Invincible, by Cecily Anne Paterson

     Invincible is the sequel to Invisible, a book  about a partially deaf middle school girl who is trying to find her way in the world after her father's death.  And while I picked up Invisible quite by accident, I was very much looking forward to reading its sequel.

     Invincible picks up where Invisible left off, although I think it does well as a stand-alone book, as well.  I feel that Cecily Paterson really comes into her own as a novelist with this book.  Even more so than its predecessor, Invincible does a fantastic job of relating the journey of a young girl through the murky waters of adolescence.  It is just as meaningful and entertaining as Sarah Dessen's best works.

     In this installment of Jazmine's story, we see more of the self confidence that she started to develop in Invisible.  But this confidence starts to wear ragged around the edges as Jazmine finds herself trapped in a relationship that is slowly turning from slightly controlling into downright abusive.

     The abusive relationship is a theme that I haven't seen explored much in YA fiction, and particularly at the lower levels as this book is.  But I admire the author for tackling it.  So many of our girls - today and in generations past - get trapped in abusive situations because they can't recognize the signs until they're too emotionally attached to leave.  Either that, or they don't know how to stand up for themselves.  We focus so much on this kind of abuse in the adult world, but it's just as much of a problem in adolescent dating.  And it's rare to find a book that touches on it with so much accuracy.

     A girl reading this book is going to follow Jazmine as she goes through the classic issues of not knowing what to do, of hiding the problem from her friends and family, and finally the awareness that she is worth so much more than what her boyfriend makes her feel.  Her growth from helpless victim to a young lady of confidence and bravery is an inspiration that any girl would benefit from reading.  And as with the prequel, there is nothing in Invincible that would give parents pause.

     This is a book that I will give to my daughter, and I encourage any parent to do the same.  It's eye-opening in a non-preachy, entertaining way.  The topic it covers is too prevalent in our society, and I feel this book should be given the attention that it is due.


     Five out of Five Stars

   

Samantha Sanderson: On the Scene, by Robin Caroll

This is the second book in a middle grades Christian series about Samantha Sanderson, a seventh grade reporter.  I didn’t like the first book because I thought the characters had questionable values.  But I wanted to try this second one because I did like the basic premise.

This book was much better than the first.  I did not have the same issues with values that I did with the first book.  

There were two serious issues here - bullying being the most central to the plot.  As an educator, I’m always interested in books that discuss bullying.  I feel this was handled in a very appropriate way, giving good advice to students who are being bullied.

The second issue was that of whether or not First Amendment rights apply to the staff of a school newspaper.  And while this was also handled in an accurate manner, it may not be very interesting to readers who are not interested in journalism or the law.

The characters are more likable in this installment of the series.  New characters are introduced that make the plot more interesting.  However, the book does start to drag on and become slightly repetitive by the end.  

I’d recommend this book to any middle grades reader, Christian or not.  I do not feel that the Christian portions would be offensive to a non-Christian.  The great discussions of how to handle bullying are hard to find in other middle grades books.  I do, however, urge parents to read and discuss these books with their daughters because of my issues with the morality of the characters in the first book.

Three out of Five Stars

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.