Reviews

Anything But Normal by Melody Carlson

fullybookedlibrarian's review

4.0

To be honest, a book with "Christian life" as a subject heading doesn't make it across my desk very often. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, especially considering the author.

This book treats teen pregnancy with a deft touch, and I applaud the author for finding a way to present various aspects of the abortion/adoption/purity pledge/abstinence debate without making me want to rip out my very liberal hair. Pregnant teens are people with feelings and problems too, and we should not be so quick to judge the decisions of others.
A YA "issue" book worth consideration.

jkh107's review

4.0

A high-achieving teenager ends up pregnant after a brief affair at a Christian camp where she worked as a counselor over the summer. Spurred by a combination of fear and denial, she refuses to admit her pregnancy even as she gets caught in a conflict between her virginity-pledge friends (and their parents) and the high school's pregnancy center. But pregnancy isn't possible to hide forever, even if you are kind of pudgy, and facing the inevitable will bring with it both expected condemnation and unexpected support. This was not particularly preachy for an inspy and I did like the way it addressed issues realitically. The father of the girl's baby was a real piece of work (it's not entirely clear that the affair was distinct from date rape/unethical seduction). I think the author could have gone a bit farther with the fact that virginity pledges have really mixed effects in real life (they tend to delay first intercourse a bit, but they also tend to encourage sexually risky behavior), but that might have lost her much of her readership.

lulu_loves_conan_gray's review

3.0

Is it just me or did this book scream "ADULT TRYING TO GET TEENS"?