| Book
Review – Princess |
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by
Staci Stallings
Book review by Tom Gilbert
Put two vastly different personalities
together – one a straight “A” student;
the other a talented basketball player – and
you have the making of an improbable romance. The
tension, the discomfort and the dreams of both
Heather Nolan (the bright academic) and Anthony
Russell (unstoppable star for the Jaguars) create
a sometimes volatile mix.
Staci Stallings has crafted another page-turner
romance aimed at a youth audience. The setting
for "Princess" is college and her story will
resonate with college and high-school students.
It’s
almost a cliché that “jocks” and “geniuses” don’t
mingle. But, when the college hoops star is faced
with getting some educational coaching or being
dropped from the team the administration recognizes
the need for intervention. They pair up Heather
with Anthony and it’s a rocky start, but
an enjoyable ride as we watch both go through
doubts, fears, accomplishments and conflicted
feelings for each other.
There are plenty of twists in the story to keep
you on your toes and the lively dialogue propels
the story from chapter to chapter. I can imagine
the author developed strong feelings for her
story’s protagonists. There’s great
care and detail given to character development.
All good stories are built on strong characters
and Staci Stallings’ talent is evident
in this area.
Bringing the characters to life is important,
but a writer must also get us to care about what
is happening to them. The storyline lets us see
the strengths and weaknesses of the main players,
Heather and Anthony, and has us rooting for them.
Will they be able to develop a relationship that
grows beyond the friendship from helping each
other? And is that what they both want?
There’s a number of interesting, funny
and tension filled scenes. The Athletic Department’s
Halloween masquerade ball has Heather in an unusual
role of being he center of attention. Another
time Anthony teaches the unwilling Heather how
to play basketball. And Heather shows a normally
unorganized Anthony her personally developed
color-coded study method. Plus, a couple of uncomfortable
situations arise –but I won’t spoil
the surprises. The scenes are different enough
from their everyday situations, but not so unbelievable
as to be incredulous. In the end, this makes
for a story with some important lessons. Because
Stallings deftly slides in her moralistic elements
there’s no holier than thou approach and
this is key to reaching an audience wider than “good,
Christian youth”.
As with her previous “Price of Silence” cyber-serial,
readers will are invited to subscribe for email
delivery of “Princess”, delivered in time released segments.
Go here to stacistallings.com for more information.
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Scripture taken from
the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright
© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by
permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are
registered trademarks of International Bible Society.
Use of either trademark for the offering of goods
or services requires the prior written consent of
International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from
the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright
©1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights
reserved.
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