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It's a Green Thing (Diary of a Teenage Girl: Maya, Book 2)

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It's A Green Thing: Diary of a Teenage Girl By Melody Carlson
My Review: Although I got in on this series in book two, I still found it to be enjoyable. There was a little background I would have liked, but the main points were filled in for me.

Maya is a teenage girl who longs for a "normal" life. I imagine it would be odd to think that anyone would want a normal life rather than be the daughter of a music idol, but when that part of your life also had you attached to an addict mother...normal might sound pretty good.

Maya is a new Christian and is fortunate to have a mentor named Caitlin who Maya can turn to with her questions. I loved this for many reasons. I think all new Christians should have a mentor for those questions that pop up. Weekly meetings with someone who can kind of direct you to the right scriptures and just be an ear to your struggles rocks. I wish I had that as a teen. Caitlin's advise seems to be very spot on.

The only thing that felt wrong to me was when Maya discussed Amanda and Brooke, two Christian girls who helped out doing a mural project. There were things that the girls said that offended Maya. Caitlin at one point told her that "Sometimes it seems that the Christians with the smallest faith have the biggest mouths." I objected to this in my mind as an adult. Because although I knew girls who talked a lot like Amanda and Brooke when I was a teen, I also know that they did have great faith, they just did not have the social skills to know how and when to discuss their faith. They were children who just plain did not have the skills to share. I had a neighbor who was a wonderful and giving Christian, but she had no tact whatsoever. Even though the statement said "it seems," it came across to me as very blanket. I do know that there is truth in that statement as well...it just left me conflicted when thinking of a teen who could read this and get a message that they couldn't fully understand.

Enough of that, really it was a small thing. It was nice seeing Maya develop in her faith. She also had a relationship that she was coming to terms with, and I am really glad that we got to see her conflict with getting too physical with Dominic. Melody Carlson really seemed to depict a lot of the confusion that goes on. It feels great at first, but afterward you are filled with questions and often awkward silence.

There are so many wonderful parts to this story, and one of the last I'll touch on was Maya's green tips. They were great! We are very environmentally conscious at my home, and I think it is awesome to have a book that can support that to a reader!

All in all, I really quite liked this book! I cannot wait to read more about Maya and get into the other books in the Diary of a Teenage Girl series.

The Diary of Teenage Girl series is, in my opinion, one of the best series out there for teens, Christian or not. There have been four girls spotlighted throughout the series and each has been different yet enjoyable to read. Some girls I've liked more than others and I will have to say that Maya's series is my favorite. I like Maya because she asks the questions that challenge Christians who think they know everything and isn't afraid of what others might think of her. In this book Maya feels that she's starting to become a normal teenager and is able to escape the jumbled life she used to live.

I really liked Maya's reactions to the Christian girls from her youth group. I have felt that Amanda and Brooke represent a good deal of real Christians teens who are two faced. They act like they are the perfect Christians while they are at church but then in real life they condemn everyone but back down when challenged. They also seem to throw themselves at boys a lot. I've experienced this treatment myself and the way Maya reacted was realistic. If she had just immediately forgiven the girls and let them walk over her, I would have been very disappointed in this book and would stop reading. However, she challenges them, gets irritated and tries to seek justice for the wrongs they caused. I really liked the way that everything got worked out involving the incident between Brooke and Maya. It's not neat and tidy and obviously Brooke needs to work on her attitude but it's an ending that I can accept because it's not sugar coated with fake Christianity. Also the situations with her and her boyfriend were handled tastefully and realistically as well.

Throughout the book Maya shares tips on saving the planet. Maya's green tips are great and I've tried several of them myself (although the tip about the car and not using the air conditioner or even opening the windows won't really work during summer). They really make you think about saving the environment but they are not trying to push an agenda. The only thing I would have liked would have been a response from Caitlyn to Maya's questions about being green and being vegan. It would have just been interesting to see what she would have to say or what most Christians think about that subject. This series is a favorite of mine and I'm looking forward to the rest of Maya's adventures.

Melody Carlson hits the mark again with the second installment in her Diary of a Teenage Girl series featuring Maya Stark, who was introduced to readers in A NOT-SO-SIMPLE LIFE. Maya's new adventure is to live a normal life, and in this current offering, IT'S A GREEN THING, this lovable fresh-to-Christianity teen is bursting over with questions and concerns on how to live the faith life with moral and ethical standards. To top off her inner probing, Maya also tries to find balance between going "green" to the extreme and adjusting her pre-conceived theories about how to best use and take care of our environment. She explores both her newfound faith tenets and the actual living out of them with equal zeal.

Maya wisely takes time to consistently meet with her youth pastor's wife, Caitlin, who offers Maya much insight into how to pair truth with life. Caitlin is not only a great mentor to Maya, she's young enough (and cool enough) to really get where Maya is coming from. But the best attribute Caitlin brings to Maya is abject honesty. Caitlin admits many Christians fail miserably to live and speak and think as Jesus taught, and it's no wonder that the glaring disjoint between the two confuses and discourages Maya.

As Maya adjusts to living with her widowed uncle Allen and cousin Kim, she tries to be as independent as possible realizing they are still dealing with the grief of losing a wife and mom. So Maya gets involved in a community art project where she takes issue with her friend Marissa as they discuss life and faith, partying and relationships. Soon, though, these minor differences don't even cast a shadow in comparison to the injury resulting in a bogus lawsuit by fellow churchgoing Christian Brooke Marshall. It's unbelievable that Brooke could and would lie about her fall and then blame it on Maya. Then again, once these teens found out that Maya's father is a famous pop star, it made way more sense.

As Maya figures out how to forgive Brooke, she is also trying to determine the ins and outs of having a boyfriend and all the unspoken rules of dating. It doesn't take long before the physical part of the relationship has both Maya and Dominic struggling on multiple levels, and once again Maya goes to Caitlin for counsel and advice. Circumstances continue to edge up the not-so-normal life of Maya as she takes on newspaper column writing on environmental concerns. With these three challenges, Maya is learning how much her faith fits into the entire scheme of life, and though she still feels unsure about some of the details of her future (and her relationships), she is absolutely confident that God will stick with her all the way.

As a bonus for readers, Melody Carlson includes Maya's Green Tip of the Day at the close of every chapter. Each of these tips is practical, enlightening and easy to put into practice.

--- Reviewed by Michele Howe

Review by Jill Williamson

In honor of Earth Day, I thought I'd post the second book in the new Maya, Diary of a Teenage Girl series, since Maya is way into all things green.

Maya Stark is finally beginning to feel like a normal teenager. She's enjoying summer vacation with her uncle and cousin and getting involved in the community. One of her new projects is to paint a mural on the wall of a kids center. Maya organizes a bunch of volunteers, but is frustrated with the way the Christian girls are treating the non Christian kids. Maya isn't positive, but aren't Christians supposed to love everyone? If so, then what's up with these girls?

One of the troublemakers falls from a ladder. Maya is really concerned, but the girl gets up and says she's fine. A few days later, however, Maya hears about the lawsuit. The girl's family is suing the kid's center and Maya. Maya just can't figure out why a Christian would do something like this. She feels bad that the girl got hurt, but she was goofing around and not listening. She brought this on herself.

Maya gets a job at a clothing store, starts dating a really great guy, gets her own car, and starts writing a green column for her uncle's newspaper. But all this great stuff is diffused by the lawsuit. Can Maya learn how to forgive a girl she hates?

Maya is a wonderful character. I love her. She is totally into everything green and earth friendly. She is a new Christian, and is asking a lot of great questions about the behavior she sees in other Christians. She has some struggles, but because she is smart and knows what she wants out of life, she finds the right answers. This book was fun and entertaining and really made me want to recycle. Highly recommended.

It's a Green Thing: Diary of a Teenage Girl, by Melody Carlson, is a wonderful book for teens. This novel is about the main character, Maya Stark, who has parents that have not always been there fo her. However, things are looking up for Melody. Summer vacation is here, along with a new job, a new boyfriend and a new car.

Maya is devoted to "being green" and is given the opportunity of a life-time. Can she be a Christian and still be able to keep her commitments? Get your copy now. This is a great read!

Written in the form of a diary, this Christian teen novel will delight teenage girls. The protagonist, Maya, is a modern day Cinderella. Her alcoholic mother is in prison for possession, while her famous father is touring Europe with his band. She lives with her Uncle Allen and cousin Kim, who are still grieving over the loss of Kim's mother. Although it sounds grim, it's not; rather, it's upbeat and written in a flippant style.

Maya wrestles with some interesting life questions. When the reader first meets her, she's a vegan and an environmentalist. In addition, she tackles dating, forgiveness, premarital sex, and the theme question: Since Christians are told to "love one another," is it okay for one Christian to not like another Christian? Caitlin, one of the youth leaders at church, acts as Maya's mentor and serves as her sounding board.

Because she's deep into recycling, every chapter ends with Maya's Green Tip for the Day. A Readers Group Guide is included. This one is a thumbs up for any teenage girl you know.

At the end of Book #1 we saw Maya Stark's life have a transformation as she her mother was placed into prison for drug charges and her dad on tour , Maya moved in with her Uncle Allen and Cousin Kim and started attending High-School , a real school-the first time since she was 12yrs old. We also saw the influence that Kim and her friends Chloe and Caitlin had on Maya and us readers witnessed Maya's committment to becoming a Christian. In Book #2 It's A Green thing, we read as it's summer time and Maya has put her name down to help paint a mural for the local youth drop-in centre, unfortunately for her the only other person who showed up was Marissa Phillips , who had been sentenced community service hours. Soon the mural with the help of friends becomes a team job, when one of the girls falls off the scaffolding and discovers that Maya's dad is the Famous Nick Stark, her parents decide to sue for damages etc. Soon all the stress starts ti build up on Maya considering that she has enough already to worry about with her mum's appeal coming up and boyfriend issues. Is Maya ready to become a Christian or will her interaction during summer change her mind about the walk as throughout the book we see Caitlin and Maya have some deep discussions about Christianity. However with every negative comes a positive as Maya's Uncle runs the newspaper and offers Maya the chance to write her own Green tips column -hence the title of this book "It's a Green thing" and the second is that her father stops by town and agrees to play at a fundraising concert and even attends church with her on Sunday. Could 70-s-80's rockstar Nick Stark also becoming closer and reunited with God ?