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Becoming Me (2000)

Becoming Me (2000)

Book Info

Genre
Rating
3.92 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
1576737357 (ISBN13: 9781576737354)
Language
English
Publisher
multnomah books

About book Becoming Me (2000)

If you have ever wondered what the average high school girl would write about in her diary, then look no further than Melody Carlson's, Diary of A Teenage Girl, Becoming Me. The reader is taken into the diary of Caitin O'Connor, a sixteen-year old Junior in high school dealing with all the things a typical girl would and chronicles her journey in a diary.From what it's like with her best friend Beanie, who has been with her through thick and thin, dealing with a father who was addicted to cocaine and subsequently left her and her mother, Beanie is the friend, who Caitlin believes will always be there for her. Until she wonders what it would be like to hang out with the popular kids. When Caitlin is involved with Jenny Lambert, cheerleader and the most popular girl in school, during a honor society task for decorating for the Valentine's day dance, Caitlin, soon discovers that life on the other side isn't always greener. Choosing to ignore her friend Beanie, rather than risk introducing her to the popular group she is now a part of, she finds life is a whole lot different.When Caitlin is invited to a birthday party of Heather's boyfriend and her parents agree to let her go, simply because she is attending it with Jenny, she finds out that the parents aren't home and alcohol is now flowing. Even though she knows better than to drink at the party, fearing what may happen to her if her parents find out, she nonetheless agrees to let Jenny driver her home, after Jenny swears she's fine to drive. She writes that even her parents have cautioned her against under age drinking, she tells that no one told her how to avoid what to do when a friend is drunk and you have no way home.I received this book compliments of Glass Roads Public Relations for my honest review and think that both parents and teens should read this book together. It definitely gives parents an idea from a teen's perspective on what they think and what is important in their lives growing up in high school. It provides an outlet that parents and their teens can open discussions up to what they can do when faced with any of this situations and create a more open communication with their kids. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know what is going on with our kids today and what they are thinking.

ATTENTION!!! I'm adding this paragraph to the beginning of my review because I just read some other reviews. Everyone seems to think the book was "preachy." This, my friends, is called a-feeling-of-guilt-or-uneasiness-when-one-is-shown-how-similar-they-are-to-a-character-who-isn't-Christian. You read about Caitlin pointing out her own faults, realize you are the same way, and decide you don't want to hear about it. This book makes you THINK, and seeing your faults is good. If you take one look at it and say it's preachy, well, then you probably need to hear what Caitlin has to say.I think this is my favorite series. One Sunday in December, it snowed so much that my church was cancelled. So, I needed to do something with my time. My sister said I could borrow Becoming Me from her, and it looked interesting, so I figured I'd start it. ...And finish it on the same day. Happiness is hot chocolate and a good book. Happierness is hot chocolate with cinnamon and a Melody Carlson novel. But happiestness is hot chocolate with cinnamon and vanilla, AND a book from the Diary of a Teenage Girl Series. There you have it, lesson #1 in Sandy Crow's Book of Wisdom. This proved to be a very worthwhile Christian book. At first it seems like it's just going to be another book in which Christianity plays a small part, but only in the beginning, before Caitlyn becomes a Christian. Her life up until that point is just as important as the rest - it helps the reader see the changes that go on in Caitlyn, and the "new man" she is in Christ can be seen more clearly when compared to her old self.I would recommend it for any Christian teen. However, I had one problem with it. One of the themes in this book is personal convictions. And in one of Caitlin's entries, she decides that God wants her to abstain from sex until marriage. She calls it a personal conviction.Okay, now I have no problem with the virginity vow itself. But she shares her "personal conviction" with the youth group, and the message in the book is that this is pretty much something between you and God. Basically, that God calls some people to obey it, and others are off the hook.But besides that one issue, it is a really good book. The second one, It's My Life, is even better, and I haven't currently read Who I Am yet.

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I loved this book. I picked it up at the library and almost put it back until I saw it had christian stuff in it. Then I was like "heck yes I'll read it!" Because I'm a christian and a believer in Jesus. So... it's written to be like a diary of a sixteen year old girl named Catlin. She is struggling to fit in with the popular kids in school. So she starts to put on an act, and pretends she's something she's not just so everyone will like her. Then when her parents start to get into marriage problems she stars getting into trouble at parties and other things. Then a friend invites her to a church youth group. She learns about Jesus and she finally accepts the Lord into her heart. Suddenly drastic changes start happening in her life. Her parents get back together. And she is filled with peace and joy. She decides she doesn't need to act for the kids at school any more. And she is more happy that way. But not everything is fixed... her best friend is having a major problem with her boyfriend and sex. Also Catlin is having trouble with deciding if it's a good idea to date or not. I think this was an awesome book for teen girls and I think every one should read it.(Of course OLDER teenage girls. I'm 14 and I think even I was a bit too young for this.)*GOOD*It shows Catlin in the situation a lot of teens are in these days. It shows how Catlin was able to fix problems and over come sadness and trial. It also tells about how much she was changed by Jesus and how happy it made her. It has good morals and I learned A LOT from this book. It totally changed my POV about dating and sex. I think every teenage girl should read this. But I would not recommend any one 15 or under should read it. *BAD*There was a lot of descriptions of kissing. There were parts were Catlin was at parties with teens drinking alcohol and doing drugs. There was a lot of parts that talk about sex out of marriage.(Although it has this stuff in it, it does show it as sin. And it also shows the consequences for it all later. And how Catlin was able to get through it all with Jesus.)It was written in a special type to make it look as if it was hand written. And the type made it difficult to read.
—Lindsey

This is the perfect book I have always wanted to read! It made me realize that it is a lot more easier to fulfill your promises to yourself by committing yourself to God. :) It made me see how God can make a wonderful impact in our lives by directing us in the right direction, if only we listen to His still, small voice. It's a wonderful feeling to have read another book that narrates how God can make miracles, be it big or small, in one's life. With God, you can truly have the strength to do things that you wouldn't have thought possible before. As Philippians 4:13 goes, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."This is another book that a lot of teenagers could definitely relate with, and probably change a whole lot of their perspective in life, that earthly things are really nothing compared with God for instance.I also love Caitlin's poem for her Dad! It was so thoughtful of her! I was really touched that it actually made me teary-eyed. :')
—Jenelle Morena

Caitlin O'Connor is invisible, at least she feels that way until she is noticed by Jenny, one of the "in crowd" girls. After Jenny befriends Caitlin, she finds that her old best friend doesn't seem to fit in with this new crowd and she starts avoiding her. Big mistake! Caitlin finds out that hanging with the in crowd is much harder than just being herself, there is so much pressure, worrying about what to wear, and if certain people are noticing you (aka boys) the pressure is fierce. Her grades slip, her whole world becomes all about her. And when she finally slows down, she realizes her family is in crisis. Her dad is not coming home, and her mom is crying a lot. A visit to her dad's office reveals there is another woman. OH my word, how does this happen to a family who attends church each week? Caitlin is so angry with her father, all his advise about dating and boys just is filed away as garbage, after all, he is not being true to his marriage vows why should she listen to him? Boys, that is a whole other issue, it would seem her friend Jenny's boyfriend is noticing Caitlin way too much, which is causing issues, and it is bad because Caitlin really likes him. A ski trip with his church youth group finds Caitlin being used, and she doesn't like that, it is time to get serious about life, she cannot go on this way. A new church, and a new youth group is turning out to be the answers she needs, but tragedy strikes in the form of a school shooting, costing the new youth pastor his life. Will everything ever go back to normal? A great book about the issues teens deal with. This book really addresses the deep things concerning dating, relationships and sex. A good read for all teen girls. 4 stars!This book was provided for review purposes only by Glass Roads Media Group, no payment was received for this review.
—Cindy

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