All That Glitters

“I want to be popular. I want to have tons of friends. I want recognition and for people to know my name. I want to be prom queen one day. This is all part of making those plans a reality.”

Book: All That Glitters by Nicole O’Dell, Barbour Publishing, 2009

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 14-19

Subjects: Popularity, Dating relationships, Relationship with parents, friendship, Fashion, Alcohol, Drugs

Summary: Drew no longer wants to be “one of the twins”. She wants to be “Drew, one of the most popular girls in school”. The question is, how far will she go to achieve that? Hair cut, new clothes, becoming captain of the cheerleading squad, dating someone two years older than her, lying to her parents, attending a party she knows they wouldn’t approve of, trying out alcohol and drugs, letting her boyfriend kiss her, and hurting her sister are the cost. Drew has to decide if she’s truly willing to pay that cost or not.

Notes: This is one of the “Scenarios” books by this author. It’s a “choose your own ending” book. She leads the character to a climax and you decide which choice the character makes and turn to the correct page to read the ending based on what you thought the character should do. The lesson of the book is focused on considering the cost before you jump too far into the popularity scene. There are two points in the book where a godly role model uses Scripture and prayer to point out what the right choice is. Most of the book is focused on the obvious negative consequences of the character’s choice, but those two scenes are very well done and add a lot to the book.

Recommendation Scale: 4.5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

1 Peter 3:3-4 – Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.