SECONDHAND HORSES by Lauraine Snelling and Kathleen Damp Wright

This is the third book in the S.A.V.E Squad - the group of three eleven-year-old girls, Sunny, Aneta, Vee, and Esther. When I requested an e-galley, there was no indication that it was Christian fiction, an area in which I have no expertise or interest, so I will be reviewing it as series fiction/middle-grade fiction. I read it aloud to my six-year-old and we both agreed that it seemed LONG (and we've read much longer chapter books), although the animal-rescue parts kept us reading. As series fiction, this book had some flaws. Ignoring the number one rule of a series, there is no summary of what happened in the previous two books. Apparently, the girls have had adventures before, and I gathered eventually that these adventures involved helping animals, but I was missing backstory. The girls are different from each other in background, family life, and personality, but they are two-dimensional, embodying only the characteristics the author assigned them.

As far as messages go, this book is very mixed for me. The girls compromise with each other and love to help animals in need. They come up with a great idea to help the reluctant readers group at the library learn to enjoy reading. There are some preachy passages that I skipped because I'm in serious disagreement with their philosophy. "Sunny...felt kind of like the zoo. What good was she? She knew from years of Sunday school that God loved everyone. That He didn't make mistakes creating people; however, she wasn't quite sure He hadn't dozed off when He was finishing her brain." So, if you believe that human beings only have value because God created them and doesn't make mistakes (um, hello? Hitler?) and you're looking to indoctrinate your children into that belief, this is definitely the book for you.

The premise of the book is that after Sunny ruins dinner on her night to cook (by becoming distracted with something else), her "consequences" are to go stay with her uncle for two weeks on his new ranch and help take care of the horses and clean out the previous owner's stuff. It was a few chapters in before I realized Sunny must be homeschooled (see above for missing backstory). The attitude of the parents when Sunny ruins dinner is really harsh and seemed disproportionate the the offense (they simply sit at the dinner table with nothing in front of them while the spaghetti she put in the pot burns). Sunny and her parents together determine the appropriate consequences, which was nice. The idea is that Sunny will learn to finish things without getting distracted, but when she fails to clean out a barn as promised, her uncle trips on some junk and breaks his ankle badly enough to need surgery. Now Sunny is also in charge of taking care of her uncle as he recovers. (Seriously? She's eleven.) She and her friends decide to buy a petting zoo from the carnival (Creepy Carnival Guy) by pooling their money when CCG announces he hates the zoo and wants to sell it. I had a number of problems with that - buying a zoo without permission? Handing $50 over to a creepy guy and telling him where they live so he can deliver the animals the next day? Not really smart choices. When someone is breaking into the barn at night and they decide to withhold evidence from the sheriff and catch the guy themselves? Not smart. My six-year-old said at one point, "I don't think it's a good idea to chase the bad guy in the woods! Why don't they just call 911?" Exactly.

Sunny was fairly irritating. Her favorite (very frequently repeated) catch phrases are yayness/ughness to denote good/bad things, "rocko socko," and "for pizza sake." The point of her learning to finish things could have been made in many fewer pages without having her get distracted and abandon a project at least a half-dozen times. The repetition really made the book drag. That said, there's a lovely story of girls helping animals and finding a creative way to help reluctant readers hidden in here somewhere. Uncle Dave is also a good example - he shows compassion and generosity in taking in an abandoned horse and working with a family to help them keep their horse in difficult economic times. He's also surprisingly understanding when Sunny's distractedness causes his ankle injury, but that may have been the pain medication.

My daughter and I agreed that we might be interested in the first two books if we skipped the boring parts and just read the animal-saving parts.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title from the publisher.

'Tis the season--Holiday Books 2009

Despite the fact that Christmas is nearly a month over now, I did some holiday reading in December and want to get at least some mini-reviews up. Perhaps you can decide to add them to your holiday reading/gift giving list for 2010.

I won a copy of Wishin' and Hopin' in a book blog contest. I was excited to win a copy because the book sounded interesting enough that I wanted to read it, but didn't grab me so much that I actually want to purchase the book (is that terrible?!). And I was pretty right about my initial assessment.

Wishin' and Hopin' describes 1960's life through the eyes of ten-year old Felix Funicello (cousin to Annette). I found this book to be only a so-so holiday read. It takes over half the book to even get to Christmas. Quite a bit of the story is the school year leading up to the holidays. While I love nostalgic holiday movies and books, this one did not hit the jackpot for me. It was mildly entertaining but Felix as a protagonist seemed younger than his age and I just didn't care for it that much. However, if you grew up in the 60's and attended Catholic school, you may have a greater appreciation for Lamb's story than I did. It also bothered me that the book ended with the family eating a holiday dinner at a Chinese restaurant (um....did Wally Lamb just finish watching the holiday movie "A Christmas Story"? Not very original, in my opinion).
Source disclosure: won in a blog contest

If you're looking for a nostalgic Christmas story, I don't think you can find a better book than Dave Barry's The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog. I first read this book two years ago, borrowed from the library. Barnes and Noble had it as a bargain book this Christmas so I just had to snatch up a copy of it and read it again. It did not disappoint, I loved the story just as much the second time.

I would definitely recommend this one over Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin'.
Source disclosure: I purchased this book.

Secrets of the Christmas Box by Steven Hornby had sooo much potential. I really really REALLY wanted to LOVE it! However, it fell quite a bit short of my expectations. Cleverly written in 24 chapters, this middle-grade book could be read aloud each night from December 1st until Christmas. Secrets tells the story of Christmas ornaments come to life and the adventure that awaits them beyond the Christmas tree. However delightful the book synopsis sounds, this is actually quite a dark tale. Larry the snowman ornament's brother appears to be missing after the ornaments are all placed on the tree. Larry and his good friend Debbie along with a new toy solider ornament go off in search of Larry's brother. They discover along the way that things may not be as they seem in their little Christmas tree world.

I thought this would be a cute little tale to read to my children at Christmas each year, but I think it may be too dark and scary for younger children (with an evil Tree Lord and tree lights that hunt down and attack other ornaments) and perhaps a bit too young in subject matter for older kids who could actually read the book themselves. I'm not sure Hornby found the right audience for this one. In short, LOVED the idea of the book but was disappointed with the reality of it.
Source disclosure: Received a copy from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.

Susan May Warren's Christmas novella was quite entertaining at times and delivered a nice holiday message. I believe this would fall into the Christian Fiction category, but not too overtly. It didn't get too preachy and actually some of the church-related scenes were amusing to me.

The story follows Marianne Wallace as she plans to have her large family all together for one last holiday before her youngest goes off to college and her children all start to lead their own lives. Of particular interest to me is that the story takes place in Big Lake, Minnesota where Marianne cheers on her son as a football player for the Big Lake Trout. It's always fun to read books that take place in your home state. The Big Lake Trout and their drive to get to the state championship play a large role in this story, especially when the team mascot has a heart attack and Marianne is cajoled into donning the Big Lake Trout costume to cheer on the team. The description of her trying on the costume truly made me laugh. And as a mother, you realize there are all kinds of things you'll do for your kids that you never dreamed you would even consider! I really enjoyed the town and its characters and could identify with Marianne as a future version of myself. I would recommend this one as a fun holiday read (though I don't think it would top my all-time best holiday book list).

Source Disclosure: Received a copy from the publisher by contacting the author's website.

Words Unspoken by Elizabeth Musser (Review and Giveaway)

This is the story of a nineteen-year-old girl struggling to overcome her mother's tragic death. Eighteen months earlier, Lissa Randall and her mother were driving on the highway when a freak hail storm showered down on them. Lissa skidded and stopped the car safely, but when her mother got out to switch drivers, she was struck down by another car. Lissa feels like a failure and at fault for her mother's death. She searches for a way to overcome her grief and deal with her father's attitude toward her. The book follows her journey trying to get in the driver's seat again and get her license so she can have a renewed sense of freedom from her father, feelings of failure, and self-doubt.

But this book is not just about Lissa. It's about several other characters as well. Two sisters, an older husband and wife who run a driving school, a hot-shot stock broker, and a young publisher's assistant who is looking to get to the top. By the end of the book you understand why all these characters are involved, but for the first half or a little more you sit wondering why you're reading about all these characters when really it's Lissa's story you want to hear. The beginning was very disjointed for me. I didn't really understand why we were meeting all these new characters or why we cared about their story. But as I continued to read, I began to realize how they all related to each other.

I received this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program and I wasn't aware that it was Christian fiction when I requested it. The book description sounded interesting to me, I didn't bother to check the publisher's page (I've learned my lesson there) and there was nothing overtly religious in the book description. I fully admit, I am not a regular church-going gal so I had to go into this book with an open mind. I think if you enjoy reading Christian fiction, you might really enjoy this story. It shows how when people hit rock bottom, their faith can really pull them through. And I can appreciate that sentiment. It wasn't until the second half of the book that the truly Christian nature of the book came out. I have to say for me, it was a bit much, but for others they may truly enjoy it.

***********
I've decided to giveaway my copy of this book! If you are interested in receiving this gently read ARC copy of Word Unspoken, enter by leaving a comment on this post. For three extra entries follow our blog or become a new subscriber. Sorry this one is only open to the US and Canada. I hate to do that, but my postal budget is low right now. We'll have more contests open to international entries in the future! I'll leave this contest open until May 23rd at noon.

Lookin' Back, Texas by Leanna Ellis

I need to preface this review by saying that I am not a reader of Christian fiction. When I requested this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program, I did so on the basis of the publisher-provided summary, which gave a delightful premise and no indication of the real genre. I failed to click on the publisher's website, and the main page of Leanna Ellis's website referred to Lookin' Back, Texas as "women's fiction." That said, I found a lot to like in this novel, but I will have to review it as general fiction, since I have no basis for comparison to other Christian fiction.

Suzanne hasn't been back to her hometown of Luckenbach, Texas (say it out loud to get the title, which also refers to numerous characters) in years. She has a comfortable life with her husband and teenaged son in California. When a phone call from her father is cut off, and Linda Lou, Luckenbach's biggest gossip calls and mentions that Suzanne's father is dead, Suzanne packs up for a trip to Texas. She finds her mother acting the regal widow, planning the most elaborate funeral Luckenbach has ever seen. But her father isn't dead. Suzanne decides she'll have to be the one to reconcile her meek father with her controlling mother, and her husband (Mike) and son (Oliver) soon join her in this crazy town. Her own past sins haunt her as she's confronted with ex-boyfriend Drew (now the town sheriff) and her husband-stealing friend Josie is seen at a motel with Mike. Meanwhile, the town is splitting open quite literally--either by earthquake or drought as her parents push further apart, causing Suzanne to worry about the foundation of her own marriage.

I enjoyed Betty Lynne's over-the-top behavior. Always the perfect wife and mother, concerned to the utmost with image, she has decided that she would rather be a widow than a divorcee. Her glee in describing her husband's grisly death is hilarious. Ellis doesn't oversimplify the situation--she shows the toll the "death" takes on Suzanne's father's best friend, and she shows the outpourings of flowers and food from friends and neighbors. I enjoyed the metaphor of faulty foundation for both Suzanne's marriage and the parched earth, and found it to be well executed. Ellis has a wicked sense of humor, especially as she describes Betty Lynne: "It occurs to me that this whole scenario of a make-believe funeral is exactly like something the heroine of Gone With The Wind would do. The first time I saw the movie, I cried when Bonnie Blue Butler died after falling off the horse. I thought it was cruel of Margaret Mitchell to kill off an innocent child. Now I realize it was probably a good decision. I know what it's like to grow up with a mother like Scarlett" (p. 128). And when rumors about Mike and Josie start swirling, "Mother leans forward, resting her elbow on the table and whispers in a conspiratorial tone, 'Wanna have a double funeral?'"

That said, this was really a 300-page novel masquerading as a 400-page novel, so it dragged in places, and there was some repetition I could have done without. Had I been the editor, I would have immediately cut the chapters told from Drew's point of view, which really didn't add anything. I know that Ellis used to write romance novels, and convention in that genre usually dictates writing from both the hero's and the heroine's point of view, but it's out of place here. And at any rate, Drew isn't even a major character. Every twenty or thirty pages, Suzanne agonizes over her big secret, and while I understand that it's always on her mind, especially back in her hometown, the fretting about keeping the secret without any progress toward deciding to tell or deciding not to tell was tedious. As far as the Christian element goes, it wasn't pushed enough to make me dislike the book, but there were passages that were over-the-top for general or women's fiction, and I mostly rolled my eyes and skimmed past. There are several mentions of faith, being faithful, and being committed to marriage, and these were fine and flowed well with the narrative. It was only when they were intrusive on the story, trite ("No relationship is perfect. It's a dance."--Bleh.), unbelievable (her conversation with her son in the grocery store about Jesus just didn't ring true), or contradictory (Suzanne goes on about how she and her husband had to work at their marriage, then later says "My marriage survived, not because of me or Mike but because of God") that I was reminded that I was reading Christian fiction with a capital C. I think Ellis could certainly do well writing general or women's fiction, but I think the born-again element is a bit overdone for a general audience. Her snappy sense humor and apt characterization make me interested in checking out her first (non-romance) novel, Elvis Takes a Back Seat. I keep vacillating between a three-star review (based on the above criticisms and four stars (based on my enjoyment), so I think I'll split the difference.