Make Something of It

The Sharp Sisters #1

by Stephanie Perry Moore

The Sharp sisters are bold, bright, sassy, stylin', and fierce. As the daughters of mayoral candidate Stanley Sharp, all eyes are on them as they attend high school. Every choice they make can make or break their father's campaign―and make or break their own chances for success.

Shelby aims to be the next great fashion designer, but while working with her design mentor, she discovers some ugly secrets that fashion can't domestic violence. She doesn't understand why the victims would allow the abuse. Can Shelby convince them to take a stand, or should she keep her mouth shut?

Genres: African American

152 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

STEPHANIE 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.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is overall a fun quick read in spite of its subject matter. It deals with domestic violence & its a little preachy & naive. The basic moral of this book is all you need is someone to tell you to leave an abusive relationship & presto you leave. I understand this book is meant for preteen to early teens but they should be told that its a little harder to leave a abusive relationship.

[Zoë · Rating 1 out of 5]

no. just no.



dnf at literally 5%

[Mitchell Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book. One of the reasons I recommend this book is that Shelby makes very good decisions in when somehthing is going wrong. Like on page 89 whens Shebly saw this going, "and then I saw this Brian guy take his hand and throw a rack of clothes to the ground. She started shaking, and before she could run away, he grabbed the back of her shirt, turned her sround, and punched her." After Brian leaves Shebly goes up to Sydnee and tells her she needs to get out of that relationship before it gets wrose the it already is.

Another reason I recommend this book is that she is very independent. Like on page 74 after her and her mom talk she goes up to her room and takes out her homework like her mom said to do, but she keeps think about the conversation that she had with her mom and she says to herself, "I need to be able to show my mom that I could be a fashion designer." It doesn't just show she can be independent It show that she can be stand her ground and tell her mom respectfully that she doesn't want to be a lawyer she wants to follow her dream and be a fashion designer.

In the end, if a person decides to read this book they may learn that they can be the can be the bigger person in the wrong situations and be the one to tell their parents no if they don't want to be what their parents want them to be and follow their dreams respectfully.

[Nokukhanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this as there is an enormous need for books with diverse characters and this one features a family that is doing well with five daughters all with interesting ambitions. Sadly the writing is very clumsy and I had to push myself through it. The book starts out with one plot line and then suddenly shifts to a second with a third one getting sporadic attention. Dialog felt very clumsy to me as well.

Still it is an attractive package and is written with a controlled vocabulary, this one is a 4.6 grade reading level and of interest for high school and middle school. Interested to hear what teens think of it the series.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sparkling dialogue, a quick pace, plenty of drama and a heart-tugging issue (domestic violence) make this an appealing series debut. I particularly enjoyed the out-and-out aspirational tone, the main character's side hustle of selling 'scarts' (it's a scarf! and a belt!), and her gay best friend/publicist, Jazzy Jay.

The dreamy background -- 5 rich and awesome sisters, all privileged daughters of the mayor -- makes it seem like a bourgie fairy tale, but in a good way. They are rich, but very very responsible.

No Christian content, unlike many of SPM's books.

[Christine Lynd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shelby Sharp is one of the five fabulous Sharp sisters (daughters to mayoral candidate Stanley Sharp). All the sisters are under pressure to be as perfect as they can be during their father's campaign, and Shelby tries her best, but it's hard. She's starting to realize what her own dreams are-a career in fashion design-and it's hard to stand up to her family and their expectations for her future. But when Shelby is witness to the domestic abuse endured by her mentor, she has to summon the courage to speak up.

[Emily]

Pretty good for hi-lo fiction, which has a lot of constraints. Nice looking book with up-to-date cover art, no glaring typos. The story has too many threads, but wraps up too neatly, but the pacing is good, the language is accessible and the slang reads pretty naturally. The protagonist is too good, but many of the other characters are at least a little nuanced.

[Attiya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish the author had gone a little deeper with one abuse case rather than just scratching the surface of three. I just wasnt pulled in. I kind of wish I had the time back.