Bad New Girl In Town & Spiked

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Well, apparently I failed to identify all the various genres when creating my database. There's Sports Fiction too. I gotta admit, not being a sports fan, these are hard to read! I get lost in all the technical terms and game descriptions! The other genre that deserves it's own category is Manga. The stories could be another genre, but it's kind of hard to label today's story realistic fiction when the artwork is anything but realistic. The story line definitely is, just not the art. So two new genres today: Manga & Sport Fiction

#1 - Bad New Girl In Town, Art by Min Kwon, Created by Buzz Dixon, Original Character Designs by Drigz Abrot, Realbuzz Studios, a division of Barbour Publishing, 2005
Bad Girl in Town (Serenity)
Genre: Manga/Realistic Fiction
Target Audience: Girls 13-18
Subject: Outreach to non-believers, Friendships, Dating Relationships
Summary: Blue haired, cussing, skimpy dressing Serenity is the new girl in town. And she's determined to hate every minute of it. If she had her way, she'd be expelled the first day. But she has some competition. The Prayer Club is determined to win her to Christ. Well... at least most of them are. When she starts flirting with Kimberly's boyfriend, Kimberly's ready to dump the whole idea. Will the Prayer Club be able to break through Serenity's toughness and show her how much God truly loves her? Or will Serenity's attitude push everyone away?
Notes: If you enjoy Manga/Comic Books and that sort of thing, you will probably enjoy this story. The exaggerated graphics, the simplicity of the story, the humor in it, they work together to make it a quite enjoyable story. This is the first in the Serenity series.
Recommendation Scale: 3.5

#2 - Spiked by Stephen D. Smith with Lise Caldwell, Standard Publishing, 2006
Spiked (Game on for Girls)
Genre: Sports Fiction
Target Audience: Girls 13-15
Subject: Competition, Relationships with Parents, Friendships
Summary: Volleyball means everything - absolutely everything to Katie. She's team captain and is planning on playing professionaly when she graduates. However, that passion for the game gets her into some tight spots when she loses patience with those not taking it as seriously as her. Yelling at team members isn't the most effective way to build relationships. So when someone takes advantage of a secret told during Truth or Dare and uses it against her, Katie isn't sure which one did it. All she knows is that multiple people have reasons to dislike her and someone got revenge. Now she's off the volleyball team, her parents don't trust her, and she can't hang out with her best friend.
Notes: There is a strong theme of building trust with parents running through this book. Katie makes one mistake, but a major one, and because her brother lied about it, they assume both children have been lying for quite some time. Now when Katie is framed, they're certain they can't trust her. They get desperate in their actions - taking away her phone, guarding her e-mails, denying opportunities for socializing, all in an attempt to keep her away from anyone or anything that might cause her to drink alcohol again. This book is the first in the Game On! series - a focus on young athletes overcoming obstacles.
Recommendation Scale: 3

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