Book Review #73 - The Secret Journal of Brett Colton

I am not a kind judge to YA literature. I am especially unkind to LDS YA literature. After being told that I would cry, which I heavily suspected was untrue, I read this sweet book about a brother who dies and leaves his journal for his much younger sister to read when she's in high school.

There were things I liked. I loved how the mean girl character, you know, the popular, cute cheerleader who everyone is really afraid of, was LDS. I appreciated the author allowing an LDS character to be flawed, and not just because they've sinned. I also liked how the narrator, who is not LDS, has parents who are very wary of mormons for their missionary efforts. We're always told not to worry about coming off as crusaders wanting to baptize all our friends if we talk about the gospel with our friends, but this girl's parents see her LDS boyfriends as doing exactly that.

Those bits of realism aside, both Brett Colton (dead brother) and star quarterback and all around perfect guy, Jason West, are most definitely not real. At least, they didn't feel real. I certainly didn't know any male in high school that was THAT sensitive, THAT open, THAT thoughtful, THAT well rounded. I'm not being sexist. I didn't know any female that had all of those qualities either. Jason West, and his perfection, ruined this sweet story for me.

That's me, 34 year-old book snob, talking, though. I'm sure I'd be excited if my own boys liked this book when they become teenagers. It's clean, uplifting, and touching. It's just not very well written. So...that's a toss up.