Category: 4 Star

Excellent

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It’s Complicated by Laura L. Smith

It’s Complicated by Laura L. Smith is the first book in the Status Updates series, suitable for ages sixteen and up.

The series follows the stories of Claire, Hannah, Palmer, and Kat, college roommates, as they go through their freshman year. I would place this book on both the Young Adult and New Adult shelves because the protagonists are all eighteen years old at the beginning and grow older as the series progresses.

Pros:

  • Ms. Smith deftly portrays four very different girls as they tell their stories–both individual and collective–in their own words. The author tackles some difficult topics in a realistic manner, but she manages to keep the story hopeful and inspiring.
  • It’s Complicated introduces the main characters during the end of their summer and first weeks of school. The four friends learn to pull together as they navigate through life-changing circumstances.
  • Young Adult readers will relate to the dilemmas and decisions the main characters face. Drama and trauma are interwoven with funny and embarrassing moments Readers will definitely want to tune back in for the remaining four books in the Status Updates series to find out what happens to Claire, Hannah, Palmer, and Kat.
  • Due to a couple of adult situations, this material is inappropriate for younger students. However, the Lexile is approximately 610L based on a sample, so struggling readers will not have a problem enjoying the text.
  • All of the girls claim to be Christian. Kat’s family has moved several times, so they’ve “switched churches a lot.” Claire keeps her Bible and a journal beneath her pillow. She says she attends church back home.
  • Palmer admits to being a Christian and always wears a silver cross necklace. It bothers her that her boyfriend’s family doesn’t pray before meals. Claire is convinced that she’s too dirty for God to love after the assault; I found this crisis of faith to be realistic.

Cons: (spoilers)

  • Claire’s date lures her to his room and rapes her. The attack, told from Claire’s point of view, is short and not graphic, although she leaves no doubt about what has happened to her.
  • Palmer’s long-term high school boyfriend pressures her to have sex with him to prove that she loves him. She resists, but not before it’s almost too late. Their physical relationship has spiraled out of control, and he cannot keep his hands off her. She, in turn, lets passion cloud her judgement.
  • Kat makes out with a guy she knows isn’t the sort of boy she can take home to meet the parents.
  • Claire’s mom discovers that her serious boyfriend is already married. Claire is pressured to drink wine on at least two occasions while in France, even though she’s underage in the United States. She drinks too much the last time, and this makes her vulnerable to the assault mentioned above. Claire cannot seem to catch a break.
  • Kat’s new friend and fellow soccer player uses “K2,” a synthetic form of marijuana, to relax and deal with stress. He compares it to drinking wine. She refuses his offer to share.
  • A random stranger offers to buy Palmer a beer.
  • Claire’s father walked out on her mother when Claire was seven. Claire’s mother goes from one relationship to another. This distorts Claire’s perspective on men.
  • Kat decides to get a stud in her nose without her parents’ consent. She knows her mother won’t approve.
  • Palmer’s mother seems overly concerned about appearances, nagging Palmer about staying trim.

My Personal Opinions:

Mature adult readers who–like me–frequently read YA fiction may find the style too telling. These accounts read like a girl’s diary. That’s fine, up to a point, but the constant emotional input from the four girls, revealing their feelings through “I feel” and “I felt” statements exhausted me.

That said, Laura L. Smith hits the sweet spot for her intended audience of young women on the threshold of life. This is an inspirational novel that fits neatly under the heading of Christian contemporary YA fiction.

In this book, there is no overt “altar call” as is found in some inspirational fiction. This is the way Christian fiction should be written, keeping things real and addressing the difficult questions we face.

For Young Adult/New Adult readers, It’s Complicated will too soon, and they will want to pick up each new installment as soon as it’s available.

 

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Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

 

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty is a dark Middle Grade mystery most suited to fifth grade and up.  The setting is the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, 1899 where we are introduced to a very interesting girl named Serafina.

Synopsis

Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of the Biltmore estate. There’s plenty to explore in her grand home, although she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate’s maintenance man, have secretly lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember.

But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is: a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore’s corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of the Biltmore’s owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak’s true identity . . . before all of the children vanish one by one.

Serafina’s hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear. There she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic, one that is bound to her own identity. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must seek the answers that will unlock the puzzle of her past.

Pros:

  • This story holds the reader’s attention because there are so many things you want to know as you read: why does Serafina live the way she does? why doesn’t her pa want anyone to know about her? who is the man in the black cloak?
  • I enjoyed the friendship that grows between Serafina and Braeden. Serafina is a brave girl but she is lonely. Braeden is a kind, generous boy who needs a friend who doesn’t care about his money. In each other, they find true friendship.
  • [spoiler] As a Christian, I couldn’t help but notice that the Black Cloak tempted Serafina with “imagine understanding and controlling everything around you…” and “you will become all-knowing, all-powerful…” The Black Cloak was a walking metaphor for the sin, and not just any sin, but the temptation to be like God. It was a very Garden-of-Eden moment that Serafina must experience but ultimately overcome.

Cons:

  • The story is spooky. Middle-grade fiction seems to be going through a dark/spooky/horror phase. I picked this book up because it was nominated for a state award. If your child is sensitive or prone to nightmares, this might not be the book for them. Or at least, not right before bedtime.
  • Like many adventure stories, Serafina does things against her father’s wishes.

Final Word

I thought the redemptive ending made the book well worth reading. After we learned more about Serafina, who she was and where she came from, it made me interested to read more in the series.

Discussion Questions

  1. When did you first realize that Serafina was an unusual girl?
  2. After you found out about Serafina’s mother, were there clues in the book that gave you hints as to Serafina’s origin?
  3. Which character was your favorite in the book? Why?
  4. Did you find the book scary? If so, what parts?
  5. What did you think of the Man in the Black Cloak? What would you do if you met someone like him?
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Jupiter Winds by C. J. Darlington

Scriblerians Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction Reviews

Jupiter Winds by C. J. Darlington is a Young Adult book that is suited to grades 6 and up.  The story is a mixture of science fiction and dystopian.

Grey and her younger sister, Rin,  are surviving in the absence of their parents in a very hostile location on Earth. They make due and get by with the help of their elderly friend, Mrs. March. Running contraband to buy supplies, every day is a risk, and when government forces close in, the sisters are separated.

Jupiter Winds would qualify as a Space Western since it has a fun plot and ignores science as we know it. This particular story is a clean read, completely suitable for middle grade readers and above.

Pros:

  • Let me start with the best parts of the story—intriguing characters and strong pacing. The main character, Grey, and her sister, Rin, had a sweet relationship, taking care of one another in the absence of their parents.
  • My favorite character was Mrs. March, an older mentor lady who can kick butt. What’s not to like?
  • Highly imaginative setting.
  • I abandon many books before I reach the end, but I’ll give credit to Darlington for keeping me involved through the last page, even though I found the ending to be anti-climactic. The author understands how to fade to black and open in another scene. In other words, she kept the story moving at a fine clip. This is a difficult skill to master.

Cons:

  • I would have liked to see more of Jet, since he had an interesting background. The author missed a stellar opportunity—see what I did there?—by leaving Jet out of the picture for the majority of the book.
  • Mrs. March. But didn’t you say you liked her? Yes, but she is also very unbelievable, switching from a kindly old neighbor lady to a warrior spaceship captain in the blink of an eye. The author should have given the reader some hints that Mrs. March wasn’t what she seemed to be before turning her into Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek).
  • The remainder of the characters were straight off the shelf, particularly General What’s-her-name, a Flat Stanley villainess who only lacked a mustache to twirl. She was mean, cruel, sadistic, one hundred percent evil, virtually indestructible, and completely unbelievable.
  • Mom and Dad were cutout characters too; their only role was to provide motivation for the main character.

Science Fiction Lite

To be blunt, this novel is full of bad science. I could overlook this shortcoming if the story had been written before the space age, but these days, even young teens will have to suspend disbelief in a big way because Jupiter Winds revolves around the idea that we’ve misjudged Jupiter by writing it off as uninhabitable.

Jupiter is mostly hydrogen and helium under intense pressure. No spacecraft we could fashion on Earth would be able to withstand the gravitational pressure of the massive planet. That goes double for the frail human frame.

But in this story, humans don’t even require spacesuits to walk on the planet’s colorful sands or breathe its poisonous atmosphere. There are trees and animals native to the planet. The weather’s fine if you overlook the sudden onset of windstorms.

Another key point in the plot hinges on the idea that humans have discovered a shortcut to reach Jupiter in under a week. The very sketchy descriptions of the spaceships evoke crafts of the silent film era combined with silos like those used to house intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Final Word

I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads for its lack of scientific realism and because there are no half stars on Goodreads to ease the pain. However, 3 stars seems too severe if you are simply looking for a good time. For keeping me entertained, I would give Jupiter Winds 4 stars, so I have settled for 3.7 which you may round up to 4 stars if you like. Read it if you love Space Westerns. Avoid it if you’re a dedicated fan of hard science fiction.