Sliced Heather On Toast

China smiled. “I think that’s about to change. By the end of the week I plan to have me some sliced Heather on toast.”

“What’s that?” Joe asked.

“It’s Heather… cut down to bite-sized, humiliated pieces, then swallowed and forgotten as easily as toast for breakfast.”

Book: Sliced Heather On Toast by Lissa Halls Johnson, Focus On The Family, 1994

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 13-18

Subjects: Identity, Friendship, Family Relationships, Revenge

Summary: She’s a missionary kid who fits in… nowhere. Not in Guatemala where her parents serve, not in the United States with the aunt who has a long list of expectations for her, and definitely not on the camp bus with “Queen” Heather, the gorgeous snob who rules the teenage girls at Camp Crazy Bear. China thought maybe going to camp would be fun, but since she refuses to bow down and worship at the throne of Queen Heather, none of the campers dare to befriend her and instead join Heather in attempting to make China’s week miserable. Thankfully there are a few people not under Heather’s control: Magda, the camp cook and DeeDee, the director’s daughter. China thinks maybe she has finally found the place she belongs, but even her two friends can’t stop Heather’s plan to destroy China’s dream of finally fitting in.

Notes: Sliced Heather On Toast is the first in the seven book China Tate series about a tenth grade girl whose parents are missionaries in Guatemala. She has returned to the states to spend a summer with an aunt, hoping to find a place to fit in. She finds her place at Camp Crazy Bear and winds up staying and working in the kitchen for the summer. The series tells of the adventures she has in friendship and learning responsibility.

In this first book, China’s struggle is with a popular rich girl who has decided to hate China. China seeks revenge, only to find out it’s not as pleasant as she thought it would be. But even when she apologizes, the other girl snubs her and eventually even tries to ruin China’s chance to work at camp for the summer as well as her reputation by lying about her. The mentor type character of the series, Magda, the camp cook helps China see that she needs to show love, no matter what Heather does. She explains “When God says we should love a brother, it means we need to treat the with respect. With honor. No matter how they’ve treated us. You’re thinking of honor as Heather does. Looking up to someone as if they’re better than everyone else. That’s not what honor means. It means you see them as another child of God. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get respect and honor and kindness and courtesy in return. But that’s not your responsibility. That’s hers. God won’t ask you if Heather was nice to you. He’ll only ask if you were nice to her.” The other strong theme running through this book is China’s struggle with who she is and where she belongs. She envies Heather at first, seeing her as everything she wants to be. She even tries to not get too close to DeeDee because of the pain of having to leave the closest thing she has gotten to a true friend. She has to learn a few things about her Heavenly Father, His care for her and how things work.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Romans 12:19 – Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.