Spring Breakdown by Melody Carlson ~ FIRST WildCard

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Melody Carlson

and the book:

Spring Breakdown (Carter House Girls)

Zondervan (February 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Bridgette Brooks of ZONDERKIDZ for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books for teens, women, and children. Before publishing, Melody traveled around the world, volunteered in teen ministry, taught preschool, raised two sons, and worked briefly in interior design and later in international adoption. "I think real-life experiences inspire the best friction," she says. Her wide variety of books seems to prove this theory.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031071494X
ISBN-13: 978-0310714941

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER: Just press the button!

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Having read most of the books in this series (I think I missed one) I was excited to check in with the girls at Carter House! Melody Carlson has a great line of Teen Fiction.

It's spring break and the Carter House girls are headed to Florida. Of course, it's not all fun and games. DJ's grandmother has decided the girls will help a fashion designer with a bathing suit photo shoot. Several of the girls are thrilled, but the idea doesn't go over well with all of them.

Before they even head down to Florida, Eliza is causing trouble! Because she comes from money, DJ's grandmother sticks her head in the sand and pretends like none of it as bad as it sounds. I really can't stand Mrs. Carter. She's so snobby and tends to treat DJ and the other somewhat "plain" girls as though they need to improve themselves. She's from the old school. Anyhow, Eliza's escapades don't stop in Florida and in fact cause more serious problems than anyone can imagine!

Again, I enjoyed this story. Melody creates real life characters. There is always a heirarchy in school, and at a boarding house, you will for sure find that! She uses these girls' lives to share godly living, and does it in such a way that I truly believe teen girls reading the series would be able to apply to their own lives!

I highly recommend this series to any family with teen girls!

RAnn left me a comment asking if I felt concern over the lack of an adult authority figure and I have to say that it does bother me. The grandmother is pretty much worthless because she ignores every issue that arises in her home. None of the girls have an involved parent in their life, and that is definitely disconcerting. There isn't even a mention of a positive role model in a teacher or a church member. Come to think of it, they don't ever go to church. They do talk about the Lord and how He would want them to behave and such.

I was only reading this looking at the relationship within the girls. I did mention in my review above that the grandmother is someone I can't stand. I guess I should've qualified it also with wishing that there was someone who took an adult role in this house full of girls. Thank you RAnn for asking this important question!!