First Date

First Date by Melody Carlson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Two weeks into her junior year & Devon Fremont felt dangerously bored.

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I've read some of Melody Carlson's other books & really enjoyed her writing so was excited when I got the change to get this new Young Adult book & review it.

Its the story of girlfriends who get together to form a group & try to break a rule some of the guys are sticking to - to not date. Devon is behind this "Dating Games" & gets her friends to join in as a club.

Devon, Emma, Cassidy, Abby & Bryn are all different, coming from different backgrounds. Christian homes, divorced parents, different races, different values. And while some of the friendships start out on shaky ground, they learn a bit more about each other & they try to 'help' each other out with getting the guy they want to go to the dance with.

After teaching many lessons myself on dating to youth groups, I was anxious to see how this book would go. I'm also a fan of some young adult books & find they can be just as entertaining for adults to read.

This one? I have to say, it seemed very juvenile for an adult. Some of the characters got on my nerves & I just wanted to sit some of them down & have a talk with them as I do in our youth ministry.

Do I think a young lady would enjoy reading this book? Probably. Its full of friendship drama, boy drama, all the things young ladies are going through.

And while I do appreciate the story of the friendships getting stronger, I wish they would have taken the idea of dating & put it on the back burner... but no, its set up for the next book - Blind Dates in the Dating Games.

In my opinion, I'll pass..

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The Women of Christmas

The Women of Christmas: Experience the Season Afresh with Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna by Liz Curtis Higgs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Long before silver bells jingled, Christmas lights twinkled, & horse-drawn sleighs went dashing through the snow, God reached down from heaven with the best gift of all"
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God works in a funny way. It was just my turn to teach in Youth Ministry on our Christmas series & it kicked off on Elizabeth & Zechariah, so it was the day after I gave the lesson & picked this book up & joined right back in with my friend Elizabeth, getting to know her more & look at the details of her & Zechariah as they prepared for their son John.

& then we move into the heart of the book, the story of Mary... the news she got, the decision to say yes to God, through her pregnancy, what it must have been like for Joseph... all the way through the birth of Jesus & the events after he was born in Bethlehem.

Finally, we get to meet Anna & learn more about this prophetess who looks upon Jesus after being a widow for so long.

All together, its a beautiful Christmas story told by one of my favorite Women of Faith - Liz Curtis Higgs. Something about her just strikes my heart. I just want to hear her tell the stories in person. She's so enchanting with her voice.... & I could hear it in this book.

One of the features she does is use so many versions of the Bible to explain one verse so thoroughly. I love that. Insight that I would never have on my own.

I read this book in less then 24 hours - its a quick read... so I really do recommend it, especially right now as we head into the Christmas season.
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Amen and amen.

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