Book Review: Be Strong & Curvaceous
June 6th, 2009
Author: Shelley Adina
Publisher: Faithwords/Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0-446-17799-3
Website: www.shelleyadina.com
Type: Fiction:Young Adult/Christian
Pages: 223 Trade Paperback
Purchase: $9.99 @ Amazon.com (HERE)
The Story
“After spending spring break in Mexico with her grandparents, Carly Aragon can’t wait to get back to school at Spencer Academy in San Francisco. With Lissa Mansfield and Gillian Chang by her side, she’s ready for anything … except a new roommate. Lady Lindsay MacPhail, flamboyant daughter of the Earl of Strathcairn, quickly becomes Carly’s worst nightmare. “Mac” not only swoops in and steals Carly’s privacy, she’s also stealing Brett Loyola–Carly’s biggest crush! But when Mac starts receiving strange, threatening e-mails, she and Carly must come together to figure out who’s behind them and why. In the end, the fate of one girl will lie in the other’s hands. Will the two learn to trust one another and trust God?”
(Above excerpt is from www.shelleyadina.com )
The Review
In the continuing reviews of the It’s All About Us Series, this is my review of the 3rd book in the series. The first book is It’s All About Us, the second is The Fruit of My Lipstick, and the fourth is Who Made You A Princess?.
All of our favorite characters are here in this story and we get to meet a new one, Mac. She’s true European Royalty! But, despite the “gang,” this is Carly’s story, how she becomes a Christian and how she grows in her relationship with God. Carly shares with us:
“It’s not the brain,” I said quietly. “It’s the heart. I felt like mine was going to explode. And not in a cardiac-arrest way.” I waggled my hands, trying to gather the right words. “A love way.”
As Carly struggles with her popularity, parents’ divorce, and financial difficulties, she turns to God to help her with each hurdle. What Carly remembers to do and reminds the reader is showing thanks for God’s grace. Here she prays:
”You are here with me, Father. Thank you for helping me see that. Thank you for this class and for letting me discover something that I really love to do.”
She learns to see the big picture and how God has a plan for her life, even to the smallest details. One thing that I was reminded of today is that God loves a challenge and we can trust him with those big hurdles and the little details. In this book, Carly’s adventure reflects just that!
As I’ve commented in the other 3 reviews of this series, I appreciate Shelley Adina’s efforts to provide our tweens and teens with a positive message and good, clean read! She puts God at the center of the hearts of her heroines and nothing can be better than that!
On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”
I love love love this series and for my review of this Fiction: YA-Christian, I am going to rate this book an 8.5 OUT OF 10.
My thanks to Hachette Books for this great experience!
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3 Responses to “Book Review: Be Strong & Curvaceous”
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Name: Sheri
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Bio: Welcome & Thank You For Visiting!!! Hello... I'm Sheri, the proud keeper of my own personal menagerie consisting of twin daughters, 2 poochies, 3 kitties, and 3 fish tanks. To learn more about me, please visit my "About" Page where you can also access my BOOK REVIEW POLICY.
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I forgot to comment that I love your “Mother Approved” button. It IS something I look for for my daughter. There is way too much crap out there that focuses on deception, death, losing their virginity, and disrespect that they really don’t need at this age! I’ll keep this series in mind for her!
Sandy´s last blog post..Sticky Business
This has nothing to do with your review and everything to do with your Christian Reads button. It cracks me up in contrast to your other buttons of bodacious babes. You spice your blog up with those so much. Seeing a sedate angel just made me laugh.
Literate Housewife´s last blog post..The Sunday Salon ~ 06.07.09
Jennifer,
I know! But, I am a Christian (albeit a spicy one) and I do a lot of Christian reading. Hey, at least I picked a girl for the picture!
Sheri