That's What Friends Are For

by Joni Hilton

While sharing zany adventures with her drop-dead gorgeous stage mother and trying to help an anorexic friend, seventeen-year-old Veronica, a budding journalist, experiences a spiritual awakening.

Genres: Young Adult, Lds, Fiction

166 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Joni Hilton is an award-winning playwright, the author of 20 books, and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in writing from USC. She is frequently published in major magazines and contributes columns to MeridianMagazine.com. She hosts a call-in radio advice show on Saturday mornings on AM-1380 KTKZ (streaming live)at 9 a.m. Pacific Time.
Hilton is a former TV talk show host and TV spokeswoman for various corporations, and lives in Sacramento, California, with her husband, Bob, a former game show announcer. They are the parents of four children. Read more at jonihilton.com. Or, check out her Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joni-Hi...
Her three new Kindle books are available for just $2.99 at amazon.com/author/jonihilton and in paperback form at Createspace.com.

Reviews

[Liralen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Being Sixteen this week and figured that I should pick up the other piece* of LDS YA fiction on my shelves to see how they compare.

And, well. Bearing in mind that I am not the target audience...Being Sixteen is generic YA fiction with a bit of religion thrown in. That's What Friends Are For is religious propaganda coated in plot.

From page 1, we start learning about the Mormon church. The protagonist, Veronica, is not Mormon, but her best friend, Courtney, is. This is, in Veronica's eyes, pretty much super cool. Courtney is pretty (a model, in fact) and smart, and Veronica is 'not as wise and mature as my Mormon friend—after all, she's had years of training or something' (2–3). Courtney's the consumate good girl; in comparison to the 'best-looking, most popular, most feminine' girl at school, she's 'just as pretty, but not so flirtatious' (34).

There's a plot, but the further the book gets, the more the plot turns into a vehicle through which to introduce Mormonism. When Courtney—who has an eating disorder—has a heart attack, it's a chance for Veronica to learn that God can heal her; it's also a space for Courtney's mother to explain Mormonism to Veronica (the easiest conversion a church has ever had):

"Veronica, we believe our church is the exact church Christ organized in ancient days. It was lost, and that's what makes Mormons different from everyone else. We believe his actual church was restored in modern times—with that same priesthood authority. We have a living prophet, apostles, all the same ingredients as the original church. And men who hold that power, which we call the priesthood, can heal the sick.

I stared for a minute, then whispered, "Awesome!" So that's what Mormons believed.... This was totally cool, totally logical. No wonder there was so much splitting off and fighting in the early Christian churches. Of course the real McCoy had to be restored. (103)

Lest you think I'm ragging on Mormonism here: I'm not, or at least that isn't my intention. People can believe what they will. I'm ragging on the way everything in the book is used to promote Mormonism.

Key example: Courtney's eating disorder. The one good thing I'll say about that is that it's presented as something that's been an issue for a while; it's not one of those books where the character gets sick and finds God and gets better in the span of a hundred pages. But...once that heart attack happens? Jump straight to Courtney realising that she hasn't been true to her religion (which is pro-good health), cries, promises to do better. The book pays lip service to the idea that it might take time, but the implication is that it's no longer an issue. (Oh, and she goes right back to modelling, as now that she's out of hospital she looks just as fabulous as ever.) Instead we get reminder after reminder of how logical Mormonism is and how much it improves Veronica's life:

"But it's so logical," I said. "It's exciting." (120)

How do you tell someone that you think maybe you've stumbled onto Christ's true church, and that everything else pales by comparison? (135)

"Boy, this is excellent," I whispered. "Who thought of all these great ideas?"
The elders laughed, thinking I was making a joke. And then I remembered: Oh, yeah. This is Christ's church. Well, no wonder. (137)

Needless to say, it didn't do much for me. Again...I'm so very much not the target audience. Perhaps I should just satisfy myself with being amused at the '90s fashion on the cover...


*It turns out that I have a third one. Thought about reading it after That's What Friends Are For, but I can't face it yet.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gee, I wish I had friends like this. Not too believable, but a good fantasy, I suppose

[Allanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute.
Now I can finally return it to Jenny. (Who had forgotten that I'd borrowed it, I've had it for so long. :S)