Reviewer: Cierra Loften

I want to start off by saying how utterly adorable this book was. Wooten did an excellent job of creating a character, Nessie, who is so relatable, funny, and authentic. I feel so sad that she's not an actual human being because I'd love to have her in my circle of friends. For the cover, I will give 10 points because I can tell the cover artists spent some time detailing it. It's cute, simple, and gives the reader a general insight into the plot of the story. For the characters, I will give a rating of 8. This young adult novel is only about 200 pages, so I understand that it would be fairly difficult to drag on and on about the backstories of each character, and the author did do a good job of developing the main characters in general. However, I wish that I had learned a little more about Nessie's family life, including her parents (who are rarely mentioned). The plot deserves 10 points due to the fact that it was mostly clear, easy to understand, and a quick read that has exciting adventure, sweet romances, and a witty protagonist. Style wise, I'll offer 6 points. Nessie does have the habit of getting lost in her thoughts (both past and present) quite often, which adds to her funny appeal as a character, though during the more serious moments, I wish the author would have cut back on that just a tad bit. There were also a few typos and sections where I had to go back and re-read to gain better clarity on. On the addictiveness scale, 6 brings in the cake, yet again. I enjoyed it while it was in my hands, though I never found myself itching to pick it back up again after putting it down. Content wise, Nessie gets an 8. Wooten did a fantastic job of keeping Jesus as the center of the novel and, through her characters, she never comes off as preachy (which is a thing every author should avoid, especially for young adult readers). I was inspired by Nessie's story and her struggles and journey with her faith made her all the more believable. All in all, Nessie Out of Water receives a 4 star rating from me.

Reviewer: Ofilya Silver-Lanuza

Math Troubles was a cute book fit for any pre-teen. Even though the book was written with a teenager audience in mind, I personally thought it was better suited for the preteen demographic (9-12).  The book had both a light-hearted and meaningful approach to it. Unfortunately, the book seemed to have many grammatical errors throughout. However, Math Troubles will be interesting to read from a younger perspective, portraying the challenges of school, friends and family...situations and obstacles anyone can relate to.

Reviewer: Carol A. Brown

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Usually this statement is at the end of a review, but I need to state it here because of the statements I make in the review. This is my honest review!

First of all, this story has some good bones.

The couples in the story have real issues that will resonate with many readers: addictions (gambling, alcohol, and promiscuity), as well as being blind to one’s own tendency to judge others behaviors.

Characters are drawn well enough that you can “see” them and have empathy for them. A group of college age couples living the life of “the young and stupid” who struggle to transition into responsible? adults.

Secondly, there is some good storytelling in this book. The story line is very believable. Where I have an issue is with the technical aspects, the crafting of sentences, transitions, and how the pieces of the story are put together, for example:

Page 3 – 7 indentations from the bottom – There’s something wrong with this sentence.... “We’ll have to hit of the mountain after lunch.” ???  Might it possibly be, “We’ll have to get off the mountain after lunch”? This is only one example of this kind of problem.

Another issue I had with sentences was the amount of extra words. I used to teach English language. I would have returned this kind of a paper without grading it and instructed the student to “tighten up the sentences and to take out the “fluff.” This was a problem throughout the book; so much so that it was distracting for this reader.

My next issue is one of character inconsistency.

Page 20 – There is an inconsistency in the depiction of a character here—“Piper’s group headed to Rambo” you had just said that Piper was not as good a skier and so they were not doing Rambo, but going on an intermediate slope. Also Piper and Chase were doing that without the group.

Page 22 – Here Nick is the evangelist—when and how did this happen? Up to this point Piper has been worried he may be an alcoholic! This is too sudden of a change...makes him look schizoid flipping from a carnal Christian to an evangelist without warning.

If both pictures are true about the character, there needs to be more of a transition so the reader is able to see the character as flawed but honestly, sincerely working to overcome his flaw. It is possible that this could have been caught in editing for plot if that kind of edit was done.

This same kind of thing happened at the end of the book. I had formed a picture of Piper’s family as basically loving and stable, but at the end there is suddenly a picture of the family piling on Piper in a negative way...the kind that tempts you to want never to go to a family event ever again! She had made comments throughout the story about her family “not believing” her spiritual experiences but there wasn’t enough story evidence to help the reader get the picture until toward the end of the book. At that same family event we see a different side to Piper’s father that had not even been hinted at. The reader wonders, “Where did that come from!”

I came away from reading not quite sure what the author’s purpose was...what main message was being communicated. That was not as clear as it could have been.

Would I recommend it? Mmmm, possibly, if the potential reader needed to see how someone could be Christian and have character flaws and yet have spiritual experiences! Our God takes us where we are and helps us overcome. Some of us who struggle with various issues need to see that we can emerge victorious. But I would caution the reader that they would need to overlook the technical difficulties.

Reviewer: Michelle Dennis Evans

This is a sweet story about 14-year-old Bethany who is in a terrible car accident killing both her parents. With a severely broken leg, Bethany is unable to dance. At times the characters seemed older than 14 and some of the conversations didn’t ring true to a teenager – this could be because they were rich ballerinas and possibly more mature than the average teen. Great book for teens to see through Bethany’s eyes, what it might be like to lose everything valuable to you. Her grief journey shows the wide range of highs and lows that are very real when someone close to you dies.

Reviewer: Janis Cox

A fascinating story using the historical references of  William Lyon Mackenzie and the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Mary has made that time in history come alive by creating real characters and having them work through their emotions regarding their decisions of whether to join in the rebellion or not. Well written. Fast-paced. A great read.