Mixed Bags (Carter House Girls, Book 1) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Carter House residents of high school aged girls arrive shortly before school starts. With a crazy mix of personalities, pocketbooks, and problems, the girls get acquainted, sharing secrets and shoes and a variety of squabbles.

From the Back Cover

When her mom died, DJ had to move in with her grandmother, internationally famous ’60s fashion model Katherine Carter. Now Mrs. Carter’s opened a boarding home for young ladies, and DJ—who would rather wear her basketball team uniform than haute couture—is just sure they’ll all be unbearable fashion snobs. One by one, the girls arrive and begin to figure out how to fit into this new family, getting to know each other and forming friendships. Sure, there’s an aspiring diva or two, but before long, the Carter House girls are dating, fighting, laughing, shopping, sharing clothes, purses, shoes … and their deepest secrets. DJ may not turn into the perfect little lady her grandmother has in mind, but one thing’s for certain—with all these new “sisters,” her life will never be the same!

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310714885
• ISBN-13: 978-0310714880
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,299 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Melody Carlson has done better, May 10, 2008

By	Ali (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

I have read many books by Melody Carlson from the True Colors, Diary of a Teenage Girl, and Samantha McGregor series and I loved them all. However this book was a disappointment. The plot is rather weak; DJ's decision to become a Christian comes almost completely out of the blue without the period of questioning Carlson's other characters go through. Despite this I did feel some connection to the characters and I finished the book in one sitting, so it held my attention. I would recommend this book for younger teens and as a clean alternative to the many "chick lit" books about young fashion obsessed girls that engage in questionable behavior filling bookstore shelves nowadays.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific YA Christian book with real girls with real problems, June 16, 2008

By	Christina Lockstein "http://christysbookblog.... (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Mixed Bags by Melody Carlson is the first book in the Carter House Girls series. DJ's grandmother, a former supermodel, has opened up her large Victorian home to five other girls in hopes of turning them all into debutantes. DJ is au naturel: no make-up, hair tucked up in a baseball cap, and completely ignorant of designer labels. So sharing her home and even room with girls who look like they stepped off of the pages of Vogue does a number on her self-esteem. Taylor and Eliza and beautifully dressed and self-assured. Kriti is a lovely Indian girl who wants to go far academically. Rhiannon and Casey are Grandma Carter's charity cases. Rhiannon has come to faith in spite of her mother's drug addiction. Casey's parents believe she's in need of an intervention with the safety pins through her eyebrows and Goth style make-up. Throwing all of these girls into one house ensures plenty of drama and clashing personalities. I am thoroughly impressed with Zondervan's willingness to attack real teenage issues head on. Some of these girls are sexually active, one smokes, some drink; these are not your stereotypical Christian fiction teens. They break the rules and each other without a second thought. But Carlson gives each girl a real personality with quirks and failings. We see events primarily though DJ's eyes, and she struggles with figuring out who she is and want she really wants, just like every other real world teen. This promising introduction to the series definitely leaves the reader wanting more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carter House, home to half a dozen fashionably unique teens, July 2, 2008

By	Maria Marino (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Melody Carlson strikes gold with Mixed Bags, her first book in the Carter House Girls teen fiction series. With a refreshing twist she weaves classic teen pressures and predicaments into a contemporary storyline. When six girls, each carrying her own "designer" bag and signature personality live under the same roof, you've got a catwalk showcasing outrageous colour and style. No carbon copies here, but there are preconceived labels that need to be torn off and investigated. All six girls represent a stereotype that resides in every high school. We have Taylor the rich, spoiled, mean diva, the trendy but good-natured Eliza, Asian princess Kriti, angry nice girl turned rebel Casey, Rhiannon the sugar-sweet, goody-good Christian, and DJ the wholesome tomboy.

Carter House, the boarding school run by DJ's fashion icon grandmother is where they meet, share, fight and grow. Stitched between lessons in social grace and eye-catching loveliness are the life-threads that clothe young ladies with character and integrity. Spun together they make more than a fashion statement. Where to draw the line, and take a stand when it comes to drinking, gossiping, envy, revenge, and sex take on real life drama with believable characters and common tempting situations.

What would appear on the surface as a superficial obsession with appearance, Mixed Bags sensitively deals with the teenage paradox of forging one's own identity while desperately longing to fit it. With romance as the key, Mixed Bags unlocks the shackles that immobilize a healthy self-image. Looking your best is not selling out. But being trapped by what you see in the mirror as the measure of your worth comes with an exorbitant price tag. The pay-off for the reader is revealed in the gorgeous truth: true beauty is a reflection of the real you.

This book begs you to keep reading at the turn of every page. The writing is captivating and the characters have depth and dimension. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to start Book 2, Stealing Bradford and check in with the custom-made girls growing up together at Carter House.