53753

From the start, something about this book rubbed me the wrong way. At first I thought it was just the religion angle, which seemed forced in many of the short stories, but it's more than that.

In fact, the problem is that all the main characters in these stories are jerks. I understand they're teenagers, but even those who are supposed to be religious and helping everyone around them (even to their detriment, as in the first story) come off as petty and self-involved to annoyance. Now, some of them are supposed to be that way, like the girl in "London Fog" who realizes there are people worse off than she is and her complaints are minor in the grand scheme. However, most of them are supposed to be these good Christian kids, but instead use God as the only reason they are good. Most of them just rang false to me.

Adding this one to my Little Free Library in the hope that a teenager finds use of the stories contained within, maybe learning something about themselves or how not to be. ( )