Customer Reviews

Asking for Trouble (London Confidential)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My 14-year-old daughter is an avid reader. If she's not interesting in a story line, she won't finish the book but move onto a more engaging one. She has loved Sandra Byrd's books in the past, so when I heard about her new series, I had to get them! I bought the first two books, "Asking for Trouble" and "Through Thick & Thin" for my daughter for her birthday. She devoured them! I couldn't get her to stop reading at night and go to bed as she just couldn't wait to read what happened next. I know we'll be buying the next in the series as soon as they come out!

My daughter's personal feedback is: "When I started reading the book "Asking For Trouble" I was captivated. The way Sandra wrote the book kept me wondering what was happening next. This book made me want to visit London for myself. I understood Savvy's problems and agreed with some of the characters, which kept me interested throughout it all. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who is a tween/teen girl."

My girls and I just finished reading this book and found it to be charming. It captures the struggles of obstacles or what we deem to be "set backs" in our life and focuses on the positive. I love the perspective a girl whose faith is tested and gained.

In this story 15-year old Savvy is forced to move from America to London, England. She struggles with the conflicts a move of distance creates in any young person's life...the search for new friends and the feelings of lonliness for the ones left behind.

While Savvy has her heart set on working for the school newspaper, she ends of delivering them instead, but soon learns budget cuts could disolve the school newspaper. She enters a contest to write for an advice column. It is here she leans on her Christian Faith in finding the answers for her readers, as well as those in her own life.

In my teen years I read lots of Sweet Valley High books. I don't think there's anything wrong with them, but I do wish I had known of books like these! I would have gotten so much more out of them, along with just having fun reading. I would have been more encouraged to read of other teen girls praying and studying their Bible. I did have encouragement in other ways, but my reading material could have been better.

Asking for Trouble is definitely geared towards teen/tween readers, but I had fun reading it, too. I don't like when authors "dumb down" their writing for young adult books. I guess I've gotten to the age where I just can't tolerate those books. Sandra does such a wonderful job of capturing the voice of a teenager without without making me feel too old! ;)

Savvy is such a lovable character! She doesn't always do the right thing immediately, but she does come through. And, I love that Sandra wrote her parents likable, too. So many times in teen books, parents just aren't what they should be.

If I had a teen/tween daughter, I wouldn't hesitate to buy these books for her! Asking for Trouble was a wonderfully sweet, encouraging book, and it's my favorite Christian Teen book I've read so far!

I have read this, and the second book in the series, "Through Thick and Thin," and both are great reads. I could feel Savvy's pain as she struggled to adjust to a new area and tried to make new friends. Enjoyable for the target age, as well as for someone older looking for some easy, lighthearted reading. I highly recommend this series!

I so enjoyed Sandra's let them eat cake series and when I heard about the new series (London Confidential) I had to read them - even though I am a few years older than the whole YA thing... (um... old enough that its not polite to ask) The new series are really fun books and its hard to put them down. I read "Asking for Trouble" on Thursday and the next (Thick & Thin) on Friday! Characters are well written and Savvy goes through what most teens do... Trying to find her 'look' and friendship and learning to look for Gods path instead of relying on her own. Great series! Also, I am now ready for a trip to London and some shopping!

As a 17-year-old girl, I urge you not to be put off by the 9 - 12 age recommendation. I throughly enjoyed every book in this series, despite the age gap between myself and the recommended age group. This book centers around a 15-year-old girl named Savvy who has recently moved to London with her parents and sister. The feel of the book is very authentic. The family's feisty British landlady, the village in which they reside, Savvy's school, and the rest of the characters all will easily have you believing you've been swept away to London. Savvy is a very likable character, and her out-of-place situation and attempts to fit into her new home are things many readers can identify with. The lessons Savvy learns are important, not just to her situations, but to our lives as well. All in all, Asking for Trouble is a great read for all ages, and definitely a book I'd recommend.

Asking for Trouble was given to me by Tyndale Publishing House to review for their site.
I handed to book over to my teenage daughter to read. She liked it. It's still hard to say how she really feels about the book being that she is a young lady of few words. I will say though that if she truly didn't like it, she'd say so. So I guess her saying it was good means that she'd probably read the next book that'll be coming out in the series.

Review by Jill Williamson

Savvy Smith and her family recently moved to England to live. Savvy misses her best friend from Seattle. She's trying to make new friends in London, but it seems no one has room for a new friend in their life, especially a weird American.

An opportunity arises for Savvy to work at the school newspaper. She has always wanted to be a journalist and she hopes this might be a way to make some friends. She applies for the position, but her lack of experience makes her a paperboy instead of columnist. If only she could find a way to prove that she is a good writer. But how?

Sandra Byrd always tells a good story. I love her Friends for a Season books, so I was excited to read her new series. Asking for Trouble did not disappoint. I enjoyed Savvy's character, how she thought things out and how she struggled to understand all the differences in British culture and language. Sandra did a great job with her British accents and lingo in the other character's dialogue. It was fun to read. I also liked Savvy's determination and drive to make her own future, rather than mope about what she didn't have or try to follow someone else. This was a fun read that made you think and I highly recommend it.

Stop that plane! I MUST go to London after reading this book! Teen anglophiles will unite after picking up these books. Seriously, I so envy Savvy and her new life. Sandra Byrd made me drool after reading her Lexi Stuart series. Now I want to talk with a British accent and have a cuppa tea with scones and Devonshire cream.

Savvy is my type of girl. Seriously I loved reading about her. Even though she's an American transplant, she doesn't act obnoxiously or try to compare everything to American stuff. While she wants to fit in, she doesn't go out of her way to get into the in crowd or become popular. She just wants to find her niche. I loved how she had to go through several trial runs before finding it and how the teachers would be relieved when she said she wasn't coming back. The newspaper story is handled very well and even though I think that advice columns are a bit passe, I liked Savvy's approach to it.

I want a Fishcoteque pub near me! First off, Savvy's mom is super cool to just let her go there after school on her own (in a new country no less). Second, the food sounds absolutely delish (I'm totally craving some fish and chips right now). Third, the place is described as being a really fun, yet safe hangout that you can go and grab great food and chill with your laptop. And it's British! What more could you possibly want? Fishcoteque is one of the best hangouts I've read in a YA book this year.

I honestly have no complaints about this book. It was really fun to read and allowed me to travel to somewhere I've always wanted to go to in my life. I really like how Savvy is mature enough to explore places on her own, yet still respects her family and gets along very well with her parents. Their search for a church is quite funny as I can relate to the same ordeal with my parents about trying to see where we would finally fit in. It's really nice to know that even in a different country and culture that there are lots of things that are still the same. Ok, I take it back as there is one tiny little detail I had a problem with. I'm not quite sure why this book is marketed towards 8-12 year olds. It's more of a 11-15 year old targeted range if anything. Other than that little quibble, I LOVED this book and I cannot wait to read the rest in the series. Oh...London is calling...

This was such a fun and enjoyable read! Of course, anything by Sandra Byrd is just fabulous anyway...whether it's adult or YA fiction.

This book had me wanting to go to London just like Sandra's French Twist series had me wanting to go to Paris. This book is full of British lingo, which I think is something a lot of Americans find rather interesting simply because it's different...I know I do. :) I loved learning a bit more about the food, and that there are ways that you don't address the Queen. The theatre scene with Savvy and her mom and sister was informative, too, and apparently, not much has changed since Shakespeare's lifetime in regard to theatre houses and their patrons...very interesting little tidbit since my hubby is a theatre buff.

Asking for Trouble had a lot of life lessons for anyone regardless of age--the biggest ones being friendliness and honesty. Savvy had a lot thrown at her all at once, especially a whole new culture change from America to London. Add to that the often impossible task of making new friends as a teenager, and you've got a book that shows we all have things in common as we try to navigate our own social circles. But she persevered through it all, including the uphill battle of trying to make it onto the newspaper staff at her school.

I'm so glad that book 2 in this series, Through Thick and Thin, was released right along with Asking for Trouble. I've got to get on the ball to get my next British book fix from Sandra Byrd! Cheerio!