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Growing Pains; Kendras Dairies is the first book in the series chronicling the journey of Kendra Foster from adolescence to adulthood. I aspire to encourage, entertain, and inspire young adults. Life has its ups and downs, its bumps and its bruises. But with perseverance, determination, and faith you can be all you were born to be. Never Give Up!
ruthhill74
Posted August 5, 2012
I will begin by saying that I am not a true young adult book fan, but the book description sounded okay so I thought I would give it a go. All too often, YA books are filled with bad language, sex, drugs, and much more. I understand why the books are written that way, but I do get tired of those kinds of stories.
What an absolutely pleasant surprise this book was! It was simply written from the perspective of Kendra. In fact, it read much like a diary or journal from her perspective. She is a typical eighth grader in the 1980's (I could so relate!). She lives in New Orleans (before Hurricane Katrina), and she attends a parochial school. She is the typical girl who wants to go steady with a cute guy, wants to be a cheerleader, and looks forward to high school. Her story is straightforward and delightful.
Don't be deceived. Not everything works out for Kendra. In addition to her normal adolescent struggles, her family has struggles. Some are unexpected, and there are those struggles that are completely unexpected. But isn't that life?
The best part about the book is that there is absolutely no profanity and no sex! This was so refreshing to read a clean young adult book! And the characters actually had morals--go figure!
Something else I really appreciated was how Kendra prayed to God. While I am not calling this a religious book, much of the story happens in a Catholic school, and Kendra is a good Catholic. She shoots up simple prayers to God at difficult times in her life and times when she really would like a miracle to happen. And I love her faith in those times. It reminds me that being real with God is a good thing! And Kendra does that.
K.P. Smith is an author I absolutely adore! Her characterization and plot are simple but well-written. I highly recommend this book and hope that she writes more installments in Kendra's stories in the years to come!
I was set a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated in any way, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
A teen who changes and grows, and a story that grows with her
Kendra knows her family’s short of money but she wants new clothes for church. She wishes her parents would replace a sofa because it’s getting too old. And she eats three donuts at once! Okay, she’s not the sort of teenager I knew growing up, and if this is what girls are like I’m glad I only have boys. But… Kendra really does grow on you.
Kendra’s diaries by K.P. Smith gives a fascinating insight into life in New Orleans, where black’s a shade and some shades might be too dark, where going to the right school depends as much on money as academic skill, where fathers don’t necessarily live with mothers, and where getting onto the cheerleading squad might be the best thing that’s ever happened.
Kendra struggles with a desire to fit in, a longing for friends, a crush on a boy, and the fact that her parents, who seem to rely on her for lots of cooking and housework, are always arguing. Soon she’s helping them keep secrets from each other, trying to juggle new friendships and old, and balancing dreams with real life’s disappointments. Like I said, she grows on you. This novel lets you share the highs and lows of Kendra’s last year in Junior High, the joy of expectations achieved, the bitter disappointment of hope turned sour, and the genuine friendship of some genuinely nice kids who just might include those she always tried to look down on.
In the end, despite myself, I really enjoyed this book and hope there’ll be more. The lessons in seeing ourselves as others see us, in coping with trials, and in striving to be true to yourself are well-portrayed, and the whole junior high school experience comes to vivid life.
Disclosure: I received a free ecopy of this novel in exchange for my honest review as part of a Lightning Book Promotions tour.
This book is about an 13 year old girl and her life in 8th grade. She lives in New Orleans and goes to private school. Her life is no different then the average 8th grader. It has the fighting family members, stresses of work and school and the sometimes pain of a younger sibling. It also has watching football with dad, shopping with mom and hanging out with friends.
The story had some sad moments, but on the whole is a positive look at a young girl's life. It's definitely something I would let my daughter read. Well written and tastefully done.
Because the book ends at the beginning of Kendra's freshman year in high school I can see this becoming a series for young girls. Even though I'm an adult I would enjoy reading more about Kendra in the future.
I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.
In this coming of age novel, Kendra is literally seeing blue as she has to deal with very mature issues at a very young age. Everything around her seems to be falling apart as the stress of a home on the border of domestic violence weighs on her heart, all while the pressures to perform and excel in school take their toll.
The beauty of this book is that it shows that children absorb everything around them even if you don't want them to. When we stress, we stress them. The only thing is, adults don't often take the time to really think about the impact of their trials on their children. Imagine being in a place where you feel truly helpless, no one wants to talk to you, and you have to figure things out that frustrate you? Imagine not being able to truly take control of anything in your life and wondering if God even hears you? Kendra feels all of this and still tries to roll through life and stay afloat. We all were Kendra at one point. The stories may have been different, but the tribulations are certainly relatable. There were a few editing concerns but this still is a great recommended read for young adult readers.
Reviewed by:
Nikkea Smithers
RWA Bookclub President
Kendra is dealing with several struggles in her life. As an 8th grader, she has a big transition coming up. She has to go to a different school for high school. She wants to go to The Academy, but it's expensive. The only way she would be able to go is if she gets a scholarship. She also is going to try out for cheerleader. In 6th grade she had something really embarrassing happen at tryouts and chickened out in 7th grade. She was hoping that this would be her year. Her mom had some excellent advice for her: "Don't be a quitter. Life will bring about many difficult situations and the last thing you want to do is start quitting when things get hard. This is a painful, but important lesson for you to learn. The choice is yours. That is the most important lesson for you to learn from this life. Life is about choices and we have to live with the consequences of the choices we make." P.16 The other struggle is with her parents. It's very hard to grow up in a house where the parents are constantly at each other over money. Kendra's younger sister Patrice wondered why mom and dad fight so much. Kendra was finding out things about her family situation that she might have rather not known. Her mom was trying to do better things for the family, but in order to do it she was keeping things from her husband. She also overheard her grandma and grandpa talking about things that they didn't know she was hearing. I know I am kind of going off the main story here, but when Kendra was talking about the school secretary she described her as the typical one who is in her 50's, and has dark brown hair that is in a bun. She has thick horn rimmed glasses that sat on her nose and had an outfit on that looked like it was from the 60's. Now I am a school secretary and totally do not look like that and hope I never do! Anyway, Kendra's best friend was Katrina, but things started changing between them when they were not involved in the same activities. Kendra envies her friend Katrina's life. She thinks her life is perfect. She finds out that maybe her life just isn't as bad as she thinks. Kendra may not have had things in her life happen the way she had hoped, but in the end, they didn't turn out too bad. I really enjoyed reading this story. In life there are so many struggles to deal with, but communicating with each other is a big way to get through it. Keeping things from others is not the way to go. The only thing that this will do is cause more trouble. You keep something from someone because you are afraid if they find out, they will be mad. Well, they will be more mad if you hide something from them because when they do find it, not only will they be mad about what you were hiding, but they will be mad that you lied in the first place. Not only did K.P. Smith write an excellent story, but she really brought up some important issues in this book. You have to keep your chin up. You can't let life get you down. You may think that you have the worst things happen to you and a terrible life, but things will work out in the end. God never gives you more than you can handle. The story drew me in from the very beginning and kept me hooked until the end. K.P. Smith has an excellent way of writing that just flows so well. In the entire book I did not find anything that I felt could have been written any better. The editing was perfect. I felt like I rea
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Overview
Growing Pains; Kendras Dairies is the first book in the series chronicling the journey of Kendra Foster from adolescence to adulthood. I aspire to encourage, entertain, and inspire young adults. Life has its ups and downs, its bumps and its bruises. But with perseverance, determination, and faith you can be all you were born to be. Never Give Up!