Today, I am reviewing White Picket Fences, by Susan Meissner, published by Waterbrook.
Book description:
When the storybook-perfect Janvier family temporarily "adopts" their teen aged niece, Tally, they assume they'll be helping her. But when Tally befriends her cousin, Chase, she soon realizes that he badly needs encouragement, too. When the troubled teens interview two holocaust survivors for a sociology project, will they trigger the healing process that everybody needs?
My thoughts: 
I really enjoyed this book. The author takes a story to show how a family can suffer from bottling everything up, and pretending everything is fine, when it isn't. There is Chase, the teenage boy who has nightmares about a fire he survived as a small child. And his parents, who refuse to talk about the fire, or the troubles in their marriage.
I was a bit disappointed in the Christian content of the book - God didn't play into much of the story, and there were a few instances of words being used that I feel have no place in a Christian book: God's name being taken in vain, "hell" being used as an expletive, and "ass" being used as an expletive, but that is not the norm for books from Waterbrook, so hopefully those just slipped past the editors.
Overall, the plot is very interesting to follow, and the characters seem very real and likable. Thanks to Waterbrook, I have a copy of White Picket Fences to give away.
The Giveaway:
To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. You must live in the US to enter. I will pick a winner by random drawing ten days from today, November 19. If you cannot be contacted through your blog, email me at marcus802001@yahoo.com, and you may also email me to enter if you do not have a blogger account - I will make a comment with your entry.
White Picket Fences is available at randomhouse.com.
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group
Monday, November 9, 2009
White Picket Fences, by Susan Meissner, and a Giveaway
Posted by Mark at 12:05 AM
Labels: Book Review, Christian fiction, Giveaways
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9 comments:
It sounds like a good read, though the spiritual content may not be there. Thanks for the heads up. (I often read nonChristian authors too, so a few words don't bother me much...but it does bother me much more in Christian books. I feel they should have a higher standard, but sometimes I guess it's appropriate.)
Email entry for Karen K
This sounds interesting. I like books that show Christian families aren't necessarily perfect.
I'd love to read this! Thanks for the candid review...
Posted at Winning Readings: http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2009/11/white-picket-fences.html
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
This sounds so good. I have been wanting to try reading one of her books. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
I would love to win a copy of this book. It sounds like a great read.
wmmahaney(at)att(dot)net
Ooooooooohhhhhh, sounds intriguing. I'd love to read this, hope I win.
Please enter me!! This book sounds AWESOME!!! Thanks for hosting!
Mollydawn1981 at aol dot com
Hi Mark.
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