Ciao on the Runway

I decide to pray specifically. I ask God to help Paige not to do anything regrettable. I ask God to help my mom do her job to best of her ability. And then I ask God to use me as a buffer if needed. I hope I’m dead wrong, but I believe tomorrow has the potential to go totally sideways on all of us.

Book: Ciao by Melody Carlson, Zondervan Publishers, 2010

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls

Subjects: Fashion, dating relationships, sex before marriage, relationship with family

Summary: Dylan and Paige’s engagement is on shaky ground thanks to Eliza and Paige has plans for revenge. Erin just hopes her sister doesn’t do anything completely foolish. On The Runway is scheduled to hit both New York and Milan soon, but the girls are concerned that their mom will be too much of a mother to be a good director. When she’s not worrying about the show and her sister, Erin is trying to figure out how to respond to Blake’s new job – starring in a reality tv show himself – about blind dates! Erin seriously thought she was ready to make more of a commitment to Blake and now he’s dating other girls as a career – and expecting her to come on his show and do the same! When Erin discovers evidence that Dylan may truly not be ready to be faithful to her sister she has to figure out how to respond in a way that her sister will listen to. In between all these worries, Erin is still caring for Fran as she undergoes a transplant and trying to help Mollie recover from postpartum depression.

Notes: Just like the others in the On The Runway series, much more is taught about fashion than faith. Erin is a Christian and mentions praying a few times in this book, even specifically taking note that she needs to pray before making a decision at one point. However, the moral lessons taught are not from a Biblical perspective, just logical. Erin tries to convince Paige to not have sex before marriage and the reason given is that it will hurt more if they betray you, not because it’s wrong of breaks God’s standards. And who to date or whether or not to date or when to date is based on feelings, rather than on what she believes God wants from her life. This is the last book in the series. It ended without much of any resolution about anything – just both girls recognizing the value in their relationship as sisters. None of the unbelievers were witnessed to or become Christians, nothing was resolved about the show and nothing was resolved in any of the potential relationships.

Recommendation Scale: 2/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and discipline.