Samantha McGregor has a rare "gift", she has vividly real dreams and visions. She must be careful who she tells because it seems most people assume the worst in her "gift". But, if she does not share her "gift" how else will she be able to help her friend Kayla?
Published by
Multnomah August 15, 2006/256 pages
Price for paperback from publisher $12.99 and ebook is available
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781590526927 I could not find the book available @ Christian Book site but I did find the eBook version for $8.99:
http://www.christianbook.com/bad-connection-ebook-melody-carlson/9780307562364/pd/10968EB?item_code=WW&netp_id=854395&event=ESRCN&view=detailsAuthors website:
http://www.melodycarlson.com/An excerpt from Bad Connection:
http://www.melodycarlson.com/BadConnection-chap.pdfBad Connection is Book #1
Book #2 Payback
Book #3 Beyond Reach
Book #4 Playing With Fire
Bad Connection begins with a heart racing adrenaline rush experience of a car crash. Almost 17 year old Samantha wonders how to put the pieces together of her experience as well as how to understand her mysterious "gift". The recent death of her dad, her mother's long hours at work, and her older brother Zach's penchant for trouble, has Samantha's home life lacking in peacefulness. At school she has a few close friends, but far from an active social life. She outwardly displays her Christian beliefs, most respect her. She is wise beyond her years, a thinker, an observer. She has the ability to perceive other peoples feelings and problems.
Samantha's friend Kayla has disappeared. Samantha cannot shake the horrible feeling that something has happened to
Bad Connection (The Secret Life Samantha McGregor) Melody Carlson
I don't read much Christian fiction and many of the Christian fiction readers that I work with don't want anything supernatural or fantasy because it conflicts with how they practice their faith--to the point where I've had long conversations saying that yes, it was OK for a Christian school to assign
The Chronicles of Narnia. (It's about Jesus! I promise!)
So, imagine my surprise when I find out that Samantha McGregor is about a girl who receives visions of the future from God. Both Carlson (via author note) and Samantha (via text) are very careful to say that she is NOT psychic and that these visions are from God, complete with scriptural text to provide back-up that it could happen.
In this book, Samantha's friend has gone missing. She's run away before, but Samantha has seen visions to lead her to believe that this isn't a case Kayla running away from home, that something much more sinister is going on. Samantha can't control the visions and doesn't necessarily want the burden of such a gift, but maybe she can use them to help save her friend.
I'm always a little wary of Christian fiction because I've been really turned off with some explorations of faith in that "all people who don't agree with my view on religion are fundamentally evil, evil people and will all go to Hell. The End." (
Left Behind, I'm looking at you) Also, I just have a lot of general angst about being non-Christian in a rather Christian environment. But, I really enjoyed Carlson's very personal (to the character) approach in the way religion was dealt with in how each character approaches his or her faith (or lack thereof). Samantha and her more religious friends got some good-natured ribbing for praying at lunch, but in general their faith was respected, and, at the same time, Samantha didn't condemn those around her who didn't believe. This makes the book much more realistic (at least in my experience with my very observant friends).
The mystery/adventure was also very enjoyable completely separate from the religious aspects, but I loved the explorations of Samantha's struggles with her gifts, and with God for giving them to her/saddling her with them.
Book Provided by... my library
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Melody Carlson is quite the name in Christian fiction. With over two hundred books for teens and adults under her belt, most readers of this genre have at least heard of her books, if not read several of them (or bunches, as I have). This new series for teens, The Carter House Girls, is bound to be just as successful as her other series have been, if not more so, due to the updated societal aspects that have been thrown in.
Mixed Bags, the first title in the new series, introduces the readers to the girls residing in the Carter boarding house. Mrs. Carter is a former 60’s fashion icon and plans to run the boarding house as somewhat of an etiquette school for well-off girls. Her granddaughter, DJ, already resides in the home and is very much not what her grandmother wished for in a granddaughter. When the other girls begin showing up, loaded down with Prada purses and Louis Vuitton luggage, DJ can only hope she will make a friend or two.
As the girls get to know each other, their quirks come out and with more than one snob in the mix, things are bound to get interesting. Friendships form, as do dating relationships (not to mention those expected love/hate relationships) and life at the Carter House takes off.
I was a little worried that I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy this book as much as Carlson’s others, for the simple reason of all the “rich girl” stuff thrown in. I am not a fan of The Hills, can’t even afford a knock-off bag, let alone a real one, and my sunglasses come from the lovely racks at Walmart. The plot, however, definitely lends more to the relational aspects of the girls, making this a pretty good start to the series. My only complaint is that the concept of Christianity doesn’t make it into the book until the last quarter.
Stealing Bradford, book 2, puts boy/girl dating relationships front and center. Everyone in the Carter House is dating someone, except spoiled rotten Taylor. When she finds out that Rhiannon is dating the most popular jock in school, a fellow Christian, Taylor decides to steal Bradford away from Rhiannon, leaving a big mess in her wake. More than one girl gets her feelings hurt and Taylor brings upon a reputation she never expected.
This title includes a lot of the same product talk as Mixed Bags, though now that DJ is also a Christian, along with Rhiannon, more of the Lord comes through. Carlson’s books are great for getting the Lord’s message across to teen girls and without that aspect, the book would definitely fall flat. Realistic situations are used to describe what the Carter House girls go through and their reactions and manners of dealing with issues are, for the most part, true to life.
Fans of Carlson’s True Colors series will definitely enjoy these!
It's time to move the clocks back - Daylight Savings Time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday. For anyone who has trouble keeping track of time, and for those who sometimes wonder about the hours of the day, we recommend Kevin Jackson's delightful anthology of historical and literary facts, poems and prose, observations and jokes. The Book of Hours could not be more timely than it is this weekend. Published in a beautiful, hardbound gift book format, this entertaining volume will tell you everything you need to know about every hour of the day.
Melody Carlson is terrific.
My thing about Christian fiction; as a Catholic, I don't want fic that has that moment where I'm told Catholics aren't Christian/ aren't doing it right.
There was a romance I read a few years ago, when I was on my Love Comes Softly kick (tho only the first few books were good, IMHO) were I read one that I enjoyed where the girl inherited a bar/maybe brothel in the old west. Let me see if I can find it.
I haven't read this, but I've had it around...
You know some CHristians like the really out there supernatural stuff as long as it's framed as spiritual warfare. (I don't like this stuff so much)
Liz, I totally get that and while not Catholic that stuff annoys me too. Have you read Claudia Mair Burney or Lisa Samson? Both are former evangelicals now Catholic.