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Ida B











I am so pleased to post the review of this book. It is about a million miles away from a NR rating and is so good it lands itself at just-about perfect. I absolutely loved Ida B's voice, she has the greatest sayings and the cleverest way of expressing herself. The reading is not interrupted at all with foul language or inappropriate themes. I could hug Katherine Hannigan in a powerful way.


Even though this book is on the "young" side of YA, I would recommend it to any age reader because the writing is so enjoyable and the main character so endearing.



by Katherine Hannigan

246 pages

Library of Congress summary: Fourth grader Ida B spends happy hours being homeschooled and playing in her family's apple orchard, until circumstances force her parents to sell part of the orchard and send her to public school.

THEMES: Family life; School; Nature- Caretakers of the earth; Sickness

FOUL LANGUAGE: ZERO occurrences!!! Thank you Katherine Hannigan

SOFT LANGUAGE (heard on cable TV): The absolute worst thing that occurs is on page 104: "You poor suckers," I wanted to say, and I don't usually use that sort of language. :o)

SEXUAL CONTENT: ZERO occurrences.

BLASPHEMIES: ZERO occurrences of the misuse of the Lord's name.

DRUG USE: ZERO occurrences.

REFERENCES TO AND GENERAL ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD: God is not mentioned, but heaven and church are. Under the circumstances the family faced, my heart yearned for them to pray, but the book doesn't claim to be from a Christian worldview. I'd rather no mention of God than a misrepresentation of Him.




A special 'Thank you!' to Jade who said this is her "favorite book that she has ever read." It was a great joy to read.




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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Click to view this book on Amazon.com



This was a very difficult rating to give-- not to mention the fact that I would have preferred my first rating to not have been the harshest available. The book had so much potential! It was cleverly filled with cartoon drawings, making it original, and the writing for the most part was humorous.

But when you look at the Criteria Statistics, I hope you'll see why I, as a Christian wanting to encourage responsible, God-honoring reading, felt compelled to give it this rating.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,
by Sherman Alexie

230 Pages

Library of Congress summary: Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

FOUL LANGUAGE: 39 occurrences (one "F-bomb")

SOFT LANGUAGE (heard on cable TV, but undesirable in the mouths of Christians): 32 occurrences

SEXUAL CONTENT: 22 occurrences

BLASPHEMIES: 11 occurrences of the Lord's name used as a swear word.

DRUG USE: alcohol use rampant around the characters, but never in a glamorous light.

REFERENCES TO AND GENERAL ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD: 5 occurrences. Very casual, crude, disrespectful. Examples: "More than anything, I wanted to kill God." (page 173), also main character refers to God creating thumbs so that boys could gratify themselves.

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Rating Logos




Here is the break-down of the ratings for this blog:









If there is nothing objectionable in any of the criteria, the book will be given a W rating, for Wise Reading.














If there are mild occurrences of caution-worthy criteria, the book will receive a UD rating, for Use Discernment.












If the book contains more mature themes and language the rating will be SC, for Strongly Cautioned.











If the theme, language, sexual/drug content, and blasphemies are pervasive the book will be marked NR, Not Recommended for a Christian audience.









These ratings do not tell you whether the book is good or not. If you want further details, read the review and criteria statistics attached to the particular book in question.





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Upcoming Book Reviews

Ida B. by Katherine Hannigan

Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The City of Ember and The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau

Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini

A Great & Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

Inspiration

I pondered the fact that many Christian parents don't know what their teens and pre-teens are reading and don't have the time or discipline to read all of their books before they "authorize" their reading material.

Enter Me.

I love to read and have a soft spot for the Young Adult (YA) novel as you are more likely to find something sweet and clean for that age group than in the Adult section. However, that is not always the case.

I want to help protect the eyes and hearts of young readers by giving them the tools to make a wise decision where their reading material is concerned.

I endeavor to post reviews of as many YA books as I can wrap my eyes around.
In addition, I will rate each book with certain criteria, including:

Humor
The "Aw, sweet" factor
Action
Violence
Language, including Incidents of the Lord's name taken in vain
Sexual Content
Drug Use
References to God and the general attitude toward Him
...among others.

My prayer is that this website will be a useful tool in the hands of teens and parents alike.

Please feel free to give me book suggestions for review and I would love feedback where a rating has been helpful.

Here's to putting worthwhile reading before your eyes!