Customer Reviews

Catholic, Reluctantly (John Paul 2 High School)

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Interesting plot, good character development, not preachy but the message is discernable. I previewed this before giving it to my older children and it held my interest from start to finish. There are enough surprises along the way that it's not your typical predictable teen book. As far as popular Catholic fiction goes, this book tends to be more realistic and balanced than others. It's gotten a thumbs up from my teens who have read it too. They appreciate a modern story about Catholic kids who are normal and not in their face offering pious advice on every page. It's refreshing to see realistic teen dialogue that isn't weighed down with doctrine, but that can impart a Catholic perspective on everyday experiences.

Catholic Reluctantly is the first installment in the highly anticipated "John Paul 2 High" teen fiction series by Christian Frank. Set in and around a struggling start-up Catholic high school, the book features a unique cast of characters each finding his or her own way to live out their faith as a teen. The book is aimed at a youth audience, but this 44 year old mom couldn't put it down once I started it!

Christian Frank has a great ability to capture the voices and emotions of the teens and to weave a great story. The JP 2 students, each coming from a unique set of circumstances, find themselves at a start-up school in a ramshackle building that's struggling to pass inspection in order to stay open. Some of the kids are enthusiastic about their new Catholic high school, but others feel as though they've been banished to this crazy place. Frank crafts a great story that introduces us to this appealing cast of kids and their varying perspectives. Celia, the principal's daughter, is an eternal optimist. Allie, the recent public school transfer, misses her old friends and wavers with her commitment to seeking the Truth. George would rather be at a larger school that would enable him to pursue his love of wrestling and ultimately finds a way to make things work. These are real kids with real issues, and their characters are explored in way that is uplifting and inspiring.

The plot of the story involves a great mystery and several twists and turns that will keep the reader glued to the book until the end, which ultimately leaves the door wide open for a great sequel. While the book features Catholic characters and topics, it is never overly pious or preachy and should appeal to any young person (or even older ones!) looking for compelling characters and a good storyline.

I'm looking forward to sharing this book with my teenage sons and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a thought provoking read. I'll also be the first in line to buy the next installment of the John Paul 2 High School series!

My 15 year old son DEVOURED this book in a day and was thrilled with it. He, too, is looking forward to the next books in the series.

The title says "Catholic, Reluctantly," but the book's content says, "Catholic, Absolutely."

It's about time that a novel, let alone a SERIES, appeared in the teen market revolving around the institution that is the Holy Roman Catholic Church. The refreshing thing about this novel is that it's not afraid to show its love of the Church.

Yet there's no preachiness: The author lets the characters tell the story and interact on their own merit, rather than trying to build the characters around a given theme (a Catholic school has opened) and telling the reader what the characters think. Instead, the kids are reading-and-reacting on the run to the school's opening, similar to a wrestler slithering for an escape (2 points) after being beaten on an initial takedown by his opponent.

The author is letting the characters develop on their own and is recording things as if he or she were behind them, filming it all with an 8mm video camera. None of the kids were quoting Scripture left and right, which would have given it a preachy feel present in other Christian teen novels.

There was a nice balance of dialogue and exposition. Too much exposition weighs it down and too much dialogue makes it another fluffy teen drama. But, like George Peterson's wrestling ability, there's a nice balance and combination of moves in this book. There's some loose plot ends which will be continued later on.

Even though I am 24, I still read teen novels sometimes to see how authors develop characters. There are seven stock characters here: The jock (George), the popular blonde (Allie), the jokester (J.P), the pure good girl (Celia), the moody emo kid (Kosalinski), the serioius intellectual (Brian Burke) and another jock (Liz).

Yet each is sufficiently developed that none of them are actually stereotypical.

The strongest character in here is either George or Allie, the school's resident Next Top Model. I'd like to see if J.P. will get a serious side. A subtle character change in Liz sets us up for good foreshadowing. I liked the development of Burke into a tough, small, scrappy kid. I would've liked to see him develop as a wrestler. Maybe make him awesome like Rocky, but then have his ego get big and have him be humbled. I'd like to see if Liz becomes a superstar athlete.

Kosalinski and Getz are prototypical antagonists, but Kosalinski is interesting enough that there's some potential for change. He needs to find happiness. Getz is just evil, but Mahoney and some of his friends seem like good kids. I'd like to see the good, pure Celia develop a dark side someday. :) George and Allie are good, yet flawed heroes. I hope none of the characters die off and I'd love to follow them through their senior year, unlike Ann M. Martin's Babysitters Club series, which had all of its characters in the 7th and 8th grade during that series' 14-year run.

In real life, charter schools usually have at least 20 to 60 students as a start up program. There's not much else to criticize, however.

(As far as I know, the Allie Weaver situation has not happened on a large-scale basis like actual shootings like Columbine, but the actual plot premise there is VERY creative and clever. Terrorists can create as much harm psychologically to their intended populace in some situations without having to fire a shot)

What's interesting in terms of plotting and development with these novels is that I could see them creating their own universe, similar to the Jan Karon series (Mitford) or the Katherine Valentine (A Miracle for St. Cecilia) series, where there's tons and tons of characters in a fictional town and each one is interlocked tightly with each other in one way or another. There could be an untapped market for Catholic teen models, especially if they're hooked up with the tons and tons of Life Teen programs at parishes across the U.S.

As I'm reading this book for the second time I'm starting to develop my own plot lines for the 7 characters.

I hope the next set of JP2H are as good as this one. Unlike the book's title, however, I won't read it reluctantly.

I'll read it absolutely.

Excellent! The plot is well crafted, the characters are such that teens can relate to them, and the issues are dealt with in a way that is real and sensible, but not preachy. I highly recommend this book to Catholic teens, and encourage Catholic educators to introduce this to their students.

Makes for a great birthday or Christmas gift!

Meet Allie Weaver, the intended victim of a random act of violence at her public school. To make sure that she is safe, her mother is sending her to a new Catholic school, "John Paul II High." To say that this school is small is an understatement. There are seven students enrolled and the school is always on the verge of being condemned. Not to mention that each day starts with saying the Rosary and ends with the Divine Mercy Chaplet. This is a far cry from the world Allie was used to and still wants to belong to.

George Peterson used to attend St. Agnes, a much larger and well-known Catholic school, before transferring to JPII. He is intrigued by the new girl, but wrestling is his first priority. He jumps at the chance to wrestle for the local public school, and brings fellow classmate Brian along as well. It just so happens that Allie's boyfriend Tyler is on the same team. This sets up a clash of cultures and a battle for the girl.

"Catholic Reluctantly" is the first in what is hoped to be a long-running series of books focused on John Paul II high. Editor Regina Doman (Waking Rose, The Angel in the Waters) is working with a group of talented young writers to bring young Catholics books about people like them. Christian M. Frank has done a great job with this one! The story is engaging and interesting and leaves you wanting more. I, for one, am looking forward to the next installment.

by Christian M. Frank
312 pages
A shy new girl in school would not usually have to fight off new friends, unless, like Allie, in Catholic Reluctantly, you go to John Paul 2 High, with only 6 students. Such was the misfortune the pretty blonde teen who was forced by her mother into the fledgling school, after a terrifying incident with a gunman in public school. In her first encounter with her fellow students, she overhears them talking about a "psycho kid" in the hallways, only to be followed by having whipped cream sprayed in her face by an unseen attacker in the girl's room. Allie assumes that her fellow students think she is a mental case after her incident with the gunman, and have decided to humiliate her. After this dismal beginning, it takes the other students of John Paul 2 High a long time to gain Allie's confidence. Then there is the strange Catholicity of the school. They pray the rosary before school and something called the "Divine Mercy Chaplet" after the day has ended. Allie can't wait to escape from this strange place into the familiarity of her boyfriend's car.
Handsome athlete George Peterson, however, has his eye on Allie, and as he tries to fit in as the new member of the public school wrestling team, George discovers how little respect Allie's boyfriend Tyler has for her, and struggles with the decision on whether or not to tell her what he is really like. He is afraid that his growing affection for Allie might meet with her scorn.
Author Christian Frank understands the minds of today's Catholic teens and the six main characters, who run the gamut from on fire members of the JPII generation, from judgmental zealots, and shy former homeschoolers, to worldly young women like Allie. Puzzled by her encounter with these strange young Catholics, and faced with new ideas, about the faith she only practiced at Christmastime, Allie doesn't know what to think about the strange kids at the tiny school. "Catholicism, Truth. It was hard to talk about things like this--it was using muscles she'd never used before". At first, she is put off by their straightforward class discussions; they are convinced that the truth can be found, and that it isn't relative. Soon the truth begins to pursue her, and open her mind to different ways of thinking about what love is, and isn't. The "Truth Guy" as Allie has learned, from a poem read in her English class, has a way of tripping you up in your former ideas of right and wrong, making life more complicated, and beautiful.

If the theme of "Catholic Reluctantly" is to show Allie's conversion from typical teen to a teen in pursuit of the Truth, it is done with subtlety and with likeable, believable characters. Nothing happens in this story which couldn't happen in any high school in America. The overly-zealous, heavy handed Catholic is not the hero of this story; it is the quietly charitable Catholics who only seek confrontation when no other means will do. There was a bit more detail about high school wrestling than I would have liked; perhaps this was aimed at attracting young men.
No inappropriate material, though there is some reference to pornographic magazines, it is dealt with in a Catholic manner. Relationships are examined in the light of Catholic teaching which makes "Catholic Reluctantly" the perfect book for those who enjoy contemporary Catholic fiction with a purpose.
This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Catholic, Reluctantly.

As a soon-to-be parent, as well as an aunt to a teenager, I'm interested in what kids could be reading. This series, featuring students at a very small Catholic high school, is great for both girls and boys. The situations the students find themselves in are fairly realistic, and they follow their Catholic teaching when they need to figure out solutions to their problems. I'm looking forward to see where the JP2 kids go next!

At 14 and being Catholic it's hard to find good book that aren't sappy and filled with sins of impurity and many other things, one should not be reading. This book was perfectly enthralling and so interesting through out the book. Reading the whole series, I can't wait until all the other books come out!

I received this book for my birthday, and I loved it! The characters are realistic (the ex-public school girl, Allie, the super-sweet Celia, and the practical joker, JP--my favorite, as well as many others) and the plot draws you in. A gun scare, wrestling, a dance, evangelization, and a poltergeist all play a part in the book...and man are the practical jokes great!

However, definitely buy this and the sequel at once. As soon as you finish this book, you will want to pick up the next one (I still haven't read the next book, but I can safely assume that it will be great as well!)

This book is good for ages 13+, and both boys and girls will relate to it as the two main protagonists are George and Allie.