Bible cause them pain leads us to the cause: these are curses from the Devil and the demons--at the very least a deep oppression from them--that can not stand anything holy. Neither do they like the daylight: creatures of darkness under the curse of the Prince of Darkness. The light will bring to light the deeds of evil.

One of the new elements Sue Dent add to her story is the possibility of redemption. I like this because it is true of the character of God: none of us are beyond His redemptive power. Her beings are still able to be saved from eternal damnation as long as they don't curse another human being, that hope that saves Penelope early on and leads her to encourage Richard and Ceese in the first book. Throughout the second book, Richard and Ceese are both able to speak of God and the Bible, even touch and read the Bible, and although there isn't any preaching scene, the truth of redemption through Jesus Christ is still there. Merideth and Penny both ask Ceese and Richard if they have made the decisions and accepted Jesus as Savior. I won't tell you the answers received, but suffice it to say that the importance of salvation through a relationship with Jesus Christ is there.

Is this a book for everyone? I doubt it. But if you know someone who is into such things as vampire lore or the Twilight phenomena, even Harry Potter, I suggest considering the books for them. They will thank you for it. Just don't try getting in their faces afterward--follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as to how much to speak of spiritual things with them. I believe it's a good gift for non-Christian fans of such genres also. While Christianity is there, it doesn't clobber anyone over the head in a way that might turn off non-Christians. It is basically a good story that comes from a Christian world viewpoint. I remember once reading a comment Sue left for a young fan at shoutlife where she told her not to worry too much about writing something with a Christian viewpoint because for a Christian that just comes naturally. I'm not sure if that's totally true, but I think it holds for those who are walking closely with the Lord. Is it for everyone? Again, I doubt it, but I have also seen some reviews from people who didn't expect to like it, others who don't care for horror, but who were won over by Richard and Ceese. Then again, I don't think these books are really horror, even if Never Ceese made the short list for a Bram Stoker Award (for those who are ignorant like me, Bram Stoker wrote the original Dracula). It's one of those in-betweeners that can appeal to a cross-over of several audiences. Think about it. If not for yourself, for someone you know.

DON'T FORGET--I'M GIVING AWAY A COPY of Forever Richard and Never Ceese. If the winner already has Never Ceese, I will choose a second name for that book. I think you can read Forever Richard and figure it out without having read the first book, but it helps to know the previous story. All comments on all of the week's blogs will count in the drawing on Tuesday, Sept. 22. So you might end up with more than one entry.

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: The Writers Cafe Press (January 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934284033
• ISBN-13: 978-1934284032
  

You can purchase Forever Richard from the publisher, The Writers' Cafe Press (free shipping in the U.S.), Barnes and Noble , Amazon.com, or get an autographed copy from Sue here. If you want a copy of Never Ceese, you can order directly from Sue Dent herself at the Forever Richard site, but it's on the NEVER CEESE page. It's available in stores everywhere: I just don't know which ones. You might try asking for it at a local bookstore; even if they don't have it, they should be able to order it since it is distributed through Spring Arbor (main distributor for Christian book stores) and through Ingram for regular book stores.


Sue Dent's blog and website can be found at http://www.foreverrichard.com.

Forever Richard--the Saga Continues

(WARNING: If you haven't read Never Ceese yet, there will be some spoilers, but I'll try to keep them to a minimum.)

Forever Richard picks up the saga of those suffering siblings Ceese (Cecelia) and Richard Porter. Both were cursed way back over 200 years ago; Ceese was cursed by a werewolf and Richard by two vampires. The story began in the novel Never Ceese, which I reviewed in former blogs here and here. So the saga continues right where Never Ceese ceased. It's hard to write anything at all here without giving away the ending of the first book, but you all an probably guess that Ceese and Richard found some sort of redemption or else there couldn't be a sequel. Yes, they are both pretty much normal people now and can talk about God without wincing. Even read the Bible. So shouldn't they just go on about their business and live happily ever after? Well, it's not that simple. In the first book there was this very evil scientist who used Richard's DNA to become a vampire himself. Immediately, he cursed poor drug-addict Josh who was just trying to be helpful for once. So there's a new wrinkle. The result is that the whole crew travels to England on Richard's dime in hopes of taking care of Josh's problem. And for some reason, soon to be reveled, Ceese has incessantly talked about "going home" since they left the hospital.

There are a lot of humorous bits scattered throughout the tale: often at the expense of Rodney, Josh, and their buddy Kyle. This motley crew are unlikely heroes, but they come in handy for both comic relief and some surprising contributions along the way.

Back in England, there are surprises galore for Richard and Ceese, and the rest of the gang are on a steep learning curve. Several new characters are introduced, each enriching the story in his or her way. There are more vampires and werewolves running and flying all over the place, and some of the evil ones have wicked desires concerning Ceese and Richard. A couple of returning characters who we met in England before are further developed, weaving a great character-driven tale that will keep readers losing sleep until they reach the last page.

And when the readers reach the last page...they are going to yell at Sue like I did! No! You can not end it this way!! AARRGGHH! I HATE cliffhangers! How am I going to last until Book Three comes out?? NOT FAIR!

But, if you are at all like me, you'll read it and enjoy anyway. I've gone through it twice now, and I'll probably go through both books a time or two more before Cyn No More is released. (*grumble, grumble*)

The Thirsting for Blood series is kind of considered young adult, especially since many of the Twilight fans love it. (By the way, this series started BEFORE Twilight was released; Sue Dent wasn't playing off the success of any other books; it just happened this was. Or is it by the design of a Higher Power?) However, the books are just as enjoyable for adults. And, as hard as it may be to imagine, Sue Dent writes from a Christian worldview. While the stories are very entertaining, humorous, and creative, the spiritual side is definitely present. So try it; you'll like it!

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: The Writers Cafe Press (January 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934284033
• ISBN-13: 978-1934284032
  

You can purchase Forever Richard from the publisher, The Writers' Cafe Press (free shipping in the U.S.), Barnes and Noble , Amazon.com, or get an autographed copy from Sue here. If you want a copy of Never Ceese, you can order directly from Sue Dent herself at the Forever Richard site, but it's on the NEVER CEESE page.

Sue Dent's blog and website can be found at www.foreverrichard.com .

Oh! And don't forget! I'll be giving away copies of both Never Ceese and Forever Richard on Tuesday, Sept. 22. All those who comment on this week's posts will be included, so if you comment more than once, your name is entered more than once!

Book Givaway Extended

I had intended to give away the two books by Stephanie Reed, Across the Wide River and Light Across the River today, but there have been very few comments on any of the sites. Therefore, I am extending the giveaway until the end of this week, September 5. If by that time there are not at least ten entries, I won't give them away here, but rather find another way to award them to a worthy person or institution.

To enter, leave a comment on the previous blog review.

Book Giveaway and Review: Underground Railroad True History Encapsulated in Youth Fiction--LIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER

During the years before slavery was abolished in the United States, many people put their own lives and livelihoods in jeopardy to do what they felt was the right thing, to help slaves find their way to freedom. This meant aiding them in a trek that led all the way to Canada. When I was in school, I thought the slaves were okay as long as they made it to a free state. Somehow I missed the fact that they could be recaptured from any state and sent back. I also was ignorant of laws passed to punish anyone who helped them to flee. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 did just that, so that anyone giving food, shelter, or other aid to a runaway slave could be imprisoned or fined. This law also provided for slave-hunters to be rewarded when they successfully brought back a runaway. Because of these rewards, the slave-hunters became greatly emboldened. Greed raised its ugly head, and sometimes, as happens in this book and in real life, the people assisting the runaways were attacked.

This is a little background for The Light Across the River, a historic fiction based strongly on true history. Rev. John Rankin and his family were strong abolitionists who, from their farm perched above the Ohio River, helped around 2000 slaves on their way to freedom. As they grew old enough, his thirteen (yes, thirteen) children became part of the family business. One of these children was Johnny Rankin, and this novel is basically seeing events through his eyes. This is where a lot of the fiction comes in, imagining his life. While the bigger picture is all about the escapades and drama of conducting slaves safely to the next station, there is also the more personal story of Johnny maturing and learning some valuable life lessons. Johnny is known as a blabbermouth, so it isn't an easy thing for his parents to trust him with any knowledge of the people moving through their home or of other conductors. So many lives would be affected if he blabbed any secrets. He also needed some attitude adjustments about his oldest brother Lowry and his place in the family. On one hand The Light Across the River deals with the true story of the Underground Railroad, but on the other it is the story of a young boy growing up and dealing with problems many others of his age can identify with.

Personally, I was intrigued with the story of the real Eliza from Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe's world-changing book. As it turns out, Eliza (which was not her real name, we're fairly sure) was a real traveler who came across the Ohio on breaking ice, stopping at the Rankins' home. Eliza's incredible story mingles with Johnny's and eventually, through the Rankins' connections to Lane Theological Seminary, becomes part of a novel that helped to spread the ideas of abolition.

This is a book I highly recommend for any mid-grade readers, and I even encourage older readers to look into it and the previous Rankin novel, Across the Wide River. For any home schoolers, I urge you to include these books as part of your reading program, something that you can discuss along with studies on slavery, abolition, and the Underground Railroad.

To help out one family or reader, I'm going to give away both books, Across the Wide River and The Light across the River. I'll hold a drawing on Sept. 1, choosing one name from all the comment-makers on my blogspot, the Shoutlife blog, and the Gather blog. Tell me why you would like the books. That's all you have to do!

For anyone who lives near the Cincinnati area, I suggest trips to some of the following places that are connected to Stephanie Reed's wonderful books: The John Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio; Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati; and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center , on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. The film, "Brothers of the Borderland" is one of the exhibits in the Freedom Center and shows Rankin's work.

For more, check out Stephanie Reed's Shoutlife page and website.

You can buy the books at many bookstores. Online, they are available through amazon.com, Christianbook.com, and Barnes and Noble.

Winner of SEABIRD

Drum roll please--

And the winner is . . .
Jessica Thomas!

Jessica wins a copy of Seabird thanks to a comment she left on Grace Bridges' blog during the CFRB tour of the novel. Jessica as a blog of her own that you might want to check out, Where Faith Meets Science Fiction. Even the title sounds intriguing, and it also sounds like Sherry Thompson's book might be right up her alley. Hope you enjoy it, Jessica.

You never know when a chance will come up to win another book, so stay tuned! Stay tuned anyway!

Meanwhile, I hope those of you who didn't' win will succumb to the pull to buy Seabird for yourselves and/or your kin. You'll be glad you did. Amazon and Barnes and Noble each have it for $15.99, but if you are a member of B&N it's $14.39.

Oh, and you can find out more about Sherry and the book at her websites: Narentan Tales, http://www.redroom.com/author/sherry-thompson, and Khiva's Mommy (Khiva's her cat).

SEABIRD Soars to Great Heights (CFRB Blog Tour)

It's finally my turn to write something about the January book celèbre for CFRB. You can go to some of the other blogs listed below to get the synopsis, but since I'm posting near the end of the week, I think I'll go into more of my personal thoughts. That makes this a very subjective review, I guess, but sometimes I think that's okay.

I first "met" Sherry through the Lost Genre Guild, so I knew her before I read the book. Her vitality, exuberance, and wit came through in her posts with the group, so before long I wanted to read the novel she attached to her signature.

If you have read even a couple of my blogs, you know I am partial to fantasies, particularly any with a Christian world view. Tolkien is on the top pedestal with C. S. Lewis very close by. In my own mind, I doubt if any other book will every replace either one of them, so if I compare another book to their work, it just means that tale is in the same vein or has some similarities. These are the standards. Having said that, I have to say that Seabird contains those elements that a good fantasy story--one that follows in the traditions set by Tolkien and Lewis--contains.

The elements that I speak of go far beyond the ones that my little brain will conjure up right now, of course.

The fight between good and evil is essential for this type of fantasy. Seabird has that conflict in abundance. Cara is pulled into the world of Narenta because of a need for the Good. Speaking of that pull, the Call is often an important part of a fantasy written from a Christian worldview. And that call goes out to someone that no one suspects is destined to do great things. Cara is not an obvious choice for a champion any more than David the shepherd. Yet the forces of Good in Narenta are all certain that she was called to help them in their hour of need.

As with Narnia and Middle Earth, there are various "people" besides the humans. Cara meets several "people" groups who are more or less on the side of Good, the most important being the
people of Alphesis, Seabirds who are the scholars and wisest of all Narentans. Yes, talking birds. This may sound like a rip off from Narnia, but it really isn't. On the Evil side,there are some really nasty werewrights ( I think it's a kind of reptilian thing if I understand correctly) and the daemagos--these are like evil sorcerers who can do incredibly ugly stuff, powered by supernatural evil.

Then there is the quest and the journey. Cara is the Outworlder called to help Narenta, but many others are involved along the way. There is a part in this quest that only Cara can play, but without the help of many who are committed to Alphesis, she would never live to complete the task. Unfortunately, some of her noble friends don't.

Beyond the actual story, I think I am drawn by the values that it upholds. That's another element in fantasies of this ilk, perhaps the most important for some of us. There is a higher power that the Good people of the land follow. Many people have compromised their values, giving in to temptations, selfishness, and the influences of the Evil forces. Those who remain true, however, will even die for their cause. Values like love, honesty, loyalty, faith, kindness, mercy, courage are all upheld. Cara herself doesn't possess most of them, but she learns from her experiences and from her comrades. Hopefully, readers will also learn and take note.

I thoroughly enjoyed Seabird, and I believe those who enjoy fantasies, young adult or old, will also enjoy it. There are certainly some creepy parts and battle scenes, but it isn't really gory. It isn't so much a happily-ever-after book, yet the ending should satisfy the reader. There is, however, room for sequels to finish the tale even though one segment does actually end with this novel.

I will be giving away a copy of Seabird next Monday (Jan. 11). To get in this drawing, leave a comment on one of my Seabird posts or one of those posted by other CFRB bloggers. Please leave an email address in your comment, though, so that I can reach you.




Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

Last Day of SuperGeek Week!! Don't Miss It!

Today is the last day for the CFRB's celebration of Geek Week. In other words, the last of the reviews are up on League of Superheroes by Stephen L. Rice. The reviews have been enthusiastic; I believe Mr. Rice's tale has struck a chord with many of us. I will be giving away one copy of League of Superheroes, choosing a name on Monday, the 15th, at 10:00PM EST. The names will be taken from the comments left on ALL the blogs in the CFRB tour for the novel. This includes several great blogs that Mr. Rice has written himself giving more of the back story. If you don't read the reviews, I urge you to at least read Stephen Rice's comments. Some are pretty funny; some should help you see into the series he is writing.

Each comment counts as one entry, so the more blogs you visit, the more chances you have of winning! If you want this for a Christmas gift, it should reach you in time.

Visit Stephen Rice's blog: Back to the Mountains and his League of Superheroes Series wiki at ansric.pbwiki.com.

Product Details:

List Price: $ 9.95
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Writers Cafe Press, The (October 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 193428405X
ISBN-13: 978-1934284056

League of Superheroes is available through the publisher, The Writer's Café Press (can be autographed), Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com.


Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

HIGHER HONOR from S. M. Kirkland

Military academies were bastions of male testosterone up until the late 1970’s, and since that time, the number of women cadets has continued to grow. In spite of the thirty years intervening, not every male in the military looks at the women as equals. This is a part of the underlying foundation of Higher Honor, a military drama written by S. M. Kirkland.

Before this goes any farther, I want to make it clear that I am not advocating any particular feminist notions here. I am also not going to do any man-bashing, nor am I going to insinuate that women have no place in the military. Okay? So you all can read on and not conjecture about my opinions on those topics based on the review of Susan’s book.

In her biographical material, S. M. Kirkland writes, “What I learned in four years of ROTC changed me mentally and spiritually. I wanted to capture and share that interesting world where college students strike a balance between the fun and restlessness of those early adult years and the harsh reality that many are training to face the inherent risks of defending a nation.” From this background, the seeds were planted for Higher Honor.

Susan Kirkland has created a military novel based on much of what she herself observed and experienced, a romance that doesn’t fit the usual formula, a story with dark and realistic events as well as the hope and light that only Christ can bring. The code of the academy is tested—honor, honesty, valor—as are the Christian values of two cadets, Michael and Mandy, who seem to be the only light in their circle of friends. The old ways of thinking clash with newer ideas in the academy. Will there be a peaceful resolution? Can the old guard accept orders from superiors when they are delivered through a woman cadet? And are the women tough enough to stand their ground? What about forgiveness and recovery after Chris assaults Cassidy? Then the biggest question is, what about redemption for all of Michael’s friends and close brothers in arms?

I don’t want to give away a lot of the action, but it is a gripping story. No holds barred, yet it isn’t graphic in portraying violence. The lives of five cadets are explored in detail, as they all struggle with decisions, actions, and emotions. It’s a story for men to read as well as women, full of issues to cause one to pause and think. Hopefully, it will also cause the readers to do some praying and dig into scripture a lot more. Relationships with Jesus are a big part of the story, but answers aren’t always those neat ones that don’t have any frayed edges.

Maybe you can’t tell yet, but I like Higher Honor. I know that Susan has been working on it forever; it’s from the heart, and her careful rendering is evident. I expect more great things from her in the future, but for now I hope you’ll consider this novel for yourself and others as well. I think it will be available around the beginning of December if everything goes right with printing. Age limit? It’s an adult book, but there is no reason to keep it out of the hands of teens. Those who are interested in military schools would be particularly interested.

For more information, you can visit Susan Kirkland at her website, or check out the publisher’s site at thewriterscafepress.com

The book is available for presale through the publisher (autographed), from Barnes and Noble, and through Amazon.com.

OH, I almost forgot again—GIVEAWAY!!! Susan Kirkland has THREE books to give away to readers who leave comments and email info. That means on any of the blogs written by CFRB people (about Higher Honor, that is) this week. You can find original information by clicking the buttons below, but check into the other CFRB members as well.

Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

Marcher Lord is Almost Here!! Read all about it at CSFF!

It's almost here! Exciting news, my friends--Marcher Lord Press is coming next week! This is a publisher that refuses to fit inside the box, one that will fill a serious void for authors who have a Chrisitan worldview and their readers. With perfect timing, The Christian Scence Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour members are blogging about the new publisher and the first three books to be released September 22-24. I am not part of this group, but I urge you to check out some of their blogs over these three days and discover a bit of what you can expect from Marcher Lord Press and Jeff Gerke. Even better, check out Marcher Lord Press itself. The intro is cool (reminds me of the video game Majesty that I used to play a lot), but the insides are even cooler. If you go to the humorous blog ( but usually quite insightful and sometimes dead serious) of my friend Ansric at Back to the Mountains, you'll find a blog each of the three days plus a list of the other CSFF-ers who are blogging this week. Others who are blogging include Brandon Barr (a really good blog), Rebecca Luella Miller ( one of Christian Speculative Fiction's frontline warriors and supporters), Mike Lynch (he has an interview with Jeff Gerke) from the Lost Genre Guild, and Karina Fabian (Infinite Space Infinite God, Firestorm of Dragons, and soon-to-be-released Leaps of Faith). There is a list of the other blogger at the end of each of their articles.

Oh, and by the way, there is still time to get in on the monster (pun intended) giveaway to celebrate the launch of Marcher Lord Press. Grand prize is huge: a trip for two to the ComicCON convention in San Diego. The giveaway begins on launch day, October 1.

All About Us Series, Double header FIRST chapters and Tiffany Bracelet Giveaway

It's the 21st, time for the Teen FIRST blog tour!(Join our alliance! Click the button!) Every 21st, we will feature an author and his/her latest Teen fiction book's FIRST chapter!

Shelley Adina

and her books:

It's All About Us: A Novel

FaithWords (May 12, 2008)

and

The Fruit of My Lipstick (All About Us Series, Book 2)

FaithWords (August 11, 2008)

Plus a Tiffany's Bracelet Giveaway! Go to Camy Tang's Blog and leave a comment on the Teen FIRST All About Us Tour and you will be placed into a drawing for a bracelet that looks similar to the picture below. But the winning FaithWords Tiffany's bracelet will be a double heart charm.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Shelley Adina is a world traveler and pop culture junkie with an incurable addiction to designer handbags. She knows the value of a relationship with a gracious God and loving Christian friends, and she's inviting today's teenage girls to join her in these refreshingly honest books about real life as a Christian teen--with a little extra glitz thrown in for fun! In between books, Adina loves traveling, listening to and making music, and watching all kinds of movies.

It's All About Us is Book One in the All About Us Series. Book Two, The Fruit of my Lipstick came out in August 2008, and Book Three, Be Strong & Curvaceous, comes out in January 2009.

Visit the author's website.

It's All About Us: A Novel

Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (May 12, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446177989
ISBN-13: 978-0446177986

My thoughts: These are two very bouncy, fun novels, very California chic-lit with lots of humor and girlie stuff. At the same time they are very Christian. The setting is a posh and private academy in San Francisco. The main characters of the first two books are roommates Lissa Mansfield and Gillian Chang. Fashion and guys are, of course, two topics often discussed, but these girls are also intellectual nerds. High energy and highly driven. A bigger surprise is their love for God and Jesus. In the first novel, Gillian is very loud about her beliefs, but Lissa wants to be part of the popular crowd like she was in her old school. Of course, the popular bunch look at Christian zealots with scorn. The second book deals more with Gillian's story during their junior year. Both books deal with some serious, relevant issues, but what I like most about them is the kicky style.

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Chapter One

SOME THINGS YOU just know without being told. Like, you passed the math final (or you didn't). Your boyfriend isn't into you anymore and wants to break up. Vanessa Talbot has decided that since you're the New Girl, you have a big bull's-eye on your forehead and your junior year is going to be just as miserable as she can make it.

Carly once told me she used to wish she were me. Ha! That first week at Spencer Academy, I wouldn't have wished my life on anyone.

My name is Lissa Evelyn Mansfield, and since everything seemed to happen to me this quarter, we decided I'd be the one to write it all down. Maybe you'll think I'm some kind of drama queen, but I swear this is the truth. Don't listen to Gillian and Carly—they weren't there for some of it, so probably when they read this, it'll be news to them, too.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. When it all started, I didn't even know them. All I knew was that I was starting my junior year at the Spencer Academy of San Francisco, this private boarding school for trust fund kids and the offspring of the hopelessly rich, and I totally did not want to be there.

I mean, picture it: You go from having fun and being popular in tenth grade at Pacific High in Santa Barbara, where you can hang out on State Street or join a drumming circle or surf whenever you feel like it with all your friends, to being absolutely nobody in this massive old mansion where rich kids go because their parents don't have time to take care of them.

Not that my parents are like that. My dad's a movie director, and he's home whenever his shooting schedule allows it. When he's not, sometimes he flies us out to cool places like Barbados or Hungary for a week so we can be on location together. You've probably heard of my dad. He directed that big pirate movie that Warner Brothers did a couple of years ago. That's how he got on the radar of some of the big A-list directors, so when George (hey, he asked me to call him that, so it's not like I'm dropping names) rang him up from Marin and suggested they do a movie together, of course he said yes. I can't imagine anybody saying no to George, but anyway, that's why we're in San Francisco for the next two years. Since Dad's going to be out at the Ranch or on location so much, and my sister, Jolie, is at UCLA (film school, what else—she's a daddy's girl and she admits it), and my mom's dividing her time among all of us, I had the choice of going to boarding school or having a live-in. Boarding school sounded fun in a Harry Potter kind of way, so I picked that.

Sigh. That was before I realized how lonely it is being the New Girl. Before the full effect of my breakup really hit. Before I knew about Vanessa Talbot, who I swear would make the perfect girlfriend for a warlock.

And speaking of witch . . .

"Melissa!"

Note: my name is not Melissa. But on the first day of classes, I'd made the mistake of correcting Vanessa, which meant that every time she saw me after that, she made a point of saying it wrong. The annoying part is that now people really think that's my name.

Vanessa, Emily Overton, and Dani Lavigne ("Yes, that Lavigne. Did I tell you she's my cousin?") are like this triad of terror at Spencer. Their parents are all fabulously wealthy—richer than my mom's family, even—and they never let you forget it. Vanessa and Dani have the genes to go with all that money, which means they look good in everything from designer dresses to street chic.

Vanessa's dark brown hair is cut so perfectly, it always falls into place when she moves. She has the kind of skin and dark eyes that might be from some Italian beauty somewhere in her family tree. Which, of course, means the camera loves her. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was likely to be a photographer or two somewhere on the grounds pretty much all the time, and nine times out of ten, Vanessa was the one they bagged. Her mom is minor royalty and the ex-wife of some U.N. Secretary or other, which means every time he gives a speech, a photographer shows up here. Believe me, seeing Vanessa in the halls at school and never knowing when she's going to pop out at me from the pages of Teen People or some society news Web site is just annoying. Can you say overexposed?

Anyway. Where was I? Dani has butterscotch-colored hair that she has highlighted at Biondi once a month, and big blue eyes that make her look way more innocent than she is. Emily is shorter and chunkier and could maybe be nice if you got her on her own, but she's not the kind that functions well outside of a clique.

Some people are born independent and some aren't. You should see Emily these days. All that money doesn't help her one bit out at the farm, where—

Okay, Gillian just told me I have to stop doing that. She says it's messing her up, like I'm telling her the ending when I'm supposed to be telling the beginning.

Not that it's all about her, okay? It's about us: me, Gillian, Carly, Shani, Mac . . . and God. But just to make Gillian happy, I'll skip to the part where I met her, and she (and you) can see what I really thought of her. Ha. Maybe that'll make her stop reading over my shoulder.

So as I was saying, there they were—Vanessa, Emily, and Dani—standing between me and the dining room doors. "What's up?" I said, walking up to them when I should have turned and settled for something out of the snack machine at the other end of the hall.

"She doesn't know." Emily poked Dani. "Maybe we shouldn't tell her."

I did a fast mental check. Plaid skirt—okay. Oxfords—no embarrassing toilet paper. White blouse—buttoned, no stains. Slate blue cardigan—clean. Hair—freshly brushed.

They couldn't be talking about me personally, in which case I didn't need to hear it. "Whatever." I pushed past them and took two steps down the hall.

"Don't you want to hear about your new roommate?" Vanessa asked.

Roommate? At that point I'd survived for five days, and the only good things about them were the crème brulée in the dining room and the blessed privacy of my own room. What fresh disaster was this?

Oops. I'd stopped in my tracks and tipped them off that (a) I didn't know, and (b) I wanted to know. And when Vanessa knows you want something, she'll do everything she can not to let you have it.

"I think we should tell her," Emily said. "It would be kinder to get it over with." "I'm sure I'll find out eventually." There, that sounded bored enough. "Byeee." "I hope you like Chinese!" Dani whooped at her own cleverness, and the three of them floated off down the hall.

So I thought, Great, maybe they're having dim sum today for lunch, though what that had to do with my new roommate I had no idea. At that point it hadn't really sunk in that conversation with those three is a dangerous thing.

That had been my first mistake the previous Wednesday, when classes had officially begun. Conversation, I mean. You know, normal civilized discourse with someone you think might be a friend. Like a total dummy, I'd actually thought this about Vanessa, who'd pulled newbie duty, walking me down the hall to show me where my first class was. It turned out to not be my first class, but the teacher was nice about steering me to the right room, where I was, of course, late.

That should've been my first clue.

My second clue was when Vanessa invited me to eat with them and Dani managed to spill her Coke all over my uniform skirt, which is, as I said, plaid and made of this easy-clean fake wool that people with sensitive skin can wear. She'd jumped up, all full of apologies, and handed me napkins and stuff, but the fact remained that I had to go upstairs and change and then figure out how the laundry service worked, which meant I was late for Biology, too.

On Thursday Dani apologized again, and Vanessa loaned me some of her Bumble and bumble shampoo ("You can't use Paul Mitchell on gorgeous hair like yours—people get that stuff at the drugstore now"), and I was dumb enough to think that maybe things were looking up. Because really, the shampoo was superb. My hair is blond and I wear it long, but before you go hating me for it, it's fine and thick, and the fog we have here in San Francisco makes it go all frizzy. And it's foggy a lot. So this shampoo made it just coo with pleasure.

You're probably asking yourself why I bothered trying to be friends with these girls. The harrowing truth was, I was used to being in the A-list group. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't fit in with the popular girls at Spencer, once I figured out who they were.

Lucky me—Vanessa made that so easy. And I was so lonely and out of my depth that even she was looking good. Her dad had once backed one of my dad's films, so there was that minimal connection.

Too bad it wasn't enough.

jolie.mansfield L, don't let them bug you. Some people are
threatened by anything new. It's a compliment
really.

LMansfield You always find the bright side. Gahh. Love you,
but not helping.

jolie.mansfield What can I do?

LMansfield I'd give absolutely anything to be back in S.B.

jolie.mansfield :(

LMansfield I want to hang with the kids from my youth group.
Not worry about anything but the SPF of my sun
block.

jolie.mansfield It'll get better. Promise. Heard from Mom?
LMansfield No. She's doing some fundraiser with Angelina.
She's pretty busy.

jolie.mansfield If you say so. Love you.



Copyright © 2008 by Shelley Adina

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Fruit of My Lipstick (All About Us Series, Book 2)

Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (August 11, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446177970
ISBN-13: 978-0446177979

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Chapter One

chapter 1


Top Five Clues That He’s the One

1. He’s smart, which is why he’s dating you and not the queen of the snob mob.

2. He knows he’s hot, but he thinks you’re hotter.

3. He’d rather listen to you than to himself.

4. You’re in on his jokes—not the butt of them.

5. He always gives you the last cookie in the box.

THE NEW YEAR. . . when a young girl’s heart turns to new beginnings, weight loss, and a new term of chemistry!

Whew! Got that little squee out of my system. But you may as well know right now that science and music are what I do, and they tend to come up a lot in conversation. Sometimes my friends think this is good, like when I’m helping them cram for an exam. Sometimes they just think I’m a geek. But that’s okay. My name is Gillian Frances Jiao-Lan Chang, and since Lissa was brave enough to fall on her sword and spill what happened last fall, I guess I can’t do anything less.

I’m kidding about the sword. You know that, right?

Term was set to start on the first Wednesday in January, so I flew into SFO first class from JFK on Monday. I thought I’d packed pretty efficiently, but I still exceeded the weight limit by fifty pounds. It took some doing to get me and my bags into the limo, let me tell you. But I’d found last term that I couldn’t live without certain things, so they came with me. Like my sheet music and some more of my books. And warmer clothes.

You say California and everyone thinks L.A. The reality of San Francisco in the winter is that it’s cold, whether the sun is shining or the fog is stealing in through the Golden Gate and blanketing the bay. A perfect excuse for a trip to Barney’s to get Vera Wang’s tulip-hem black wool coat, right?

I thought so, too.

Dorm, sweet dorm. I staggered through the door of the room I share with Lissa Mansfield. It’s up to us to get our stuff into our rooms, so here’s where it pays to be on the rowing team, I guess. Biceps are good for hauling bulging Louis Vuittons up marble staircases. But I am so not the athletic type. I leave that to John, the youngest of my three older brothers. He’s been into gymnastics since he was, like, four, and he’s training hard to make the U.S. Olympic team. I haven’t seen him since I was fourteen—he trains with a coach out in Arizona.

My oldest brother, Richard, is twenty-six and works for my dad at the bank, and the second oldest, Darren—the one I’m closest to—is graduating next spring from Harvard and going straight into medical school after that.

Yeah, we’re a family of overachievers. Don’t hate me, okay?

I heard a thump in the hall outside and got the door open just in time to come face-to-face with a huge piece of striped fiberglass with three fins.

I stood aside to let Lissa into the room with her surfboard. She was practically bowed at the knees with the weight of the duffel slung over her shoulder, and another duffel with a big O’Neill logo waited outside. I grabbed it and swung it onto her bed.

“Welcome back, girlfriend!”

She stood the board against the wall, let the duffel drop to the floor with a thud that probably shook the chandelier in the room below us, and pulled me into a hug.

“I am so glad to see you!” Her perfect Nordic face lit up with happiness. “How was your Christmas—the parts you didn’t tell me about on e-mail?”

“The usual. Too many family parties. Mom and Nai-Nai made way too much food, two of my brothers fought over the remote like they were ten years old, my dad and oldest brother bailed to go back to work early, and, oh, Nai-Nai wanted to know at least twice a day why I didn’t have a boyfriend.” I considered the chaos we’d just made of our pristine room. “The typical Chang holiday. What about you? Did Scotland improve after the first couple of days?”

“It was fre-e-e-e-zing.” She slipped off her coat and tam. “And I don’t just mean rainy-freezing. I mean sleet-and-icicles freezing. The first time I wore my high-heeled Louboutin boots, I nearly broke my ankle. As it was, I landed flat on my butt in the middle of the Royal Mile. Totally embarrassing.”

“What’s a Royal Mile? Princesses by the square foot?”

“This big broad avenue that goes through the old part of Edinburgh toward the queen’s castle. Good shopping. Restaurants. Tourists. Ice.” She unzipped the duffel and began pulling things out of it. “Dad was away a lot at the locations for this movie. Sometimes I went with him, and sometimes I hung out with this really adorable guy who was supposed to be somebody’s production assistant but who wound up being my guide the whole time.”

“It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.”

“I made it worth his while.” She flashed me a wicked grin, but behind it I saw something else. Pain, and memory. “So.” She spread her hands. “What’s new around here?”

I shrugged. “I just walked in myself a few minutes ago. You probably passed the limo leaving. But if what you really want to know is whether the webcam incident is over and done with, I don’t know yet.”

She turned away, but not before I saw her flush pink and then blink really fast, like her contacts had just been flooded. “Let’s hope so.”

“You made it through last term.” I tried to be encouraging. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?”

“It made one thing stronger.” She pulled a cashmere scarf out of the duffel and stroked it as though it were a kitten. “I never prayed so hard in my life. Especially during finals week, remember? When those two idiots seriously thought they could force me into that storage closet and get away with it?”

“Before we left, I heard the short one was going to be on crutches for six weeks.” I grinned at her. Fact of the day: Surfers are pretty good athletes. Don’t mess with them. “Maybe it should be, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes your relationship with God stronger.’”

“That I’ll agree with. Do you know if Carly’s here yet?”

“Her dad was driving her up in time for supper, so she should be calling any second.”

Sure enough, within a few minutes, someone knocked. “That’s gotta be her.” I jumped for the door and swung it open.

“Hey, chicas!” Carly hugged me and then Lissa. “Did you miss me?”

“Like chips miss guacamole.” Lissa grinned at her. “Good break?”

She grimaced, her soft brown eyes a little sad. Clearly Christmas break isn’t what it’s cracked up to be in anybody’s world.

“Dad had to go straighten out some computer chip thing in Singapore, so Antony and I got shipped off to Veracruz. It was great to see my mom and the grandparents, but you know . . .” Her voice trailed away.

“What?” I asked. “Did you have a fight?” That’s what happens at our house.

“No.” She sighed, then lifted her head to look at both of us. “I think my mom has a boyfriend.”

“Ewww,” Lissa and I said together, with identical grimaces.

“I always kind of hoped my mom and dad would figure it out, you know? And get back together. But it looks like that’s not going to happen.”

I hugged her again. “I’m sorry, Carly. That stinks.”

“Yeah.” She straightened up, and my arm slid from her shoulders. “So, enough about me. What about you guys?”

With a quick recap, we put her in the picture. “So do you have something going with this Scottish guy?” Carly asked Lissa.

Lissa shook her head, a curtain of blonde hair falling to partially hide her face—a trick I’ve never quite been able to master, even though my hair hangs past my shoulders. But it’s so thick and coarse, it never does what I want on the best of days. It has to be beaten into submission by a professional.

“I think I liked his accent most of all,” she said. “I could just sit there and listen to him talk all day. In fact, I did. What he doesn’t know about murders and wars and Edinburgh Castle and Lord This and Earl That would probably fit in my lip gloss tube.”

I contrasted walking the cold streets of Edinburgh, listening to some guy drone on about history, with fighting with my brothers. Do we girls know how to have fun, or what? “Better you than me.”

“I’d have loved it,” Carly said. “Can you imagine walking through a castle with your own private tour guide? Especially if he’s cute. It doesn’t get better than that.”

“Um, okay.” Lissa gave her a sideways glance. “Miss A-plus in History.”

“Really?” I had A-pluses in AP Chem and Math, but with anything less in those subjects, I wouldn’t have been able to face my father at Christmas. As it was, he had a fit over my B in History, and the only reason I managed to achieve an A-minus in English was because of a certain person with the initials L. M.

Carly shrugged. “I like history. I like knowing what happened where, and who it happened to, and what they were wearing. Not that I’ve ever been anywhere very much, except Texas and Mexico.”

“You’d definitely have liked Alasdair, then,” Lissa said. “He knows all about what happened to whom. But the worst was having to go for tea at some freezing old stone castle that Dad was using for a set. I thought I’d lose my toes from frostbite.”

“Somebody lives in the castle?” Carly looked fascinated. “Who?”

“Some earl.” Lissa looked into the distance as she flipped through the PDA in her head. Then she blinked. “The Earl and Countess of Strathcairn.”

“Cool!”

“Very. Forty degrees, tops. He said he had a daughter about our age, but I never met her. She heard we were coming and took off on her horse.”

“Mo guai nuer,” I said. “Rude much?”

Lissa shrugged. “Alasdair knew the family. He said Lady Lindsay does what she wants, and clearly she didn’t want to meet us. Not that I cared. I was too busy having hypothermia. I’ve never been so glad to see the inside of a hotel room in my life. I’d have put my feet in my mug of tea if I could have.”

“Well, cold or not, I still think it’s cool that you met an earl,” Carly said. “And I can’t wait to see your dad’s movie.”

“Filming starts in February, so Dad won’t be around much. But Mom’s big charity gig for the Babies of Somalia went off just before Christmas and was a huge success, so she’ll be around a bit more.” She paused. “Until she finds something else to get involved in.”

“Did you meet Angelina?” I asked. Lissa’s life fascinated me. To her, movie stars are her dad’s coworkers, like the brokers and venture capitalists who come to the bank are my dad’s coworkers. But Dad doesn’t work with people who look like Orlando and Angelina, that’s for sure.

“Yes, I met her. She apologized for flaking on me for the Benefactors’ Day Ball. Not that I blame her. It all turned out okay in the end.”

“Except for your career as Vanessa Talbot’s BFF.”

Lissa snorted. “Yeah. Except that.”

None of us mentioned what else had crashed and burned in flames after the infamous webcam incident—her relationship with the most popular guy in school, Callum McCloud. I had a feeling that that was a scab we just didn’t need to pick at.

“You don’t need Vanessa Talbot,” Carly said firmly. “You have us.”

We exchanged a grin. “She’s right,” I said. “This term, it’s totally all about us.”

“Thank goodness for that,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”


RStapleton I heard from a mutual friend that you take care of people at midterm time.

Source10 What friend?

RStapleton Loyola.

Source10 Been known to happen.

RStapleton How much?

Source10 1K. Math, sciences, geography only.

RStapleton I hate numbers.

Source10 IM me the day before to confirm.

RStapleton OK. Who are you?

RStapleton You there?


BY NOON THE next day, I’d hustled down to the student print shop in the basement and printed the notices I’d laid out on my Mac. I tacked them on the bulletin boards in the common rooms and classroom corridors on all four floors.


Christian prayer circle every Tuesday night 7:00 p.m., Room 216 Bring your Bible and a friend!


“Nice work,” Lissa told me when I found her and Carly in the dining room. “Love the salmon pink paper. But school hasn’t officially started yet. We probably won’t get a very good turnout if the first one’s tonight.”

“Maybe not.” I bit into a succulent California roll and savored the tart, thin seaweed wrapper around the rice, avocado, and shrimp. I had to hand it to Dining Services. Their food was amazing. “But even if it’s just the three of us, I can’t think of a better way to start off the term, can you?”

Lissa didn’t reply. The color faded from her face and she concentrated on her square ceramic plate of sushi as though it were her last meal. Carly swallowed a bite of makizushi with an audible gulp as it went down whole. Slowly, casually, I reached for the pepper shaker and glanced over my shoulder.

“If it isn’t the holy trinity,” Vanessa drawled, plastered against Brett Loyola’s arm and standing so close behind us, neither Carly nor I could move. “Going to multiply the rice and fish for us?”

“Nice to see you, too, Vanessa,” Lissa said coolly. “Been reading your Bible, I see.”

“Hi, Brett,” Carly managed, her voice about six notes higher than usual as she craned to look up at him.

He looked at her, puzzled, as if he’d seen her before somewhere but couldn’t place where, and gave her a vague smile. “Hey.”

I rolled my eyes. Like we hadn’t spent an entire term in History together. Like Carly didn’t light up like a Christmas tree every time she passed a paper to him, or maneuvered her way into a study group that had him in it. Honestly. I don’t know how that guy got past the entrance requirements.

Oh, wait. Silly me. Daddy probably made a nice big donation to the athletics department, and they waved Brett through Admissions with a grateful smile.

“Have any of you seen Callum?” Vanessa inquired sweetly. “I’m dying to see him. I hear he spent Christmas skiing at their place in Vail with his sisters and his new girlfriend. No parents.”

“He’s a day student.” I glanced at Lissa to see how she was taking this, but she’d leaned over to the table behind her to snag a bunch of napkins. “Why would he be eating here?”

“To see all his friends, of course. I guess that’s why you haven’t seen him.”

“Neither have you, if you’re asking where he is.” Poor Vanessa. I hope she’s never on a debating team. It could get humiliating.

But what she lacked in logic she made up for in venom. She ignored me and gushed, “I love your outfit, Lissa. I’m sure Callum would, too. That is, if he were still speaking to you.”

I barely restrained myself from giving Vanessa an elbow in the stomach. But Lissa had come a long way since her ugly breakup with a guy who didn’t deserve her. Vanessa had no idea who she was dealing with—Lissa with an army of angels at her back was a scary thing.

She pinned Vanessa with a stare as cold as fresh snow.

“You mean you haven’t told him yet that you made that video?” She shook her head. “Naughty Vanessa, lying to your friends like that.” A big smile and a meaningful glance at Brett. “But then, they’re probably used to it.”

Vanessa opened her mouth to say something scathing, when a tall, lanky guy elbowed past her to put his sushi dishes on the table next to mine. Six feet of sheer brilliance, with blue eyes and brown hair cropped short so he didn’t have to deal with it. A mind so sharp, he put even the overachievers here in the shade—but in spite of that, a guy who’d started coming to prayer circle last term. Who could fluster me with a look, and wipe my brain completely blank with just a smile.

Lucas Hayes.

“Hey, Vanessa, Brett.”

My jaw sagged in surprise, and I snapped it shut on my mouthful of rice, hoping he hadn’t seen. Since when was the king of the science geeks on speaking terms with the popular crowd?

To add to the astonishment, the two of them stepped back, as if to give him some space. “Yo, Einstein.” Brett grinned and they shook hands.

“Hi, Lucas.” Vanessa glanced from him to me to our dishes sitting next to each other. “I didn’t know you were friends with these people.”

He shrugged. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“That could change. Why don’t you come and sit with us?” she asked. Brett looked longingly at the sushi bar and tugged on her arm. She ignored him. “We’re much more fun. We don’t sing hymns and save souls.”

“So I’ve heard. Did you make it into Trig?”

“Of course.” She tossed her gleaming sheet of hair over one shoulder. “Thanks to you.”

I couldn’t keep quiet another second. “You tutored her?” I asked him, trying not to squeak.

He picked up a piece of California roll and popped it in his mouth, nodding. “All last term.” He glanced at Vanessa. “Contrary to popular opinion, she isn’t all looks.”

Oh, gack. Way TMI. Vanessa smiled as though she’d won this and all other possible arguments now and in the future, world without end, amen. “Come on, Lucas. Hold our table for us while Brett and I get our food. I want to talk to you about something anyway.”

He shrugged and picked up his dishes while she and Brett swanned away. “See you at prayer circle,” he said to me. “I saw the signs. Same time and place, right?”

I could only nod as he headed for the table in the middle of the big window looking out on the quad. The one no one else dared to sit at, in case they risked the derision and social ostracism that would follow.

The empty seat on my right seemed even emptier. How could he do that? How could he just dump us and then say he’d see us at prayer circle? Shouldn’t he want to eat with the people he prayed with?

“It’s okay, Gillian,” Carly whispered. “At least he’s coming.”

“And Vanessa isn’t,” Lissa put in with satisfaction.

“I’m not so sure I want him to, now,” I said. I looked at my sushi and my stomach sort of lurched. Ugh. I pushed it away.

And here I’d been feeling so superior to Carly and her unrequited yen for Brett. I was just as bad, and this proved it. What else could explain this sick feeling in my middle?

Two hours later, while Lissa, Carly, and I shoved aside the canvases and whatnot that had accumulated in Room 216 over the break, making enough room for half a dozen people to sit, I’d almost talked myself into not caring whether Lucas came or not.

And then he stepped through the door and I realized my body was more honest than my brain. I sucked in a breath and my heart began to pound.

Oh, yeah. You so don’t care.

Travis, who must have arrived during dinner, trickled in behind him, and then Shani Hanna, who moved with the confidence of an Arabian queen, arrived with a couple of sophomores I didn’t know. Her hair, tinted bronze and caught up at the crown of her head, tumbled to her shoulders in corkscrew curls. I fingered my own arrow-straight mop that wouldn’t hold a curl if you threatened it with death.

Okay, stop feeling sorry for yourself, would you? Enough is enough.

“Hey, everyone, thanks for coming,” I said brightly, getting to my feet. “I’m Gillian Chang. Why don’t the newbies introduce themselves, and then we’ll get started?”

The sophomores told us their names, and I found out Travis’s last name was Fanshaw. And the dots connected. Of course he’d been assigned as Lucas’s roommate—he’s like this Chemistry genius. If it weren’t for Lucas, he’d be the king of the science geeks. Sometimes science people have a hard time reconciling scientific method with faith. If they were here at prayer circle, maybe Travis and Lucas were among the lucky few who figured science was a form of worship, of marveling at the amazement that is creation. I mean, if Lucas was one of those guys who got a kick out of arguing with the Earth Sciences prof, I wouldn’t even be able to date him.

Not that there was any possibility of that.

As our prayers went up one by one, quietly from people like Carly and brash and uncomfortably from people like Travis and the sophomores, I wished that dating was the kind of thing I could pray about.

But I don’t think God has my social life on His to-do list.


This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2008 by Shelley Adina

This article is used with the permission of Hachette Book Group and Shelley Adina. All rights reserved.

COME TO ME

“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

This verse, Luke 2:19, has often struck me, as does a nearly identical verse at Luke 2:51. Mary, the mother of Jesus, treasured the memories of Jesus’ birth, the angels, the visits of the shepherds, the visits of the wise men, and so many other special events connected to her son Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but often I ponder it myself, wondering how Mary felt and thought about it all. Do you ever wonder about the parts of Jesus’ life that aren’t mentioned in the Bible? I certainly do. What was he like as a boy? What was the relationship like between him and his parents and siblings? Rich Mullins mused upon this in his song “Boy Like Me/ Man Like You:”

And You was a boy like I was once
But was You a boy like me . . .
Well, did You wrestle with a dog and lick his nose?
Did You play beneath the spray of a water hose?
Did You ever make angels in the winter snow?
And did they tell You stories 'bout the saints of old?
Stories about their faith?
They say stories like that make a boy grow bold
Stories like that make a man walk straight

Laura Davis has pondered these things in her heart as well, and one result of her meditations is the historical fiction Come To Me, Mary’s story as told to Luke and some people in a ship. Historical fiction? Kind of, but with a whole lot of actual Scripture in it.

It was a tricky undertaking, really, for Laura Davis to write a story fleshing out the story of Mary and Jesus, tricky because she needed to avoid anything that might be contrary to the information we have in the Bible. There are those who object to any imagination about the life of Jesus, fearing blasphemy, I guess. I personally thought a novel had to stay true to what we know from scripture.

The good news is that Laura Davis has masterfully combined the truth that we know with imagined family and personal life. In the process, Jesus comes to life as a truly human person as well as divine. We know he was a loving son devoted to his mother, and Laura builds that realtionship into the story. She also includes the backstory of Joseph and Mary, their parents, and how the situation might have played out when she became pregnant. Until I read this, I never really thought about Mary's parents.

It was obvious that Mrs. Davis did a great deal of research in writing this tale; it is filled with details of everyday life at that time: food, marriage, friends, traditions and little cultural tidbits that might enlighten readers to just how Jesus grew up, how Mary lived. These details just enhance what we know from scripture. In fact, I believe this would be a good book for those who don't know about Jesus but are not ready or willing to read the Bible itself. The language is at a level that even middle grade students can read easily.

One thing that readers must remember,though, is that this is fiction, so they may find details that they don't agree with. For example, the wise men are given the names that are in traditional stories, like Melchior. Of course, we don't really know their names or even how many there were. But that doesn't change what is truly important.

Overall, I recommend Come To Me very highly. It would be a great gift for someone who is struggling to understand the story of Jesus, wholly human yet wholly God, good for young people, and great reading for anyone who loves the Lord. If you are anything like me, you will find that it makes you "ponder" these things yourself, and spend a little time pouring over the Biblical accounts of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.




You can visit Laura Davis at her website: Author Laura Davis



Here are the main bloggers that will be posting this week, listed by the date their articles will appear. (Don't forget to leave comments if you want to be entered in the drawing for the book. I hope you might make comments pertinent to what you have read in the blogs.)



Check out these member blogs Sept. 7-13 for more info.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday

Three other blogs to add to these: Queen of Convolution, The Time Mistress, and Virtual Tour D'Net

Come To Me by Laura Davis
ISBN 978-1-4357-0556-2
Available through Barnesandnoble.com, Lulu.com, Borders, and Amazon.com.