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Payton Skky #4
Sweetest Gift
Payton Skky has finally arrived at college. In no time she's facing the same pressures and stresses most college students face. She's still conflicted about boyfriends, and studies are difficult. But when she is faced with her suitemate's suicide attempt, Payton is jolted back to the basics of her faith. No matter what the pressures of life, she has great worth and value in the eyes of the Lord.
208 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
7 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Perry Moore
135 books173 followersSTEPHANIE PERRY MOORE is the author of many Young Adult Christian fiction titles, including the Payton Skky series, the Laurel Shadrach series, the Perry Skky Jr. series, the Faith Thomas Novelzine series, the Carmen Browne series, and the Beta Gamma Pi series. She is also the co-editor for the impactful BibleZine, REAL. Mrs. Moore speaks with young people across the country, showing them how they can live life fully and do it God's way. Stephanie currently lives in the greater Atlanta area with her husband, Derrick, a former NFL player and author, and their three children. Visit her website at www.stephanieperrymoore.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 18, 2013
AWESOME READ!!!!!!!!
September 19, 2014
Sweetest Gift by Stephanie Perry Moore
Payton Skky Series, Book 4
Payton is now in college. As her first semester started at University of Georgia, she is very nervous and lonely even though her two ex-boyfriends Dakari Graham and Tad Taylor go to the same school. University of Georgia (UGA) has always been a predominant white school. Payton was black. So she feels different and thinks she doesn't fit in. She thinks that she will not be able to make new friends and she also thinks all this ‘going away to college’ was stupid. She desperately wanted to go home. She misses her parents, her girlfriends Lynzi, Diamond, Rain and also her wonderful brother Perry. Payton has always wanted to live her own life, but when that day finally arrives, she finds out it is not easy at all.
Payton is struggling with boy’s issues. She seems to like both Dakari and Tad. Whenever she saw them connecting with another girl, Payton gets jealous even though they're not together. She knows every time she feels this way, it was wrong, and also it is against God’s Will. Peyton and her roommate Laurel Shadrach seem to have a good relationship and they're both Christians.
Payton wanted to go to an historical black college just like her friends Diamond and Rain. She feels like God had let her down whenever she saw Dakari flirting or having a good time with another girl. Can Payton find peace and focus in her life? What does she learn at the end of the day? Should she try to find happiness in a guy of turn to Christ? Find out what really matters to Payton in this sweet story about a girl’s insecurities and the obstacles she faces when away to college, far from family and friends.
Other books by Stephanie Perry Moore:
Staying Pure
Sober Faith
Saved Race
Surrendered Heart
Reviewed by Lunise P.,TAB@DBPL Reader Advisor since 2012.
Payton Skky Series, Book 4
Payton is now in college. As her first semester started at University of Georgia, she is very nervous and lonely even though her two ex-boyfriends Dakari Graham and Tad Taylor go to the same school. University of Georgia (UGA) has always been a predominant white school. Payton was black. So she feels different and thinks she doesn't fit in. She thinks that she will not be able to make new friends and she also thinks all this ‘going away to college’ was stupid. She desperately wanted to go home. She misses her parents, her girlfriends Lynzi, Diamond, Rain and also her wonderful brother Perry. Payton has always wanted to live her own life, but when that day finally arrives, she finds out it is not easy at all.
Payton is struggling with boy’s issues. She seems to like both Dakari and Tad. Whenever she saw them connecting with another girl, Payton gets jealous even though they're not together. She knows every time she feels this way, it was wrong, and also it is against God’s Will. Peyton and her roommate Laurel Shadrach seem to have a good relationship and they're both Christians.
Payton wanted to go to an historical black college just like her friends Diamond and Rain. She feels like God had let her down whenever she saw Dakari flirting or having a good time with another girl. Can Payton find peace and focus in her life? What does she learn at the end of the day? Should she try to find happiness in a guy of turn to Christ? Find out what really matters to Payton in this sweet story about a girl’s insecurities and the obstacles she faces when away to college, far from family and friends.
Other books by Stephanie Perry Moore:
Staying Pure
Sober Faith
Saved Race
Surrendered Heart
Reviewed by Lunise P.,TAB@DBPL Reader Advisor since 2012.
March 7, 2013
This book basically talks about the importance of always being yourself and never changing who you are, no matter where you go and who you meet. Payton must find herself although she goes to a new college, and is becoming a young lady. She faces obstacles such as adjusting to college life, studying correctly, meeting friends- because she is in a new enviorment, reconnecting with her old friends and family, living on campus with her two exes, and just tring to be herself.
February 14, 2008
i recommend everyone to read the payton skky series!
you would love it. It's based on what "us" teens are going threw now! READ THIS BOOK!!!
you would love it. It's based on what "us" teens are going threw now! READ THIS BOOK!!!
December 1, 2008
I loved this book
Read
April 1, 2010Also one of the best books i read
February 20, 2014
Okay so I'm in the beginning of the book still. Am I the only one who believes Payton is being an idiot wanting Tad and Dakari to want her?!
November 23, 2018
I loved all the books in this series
September 3, 2024
Is her transgression a regression? Or have we moved forward none at all?
Oh! How this installment instills a bitter nostalgia. What is college life without the shady freshmen friend groups, the one-off encounters, and the burgeonoing resentment towards high school and college's academic disparities?!
Payton seeks to navigate a new world. Now a freshman at UGA, she wonders where her place of solace will be. Its a challenging task, rife with irritating suitemates and indecisive hearts.
As usual, she is torn between which guy she should be with: Tad or Dakhari? Though I will say the answer is obvious---neither. Payton's jealously and indecision is at its most messy here. She teases, she judges, and verbally assaults anyone who obstructs her way. She at one point is even proud to be at the apex of the triangle. Yet, fixated on superiority, she uses Christ as a guilded sheen over her insecurites.
For instance, in this book she befriends two girls named Shanay and Blake. Initially minor enemies, they connect over shared identities. However, the point of contention between Payton and the two is their interest in both Tad and Dakhari. Shanay in particular is the most aggresive, sharing a steamy kiss with Dakhari on the dancefloor. As a result, Payton gets drunk, feigns interest in a nearby college boy, and then encourages a hit and run while being driven home. She is absolutely awful. Yet has no misgivings about shaming the "loose" women around her.
Again, we return to the faults of the first book. Yet, we are given more of an in-depth look into vile pit of misogyny and purity culture that swirls beneath the series. Shanay makes good points when confronted. Payton relishes in the attention of men around her but considers herself superior for her virginal status. However, she reeks of the same desparation as Dhakari's flock of groupies.
Speaking of Dakhari, why is he still here? And why is Starr Love still here? By the end of the first book, readers are led to believe her story has come to a close. Payton even gets to witness a vulnerable side to her, developing sympathy in the end. Yet book four unravels this. Starr Love is back unabashedly wedging herself between the deeply troubled couple. And now stands as Dakhari's shield against accountability, at least in Payton's mind. According to her, Starr has "ruined" him citing that he was never this ruthless until she came into the picture. I guess it was not his choice to dump Payton for sex elsewhere. Nor was it was his choice to attempt to coerce Payton into sex multiple times. Nor was it his choice transform into a attention grabbing cad that lollygags around campus. Starr is the vixen that rendered a decent man mindless!...Oh please.
The book attempts to critique Payton's confounding obsession with the guy. Her dad lectures on the importance of a woman with standards. Yet it reads less as an emphasis on self-esteem and more as an instruction on how to remain desirable to the male sex. He describes that what drew him to her mom was that she appeared as the "elusive fox" and as a man he sought to capture her, a counter to his feelings for those "fast" girls that were chasing him (Yuck). Here he is confused as to why girls like Payton lie awake thinking of dudes like Dakhari, but perfectly outlines the complex they inherit. The game of being chosen is about numbers. Therefore callous individuals like Payton's ex prove to be prize. If they [a woman] can make him care for them amongst a sea of others, what does it say about their status? Here the author echoes that girls like Payton and Laurel are as rare diamonds, but those who have done research will find that a diamond's rarity is artificial.
If Payton and those around her truly cared about self improvement, less attention would be fixated on partnership, but I have a sneaky feeling that that would not be satisfacrory, that still the sentiment rings true within Christian circles that one is not whole without that "other half" and I don't mean Christ.
I almost thought the book may deviate from this, with Tad moving on, but nope! Oddly hes available to hang out again with Payton towards the end of the book, without any mention of his new companion, Vonda. What a shame.
Honorable mentions:
There was a suicide attempt in this book, but who really cares since not much attention was paid to the character of note anyway. Payton finds Anna in the bathtub, Anna goes to the hospital, and Anna returns ready to find the Lord. Not many words are shared between her and the main character.
Payton meets a character named Drea who dropped out of high school due to pregnancy. All Payton can think about is how pure she is? Did you know she is pure? Did you know her vagina remains untouched?! It is such a great reflection of character! Did ya'll know that?! 😃
Oh! How this installment instills a bitter nostalgia. What is college life without the shady freshmen friend groups, the one-off encounters, and the burgeonoing resentment towards high school and college's academic disparities?!
Payton seeks to navigate a new world. Now a freshman at UGA, she wonders where her place of solace will be. Its a challenging task, rife with irritating suitemates and indecisive hearts.
As usual, she is torn between which guy she should be with: Tad or Dakhari? Though I will say the answer is obvious---neither. Payton's jealously and indecision is at its most messy here. She teases, she judges, and verbally assaults anyone who obstructs her way. She at one point is even proud to be at the apex of the triangle. Yet, fixated on superiority, she uses Christ as a guilded sheen over her insecurites.
For instance, in this book she befriends two girls named Shanay and Blake. Initially minor enemies, they connect over shared identities. However, the point of contention between Payton and the two is their interest in both Tad and Dakhari. Shanay in particular is the most aggresive, sharing a steamy kiss with Dakhari on the dancefloor. As a result, Payton gets drunk, feigns interest in a nearby college boy, and then encourages a hit and run while being driven home. She is absolutely awful. Yet has no misgivings about shaming the "loose" women around her.
Again, we return to the faults of the first book. Yet, we are given more of an in-depth look into vile pit of misogyny and purity culture that swirls beneath the series. Shanay makes good points when confronted. Payton relishes in the attention of men around her but considers herself superior for her virginal status. However, she reeks of the same desparation as Dhakari's flock of groupies.
Speaking of Dakhari, why is he still here? And why is Starr Love still here? By the end of the first book, readers are led to believe her story has come to a close. Payton even gets to witness a vulnerable side to her, developing sympathy in the end. Yet book four unravels this. Starr Love is back unabashedly wedging herself between the deeply troubled couple. And now stands as Dakhari's shield against accountability, at least in Payton's mind. According to her, Starr has "ruined" him citing that he was never this ruthless until she came into the picture. I guess it was not his choice to dump Payton for sex elsewhere. Nor was it was his choice to attempt to coerce Payton into sex multiple times. Nor was it his choice transform into a attention grabbing cad that lollygags around campus. Starr is the vixen that rendered a decent man mindless!...Oh please.
The book attempts to critique Payton's confounding obsession with the guy. Her dad lectures on the importance of a woman with standards. Yet it reads less as an emphasis on self-esteem and more as an instruction on how to remain desirable to the male sex. He describes that what drew him to her mom was that she appeared as the "elusive fox" and as a man he sought to capture her, a counter to his feelings for those "fast" girls that were chasing him (Yuck). Here he is confused as to why girls like Payton lie awake thinking of dudes like Dakhari, but perfectly outlines the complex they inherit. The game of being chosen is about numbers. Therefore callous individuals like Payton's ex prove to be prize. If they [a woman] can make him care for them amongst a sea of others, what does it say about their status? Here the author echoes that girls like Payton and Laurel are as rare diamonds, but those who have done research will find that a diamond's rarity is artificial.
If Payton and those around her truly cared about self improvement, less attention would be fixated on partnership, but I have a sneaky feeling that that would not be satisfacrory, that still the sentiment rings true within Christian circles that one is not whole without that "other half" and I don't mean Christ.
I almost thought the book may deviate from this, with Tad moving on, but nope! Oddly hes available to hang out again with Payton towards the end of the book, without any mention of his new companion, Vonda. What a shame.
Honorable mentions:
There was a suicide attempt in this book, but who really cares since not much attention was paid to the character of note anyway. Payton finds Anna in the bathtub, Anna goes to the hospital, and Anna returns ready to find the Lord. Not many words are shared between her and the main character.
Payton meets a character named Drea who dropped out of high school due to pregnancy. All Payton can think about is how pure she is? Did you know she is pure? Did you know her vagina remains untouched?! It is such a great reflection of character! Did ya'll know that?! 😃
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews