Choices

“I don’t want” “I know what you want, baby,”

“Make love to me, Terry”, she said, pulling him down on top of her.

“I’ll tell you what I care about. I care about you opening your legs when I need you to, know what I’m sayin’?”

“You took that boy up to your bedroom when nobody else was home? No wonder he thought you wanted what he wanted.”

“It’s not like I’m the only Christian who had sex before marriage.”

It was five in the morning and they were in bed, her fast asleep and him grinning because he got some. Twice!

Book: Choices by Katrina L. Burchett, Kapri Books, 2007

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 16-20

Subjects: Sex, Teen pregnancy, Dating relationships, Abuse, Friendship, Relationship with parents

Summary: 5 girls and one guy. Each have their different reasons for finding abstinence difficult, but all do. Shaun and Shannon seek solace in the arms of their lover, from the abuse occurring in their homes. Shannnon wants to prove he can be a better father than that his own abusive dad. Shaun just wants to forget all the hurt and pain and lose herself in love. Angel’s mom has never cared and there’s certainly no father in the picture so she finds no reason to not seek identity in her boyfriends. And she’s desperate enough for love to accept it – in any form it wants to come. LaKeeta is tired of never being good enough for her dad, and tired of never having his attention. Maybe if she’s pregnant, her dad will finally sit up and notice her. She didn’t count on this driving him even father away. Hope is sick and tired of her mom not allowing her any room to live. Giving up her virginity is a way to prove she’s not a baby under her mom’s thumb anymore. And Bridgette, well, she actually has no intention of giving up her virginity, but has no problem leading a guy up to her room while no one else is home, and letting him kiss her. But she has no problem slamming the door in his face when he naturally assumes she’s ready to give it up. All of these teens are struggling with the same thing: choices. God gives free will and when it seems absolutely every other teenager around them is happily, eagerly, frequently, indulging in sex, it’s hard to see any reason to not do so as well.

Notes: This book was telling the story of six kids in one story. The girls are all connected, friends of at least one of the others, and Shannon is the brother of one of them. Each of them is very focused on sex at this point in their lives. If they’re not indulging in it, they’re at least listening to others talk about it or –  condemning everyone around them for doing so as in the case of Bridgette. The book does a good job looking at what the Bible says about it and for that I give it a high rating. On the other hand, it gets quite detailed and descriptive, filling a few pages with swear words, and in one scene, giving a play by play detailed description of a girl getting raped, describing every move the guy makes. There needs to be a warning on the cover that this book is rated R. For that reason I give it the lowest possible rating. So overall, the book gets a 3, because it has some very good points and some very bad points.

Recommendation Scale: 0 and 5 making an average of about 3.

Reviewer: J:-)mi

1 Corinthians 6:18 – Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.