Preparing Your Teens for College by Alex Chediak

Preparing Your Teens for College by Alex Chediak is a book that I wondered if I would enjoy or relate to. My children range from young teens to pre-teens, and college seems like a lifetime away!

Well, as I read this book, I realized it is much more than preparing your kids for college, I think it's preparing them for LIFE! This book is full of wonderful ideas and suggestions for parents to help their children thrive and remain true to Christ throughout their early adulthood, college in particular.

There were segments on friends, finances, faith, responsibility, and many more. Great practical suggestions interspersed with lots of stories illustrating the topics and ideas. Things like encouraging Christian friendships and interconnections. Like staying away from financial irresponsbilities. Like doing your schoolwork as unto the Lord. Many, many great ideas.

I guess for me, it is a book that illuminates areas in which I need to be purposeful in these teen years. I always say that our goal with our children is to raise responsible adults, and this book is a helpful tool in that quest.

I would certainly recommend this book, I think it'll be helpful to a wide range of parents.

I received a copy from the pubilsher in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Undetected by Dee Henderson

Undetected by Dee Henderson was a GREAT book to read for fun! :) It is a romance with a predictable (and happy!) ending and it had a lot of science in it that made it even more interesting!!

The main characters of this book are a brilliant scientist and a submarine captain. They do what they do to keep the navy and its personnel safe. The scientist is looking for a husband and the captain for a wife, but they do not think each other would fill the slot (not until later).

It's a story that illustrates good character in men and women. It teaches a bit about submarine life, sonar, and related technologies (or technological possibilities/imaginations). It's a love story, though one-sided for quite awhile. It's a Christian story, clean and encouraging.

I really enjoyed this book. I have not read books by this author before, but after reading this one I will certainly look for more by her! I would recommend this book -- it is a nice long, interesting, enjoyable read!

I received this book for free from Bethany House publishers for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Out of the Depths by E and D Harrell

Out of the Depths is a book about the USS Indianapolis, its sinking, and its survivors. It's the story told by a Marine survivor, Mr. Harrell. It's a book about World War 2 and the horrors of war.

I did not really care for this book. I don't so much like reading about war, yet I tried this book, so take my review with a grain of salt :) My husband enjoys WW2 history and enjoyed this book. Truthfully I didn't even care for the writing style of the book -- I thought it seemed more like reading a transcript of someone's verbally telling their story to an audience, it was a bit choppy and just not what I would call well-written.

If you enjoy WW2 History, you might like to check this book out. It is another telling of the story of the Indianapolis, some of the things that perhaps led up to its tragedy, the horrific end to many of its servicemen, the amazing survival of some of them, the perhaps unjust treatment of some of them after survival, and more.

I did read this book in Kindle form, and there were many issues with that which made the book very difficult to read, hopefully by the time the book is officially released these issues will have been fixed.

I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert

A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Kate Ganshert is a book about a lot of different things. It is the story of a girl who has lived superficially, as a model for 10 years, who is now faced with a new direction for her life/career. Ivy, the main character, seems to have a great life on the outside, but as the story progresses, she is seen to be a girl without connections, without love, without hope. Her family is all messed up, and her place/connection is as well. I don't want to give too much away, but suffice it to say that all is not well in her life :).

She goes to live with her biological father's wife and work with her on a special project. While involved in this, she faces many decisions and challenges, spiritual and emotional. As I read the book, I felt more and more hopeless where the main character was concerned. Near the end she gave her life to Christ, and begins to live with hope. Read the book, it's really not as abrupt as that may sound :)

One of the segments/themes that I enjoyed in the book was when Ivy confronted another character as he has stated that God would forgive her. She responded, how could God forgive me when He can't forgive you? You see, this other character was living a life of self-punishment for things that he had done in his past; he wasn't living according to the words that he gave Ivy. HE also needed to understand that God forgave him also.

Is it a good book? Yes. Is it an easy, fluffy summer read? no. BUT don't let that stop you!! :) It's an enjoyable book, with several good messages to share/illustrate for our lives as well.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Life Behind the Wall by Robert Elmer

Great historical fiction book for teens/tweens! The book Life Behind the Wall by Robert Elmer is a collection of three different books, intertwined, connected by family and location. The books focus on young teens and their lives in East Berlin, just as the Wall was built, during the time that the Wall was up and around, and during the time that the Wall came down.

It shows the desperation, the poor living conditions, the unfairness of life in one sector versus the other. It shows ideas, and heroism, courageous "regular" people, and their struggles.

I don't want to give too much information about the plots -- they are interesting and interconnected. I will say that my teenaged daughter has enjoyed these books as well as me! :) They are easy to read, clean, informative, and just a good story. There is suspense, fear, sadness, discouragement, hope, and so many other ups and downs.

I will give away a smidgen and tell you that it has a happy ending :) (haha, we all know the Wall came down, but more than that. . .) -- I DO enjoy books with happy endings :)

I would recommend this book, not just for teens/tweens, but for adults as well! My husband is next in line to read this and I'm guessing he will love it. If you like historic fiction, you'll probably like this, but it's pretty recent, too, so if you're not into history, give it a try and I think you'll find that you like it as well!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.