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Holly's Heart #5
California Crazy
Holly is spending Christmas with her dad--her first time away from her mom and their new family. When Holly's stepmom starts to drive her crazy, Holly realizes she needs to learn how to trust God and trust people.
149 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1994
125 people want to read
About the author
Beverly Lewis
259 books3,039 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."
Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 23, 2022
About this book:
“Holly is spending Christmas with her dad--her first time away from her mom and their new family. When Holly's stepmom starts to drive her crazy, Holly realizes she needs to learn how to trust God and trust people.”
Series: Book #5 in the “Holly’s Heart” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here! Book #2 Here! #3 Here, and #4 Here!
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read; Prayers & Blessings over food; Some witnessing; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Set during Christmas; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles, the book of the Bible, & Bible reading; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, youth group, sermons/devotionals, & church events; Mentions of Holly witnessing to her stepbrother & trying to witness to her father; Mentions of Christmas & the true reason for the season; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of a cross necklace;
*Note: Mentions of a son saying his mother would “freak” about God and stuff like that & that she was never one to “entertain notions of a personal God”; Mentions of Santa Claus & not believing in him.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘dumb’s; Some sarcasm/sass & eye rolling; Holly can be bratty & rude at times; Holly calls her sister and new step-siblings annoying, brats, & does lie a bit to the little ones (but does a bit better by the end); Mentions of Holly’s parent’s divorce, how her father has recently started being in her and her sister’s lives again, & her emotions of it all; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of Holly’s aunt’s death from cancer; A couple mentions of a husband leaving his family;
*Note: Mentions of Disneyland; Mentions of brand names (Lego, Colgate, Hallmark); A couple mentions of an actor (John Wayne).
Sexual Content- A hug & warmth; Butterflies; Blushes & Winks; Even though she and Jared aren’t actually dating, Holly feels strange being with another guy (that she’s interested in) while being Jared’s girlfriend (she argues that Jared would never find out, but decides not to meet him); Holly’s father says “it’s good to develop friendships with lots of boys” and that’s she’s “too young to be tied down to one fellow”; Many mentions of boys, cute boys, crushes, liking someone, confessing, dating, & boyfriends/girlfriends; Mentions of a girl trying to get in-between Holly & Jared’s friendship (& Holly not being happy about it and getting jealous); Mentions of flirting, winks, & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of married couples kissing; Boys, crushes, & flirting;
*Note: Holly says she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a “scant little” two-piece (“almost-bikini”) swimsuit in front of a boy; Holly notices her developing physique when changing.
-Holly Meredith, age 13
1st person P.O.V. of Holly
149 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- Two Stars
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Two Stars (and a half)
{Add a full star for girls in Public or Private school.}
Holly can be very dramatic and she jumps to conclusions quite often, but she does a bit better in this book. I appreciate seeing her try to witness to her father, stepbrother, and stepmother.
Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
“Holly is spending Christmas with her dad--her first time away from her mom and their new family. When Holly's stepmom starts to drive her crazy, Holly realizes she needs to learn how to trust God and trust people.”
Series: Book #5 in the “Holly’s Heart” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here! Book #2 Here! #3 Here, and #4 Here!
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read; Prayers & Blessings over food; Some witnessing; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Set during Christmas; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles, the book of the Bible, & Bible reading; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, youth group, sermons/devotionals, & church events; Mentions of Holly witnessing to her stepbrother & trying to witness to her father; Mentions of Christmas & the true reason for the season; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of a cross necklace;
*Note: Mentions of a son saying his mother would “freak” about God and stuff like that & that she was never one to “entertain notions of a personal God”; Mentions of Santa Claus & not believing in him.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘dumb’s; Some sarcasm/sass & eye rolling; Holly can be bratty & rude at times; Holly calls her sister and new step-siblings annoying, brats, & does lie a bit to the little ones (but does a bit better by the end); Mentions of Holly’s parent’s divorce, how her father has recently started being in her and her sister’s lives again, & her emotions of it all; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of Holly’s aunt’s death from cancer; A couple mentions of a husband leaving his family;
*Note: Mentions of Disneyland; Mentions of brand names (Lego, Colgate, Hallmark); A couple mentions of an actor (John Wayne).
Sexual Content- A hug & warmth; Butterflies; Blushes & Winks; Even though she and Jared aren’t actually dating, Holly feels strange being with another guy (that she’s interested in) while being Jared’s girlfriend (she argues that Jared would never find out, but decides not to meet him); Holly’s father says “it’s good to develop friendships with lots of boys” and that’s she’s “too young to be tied down to one fellow”; Many mentions of boys, cute boys, crushes, liking someone, confessing, dating, & boyfriends/girlfriends; Mentions of a girl trying to get in-between Holly & Jared’s friendship (& Holly not being happy about it and getting jealous); Mentions of flirting, winks, & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of married couples kissing; Boys, crushes, & flirting;
*Note: Holly says she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a “scant little” two-piece (“almost-bikini”) swimsuit in front of a boy; Holly notices her developing physique when changing.
-Holly Meredith, age 13
1st person P.O.V. of Holly
149 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- Two Stars
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Two Stars (and a half)
{Add a full star for girls in Public or Private school.}
Holly can be very dramatic and she jumps to conclusions quite often, but she does a bit better in this book. I appreciate seeing her try to witness to her father, stepbrother, and stepmother.
Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
July 2, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. It was dramatic and at the time I was reading it I could relate to Holly in multiple situations. I will proceed to reading the next book in the series.
August 17, 2024
Overall this was a pretty good book. I enjoyed a lot of Beverly Lewis' Amish books, so i decided to check out this series too.
The girl is a little boy-crazy, but i liked how in this book she tried to share her faith with others a lot. It would be a good Christmas read, even though i read it in summer!! lol
Overall, i feel like the conflict was average. It wasn't as well written as some of her other books, but i read it in one day and found it quite interesting and exciting.
I'd definitely recommend this book, but there are quite a few bratty attitudes, and lots of mentions of boy problems.
The girl is a little boy-crazy, but i liked how in this book she tried to share her faith with others a lot. It would be a good Christmas read, even though i read it in summer!! lol
Overall, i feel like the conflict was average. It wasn't as well written as some of her other books, but i read it in one day and found it quite interesting and exciting.
I'd definitely recommend this book, but there are quite a few bratty attitudes, and lots of mentions of boy problems.
June 5, 2025
"I like this book because Holly's stepmom, dad, and step brother finally get some questions answered." -Cadee, age 13
January 24, 2013
Synopsis: Holly-Heart is going insane! Her new younger stepbrothers and stepsister are driving her nuts, and their house isn't big enough to contain all of them. To get away, she and her younger sister Carrie are visiting their father in California. Before she leaves, though, formerly girl-crazy Danny, who has a bit of a relationship with Holly, is seen exchanging presents with another girl. Worse yet, Holly's stepmother seems to be as wicked as the one in Cinderella. What's a girl to do?
Review: Holiday stories are usually fun, and this one is no exception. It's still standard fare for the Holly's Heart series, but that's not a bad thing.
Score: 4/5
Review: Holiday stories are usually fun, and this one is no exception. It's still standard fare for the Holly's Heart series, but that's not a bad thing.
Score: 4/5
Read
September 3, 2012note: I am not sure the exact date I finished this book. But, it was around that day. I love this series!
September 28, 2019
Read in 2004.
One of my favorite Series by Beverly Lewis!!
One of my favorite Series by Beverly Lewis!!
Read
April 5, 2010F LEW hh bk.5
March 22, 2016
Great book!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews