Swept Away

 “Well. . .” Principal Warner turned the monitor back around to face himself. “Even though it looks like you could both qualify for it—which is an amazing feat—there’s only one car to give away.”

Book: Swept Away by Nicole O’Dell

 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 13-18

Subjects: Cheating, Friendship, Money, Relationship with Parents, Sex

Summary: Amber’s family is not all that rich, in fact, her dad just lost his job and is having a lot of trouble finding a new one. That means no new clothes, generic brand pop in the refrigerator and most noticeable of all: continuing to drive a run-down, falling apart, old car that is a definite embarrassment to Amber. Her friend Brittany however, has plenty of money. Whatever she wants, she can get it. Her dad keeps getting promotions and raises. Then comes the contest: the student in the graduating class with the best grades will get a brand new car. The two students competing are Amber and Brittany. At first it’s not a problem, they can study together and help each other out and have a friendly competition. But all of a sudden things explode and it’s each girl for herself. Amber knows she NEEDS that car but how far will she go to get it? You decide.

The other story in this book: Essence of Lilly is about Lilly’s struggles to find true love. Her home life is a mess with a verbally abusive stepdad and a cowering mother who has lost all of herself and lets her husband decide everything. So when her boyfriend really steps up and shows care and concern for Lilly, it’s natural to turn more and more to him. How much will she give to keep him though?

Notes: This is a “choose your own ending” kind of a novel. You read the story to a certain point, then pick one of two endings – the right one or wrong one. Amber gets offered a chance to guarantee her grades by cheating – someone will give her a copy of the test answers in advance. She has to choose between friendship and a new car. Lilly has to choose between sex and keeping the one stable relationship she has felt like she has in her life. The “choose your own ending” is interesting. It’s pretty obvious there is a “right” and “wrong” option, not just two equal possibilities.

Recommendation Scale: 4/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Proverbs 23:23 – Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.