Take A Bow

Lucy circled the ride, scanning all around her, anywhere that a person might wait for someone. No Serena. Maybe she’d gone to the bathroom! But she didn’t come back. Lucy slumped onto one of the benches and squeezed her little Woodstock as she realized what had happened. Serena had deserted her.

Book:Take a Bow (Hidden Diary)by Sandra Byrd, Bethany House Publishers, 2001

(paperback) (e-book of #3-4)  (paperback of #1-4)

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience:  Girls 11-14

Subjects: Friendship, Parent relationships, Prayer, Faith, Fear

Summary: Do what you’re afraid of. That’s the focus of the diary adventure this week. The first try is at the amusement park. Serena is afraid ot the scary rides and Lucy tries to get her to do them anyway. The only thing that accomplishes is nearly destroying their friendship! Attempt number two doesn’t seem to be going much better. Lucy is trying to convince Serena to enter her painting in the art contest. Serena is trying to convince Lucy to play keyboard in her brother’s band for the music contest. Serena once had a teacher tell her that her art was terrible. Lucy once completely froze, forgetting all she had learned while trying to perform on state. Both girls are completely terrified, having promised themselves they would never do this again, and yet they have to in order to fulfill the diary adventure!

Notes: Take A Bow is the fourth in the Hidden Diary series. The series tells of two twelve year old girls on an island for the summer. One is a local, the other has parents doing projects for their jobs while on the island. When the girls find a hidden diary they pledge to read a section a week and do the same kind of adventure the girls from long ago wrote about.

This fourth book is about stretching oneself. Having facing rejection before, neither girl wanted to try sharing her gifts and talents ever again. But at pressure from each other they timidly step out and give it a chance. The spiritual emphasis in this one has both girls getting into their Bibles. Lucy has been praying and attending church, becoming just a little bit more comfortable with God again. But she’s refused to even unwrap the packaging on the Bible her parents gave her. Serena finds her answer in 2 Timothy 1:7 and that gives Lucy the motivation to open her Bible. She finds her answer in Galatians 6:10. Later, when Lucy gets even more nervous and is about to give up, her Dad encourages her to look up 1 Peter 4:11 and that gives her the courage to continue on with it. There is also a discussion about the value of the Bible – is it too outdated to be of help to Lucy? Her mom compares it to the diary – how the two girls in the diary don’t seem any different than she and Serena. Then after both girls find verses that help them know what to do, it reinforces that the Bible is living and active, not outdated and useless.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 4/5

Reviewer:  J:-)mi

 Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.