On My Own

It’s like I’m not even me anymore. What happened to that Caitlin O’Connor who was always on the go, always thinking she could do anything, go anywhere, ready to change the world? I just don’t get it. Oh, I suppose I could pretend to be like the old me, especially if, say, my old friends happened to stop by unexpectedly (like that’ll ever happen!). But I’m not even sure I could pull that off. It’s as if something in me is broken and I don’t know how to fix it.

Book:Diary of a Teenage Girl Series, Caitlin #4: On My Own by Melody Carlson, Multnomah Publishers, 2002

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 13-19

Subjects: Dating Relationships, Sex, Evangelism, Friendship, Sexual abuse, College

Summary: Can you say “homesick”? Caitlin is downright miserable! No one told her college would be like this! Away from all of her friends and family and support, stuck with the worst roommate in the history of the world, and wrestling (again) with her feelings for a certain someone… she just wants to go home! But God obviously has plans for Caitlin, including reaching out to someone suffering from sexual abuse that was done by a religious figure, turning her off to Christianity and filling her with anger towards everyone. Just as she starts to think she’s got some things under control though, Josh pops a shocking question on her that leaves her reeling!

Notes: Becoming me is the fourth in the Diary Of A Teenage Girl – Caitlin series. There are 4 separate series in the Diary Of A Teenage Girl sets. This one tells the story of a girl growing up in a semi-Christian, at least religious, home. It starts her story right in the middle of high school and leads her through quite a few challenging situations. Through the course of the first book Caitlin finds out more about Jesus Christ and is able to put her trust in Him for salvation. She also makes some decisions about not having sex before marriage and not dating. Most of all it just shows an ordinary teenage girl facing things that many many many other teenage girls face and shows how she learns to turn to Christ to figure out how to deal with them. I highly recommend the five books in the Caitlin set of the series. In this book Caitlin is now a freshman in college. There are two really big issues dealt with in this book. One if how does God expect someone to go to love the unlovable? Caitlin's roommate gives her a long list of reasons to not bother, but God seems to keep drawing Caitlin back again. The other issue is letting anything come between you and your relationship with God. (SPOILER ALERT) Josh asks Caitlin for a sort of pre-engagement commitment. Being in love with him she accepts, but strongly feels it is wrong and has to let go of her dream of being with him in order to do what she feels God is leading her towards.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Matthew 10:37 – "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;