Churched

Turner, Matthew. Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, 2008.

With a humorous style and details that only an "insider" can appreciate, Turner describes his family's plunge into the Fundamentalist movement and how he developed a love for Jesus in spite of all he dealt with at church. 

I was intrigued by this book - the title, the picture on the front, the first few pages.  Turner definitely captured my attention, and I believe he accurately pictured life inside a Fundamentalist church.  Unfortunately, there is little description of his choice to leave Fundamentalism or his belief in God in spite of what he learned at church.  I wanted to jump inside his brain for a bit to find out why he left and what he believes now, but perhaps that information is destined for a sequel.  As it is, this book is entertaining and light-hearted, poking fun without being cruel, and is definitely worth a trip to the library.

Once Was Lost

Zarr, Sara. Once Was Lost. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 2009.


Sam is a pastor's daughter.  She has always been left out of close circles of friends or activities because people are afraid of what her father will think of them.  Now her mother is in rehab after a DUI conviction, and Sam is frustrated that no one mentions her mother or what is really going on.  It's as if her mother simply doesn't exist for now.  And Sam's father has thrown himself even deeper into serving the community, often leaving Sam in the dust.

Then one of Sam's classmates disappears and the town rallies to search for her.  Between her father's distance, her mother's absence, her lack of close friends, and the new stress on the town in light of Jody's disappearance, Sam is about ready to scream.  Can she find what she has lost?

This book was intriguing and a welcome relief after the many rather-depressing teen books I read.  I enjoyed seeing the town through the eyes of the pastor's daughter (a daughter who is a confessing atheist) and watching her family become whole again.  And they do find the missing girl, by the way, and she's still alive.

Something Like Hope

Goodman, Shawn. Something Like Hope. New York: Random House, 2011.

Shavonne is in juvenile detention and is rapidly approaching her eighteenth birthday.  She is hoping to be released on her birthday and to take custody of her three-year old daughter.  She wants to get on with her life and put the past behind her.  But she has a lot of work to do before she can get there, and the other girls at the detention center aren't making things easy for her. It's difficult for Shavonne to feel any hope when she is surrounded by so much despair. 

This was an interesting look into the juvenile detention system, as well as the mind of a teen who has been incarcerated. I didn't enjoy this book the same way I enjoy other books, but it was an interesting read.  Unfortunately, the language choices of the characters are less than stellar, so I can't really recommend this book for classroom use or for anyone's personal library.  I was impressed with Shavonne and her decision to let her daughter be adopted by her foster parent, as Shavonne realized that she would not be able to give her daughter the life she wanted her to have, and she really wanted to stop the cycle of abuse. This book was rather depressing, unfortunately.

Rot and Ruin

Maberry, Jonathan. Rot and Ruin. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.

Benny is about to turn fifteen.  At fifteen he has to find a job or his rations will be cut off.  The last thing Benny wants to do is join his brother Tom in the zombie killing business, but it turns out to be Benny's only option.  Tom takes Benny with him into the land beyond the protective fence, and Benny soon learns that killing zombies isn't as easy or as boring as he originally thought.  And one of the other bounty hunters is collecting orphans for the Zombie Games.  Tom and Benny have got to locate the game arena and rescue the kids before it's too late.

Okay, so this is a zombie story.  Already some of you are rolling your eyes that I even stooped to read this book.  But this isn't an ordinary zombie book.  Really.  The zombies aren't the focus in this book; the focus is on civilization and the hope of the future generation to change things and to go beyond simply surviving to thriving in a post-apocalyptic world. 

I was surprisingly impressed with this book, and it managed to hold my interest all the way to the end.  I won't be adding it to my personal library any time soon, but it was worth checking out of the library.

Dirty Little Secrets

Omololu, C.J. Dirty Little Secrets. New York: Walker & Company, 2010.

Lucy has never had a sleepover at her house.  She doesn't invite friends over for study parties or to work on projects.  If someone picks Lucy up at her home, she will always be waiting at the curb.  Lucy doesn't want her friends to know that her mom is a hoarder.  Her house is piled with mounds of "treasures" her mom has collected.  Lucy can hardly stand to be at home; she can't wait until the day she is old enough to move out.  When an emergency happens in her home, Lucy has to decide who to let in on her "dirty little secret."

I found this book to be interesting, especially after my recent mini-study on hoarding.  From what I could tell, the hoarders in this book (Lucy's grandmother, mother, and oldest sister) were portrayed accurately, and I felt sorry for Lucy that she had to deal with all of this on her own.  The ending was a surprise to me, and I ended up enjoying this story more than I thought I initially would.