Trouble With a Capital T

Cedar River Daydreams #2

by Judy Baer

Minda is the leader of the Hi-Fives and very popular and powerful at Cedar River High School. No one's ever stood up to her before, but now Lexi Leighton has refused to compromise and Minda is mad! When Lexi tries to befriend Minda, it only makes the situation worse. But Lexi won't back down and intends to find out why she's become the target of Minda's rage. Will Lexi be able to break down the barriers?

Genres: Young Adult, Christian Fiction

139 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

aka Judy Kaye

Judy Baer was born and grew up on a farm on the prairies of North Dakota, USA. An only child, she spent most of her days with imaginary people-either those she read about or those she made up in her head. Her most ambitious conjuring did not succeed, however. She kept a clean stall with hay and oats for the horse she imagined would come but unfortunately, it never did. As an adult, however, she managed to make that dream come true and raised foundation quarter horses and buffalo for some years. A voracious reader, Judy learned to read with comic books, anything from Little Lulu and Superman to the Rawhide Kid. She sold her first story for $10.00 to a farm magazine. She still has the $10.00.

She graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota with a major in English and education and a minor in religion. At the time, she was simply studying what interested her, but now realizes that she was educating herself for her future career as an inspirational christian romance writer.

Judy wanted to write for Harlequin even in high school but it wasn't until her youngest child learned to say "No" that she realized that she'd better consider a second career to fall back on when mothering was done. Her first book was written with her little girl on her lap. Judy would type a few words, say "Now, Jennifer," at which time her daughter would hit the space bar before Judy continued typing. It wasn't the fastest way to work, but it offered a lot of mother-daughter time together. An over-achiever, she's written 71 books for various publishers. The mother of two and step-mother of three, she now has lots of family to enjoy.

In 2001, she went back to school and became a certified professional life coach. Currently she is working on her Master's in Human Development in the areas of writing, coaching and spirituality and writing inspirational Chick Lit which, she says, is the most fun she's ever had writing.

Reviews

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

School hasn't even started yet, and Lexi already has a decent group of friends, and a handful of enemies that want nothing more than to see her fail. But oddly enough, her innate ability to listen to others puts her into the strange position of confidante to the person she likes the least. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?

In the meantime, the world around her seems a bit askew. Todd's in trouble and playing detective isn't doing a thing to help him. Tragedy looms...and well just read the book. It's got a lot of action, a lot of suspense, a good storyline - and oh yeah, Christian values without preaching. Here's where the author really hits her stride. Now if I could only find book three...

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cedar River Daydreams is funny and touching, but I want to read about rarer tougher topics. Another thing I love about Cedar River is how it’s full of surprises: the fact that Lexi’s a blonde (she has brown hair on the cover.), Minda’s sad home life, and the cool outfits.

pg. 8: blue jeans and “Ski North Dakota” sweater (Mrs. Leighton)

pg. 9: red shorts, white sweatshirt, and red ribbon (Alexis)

pg. 17: white tennis shorts and pale yellow knit shirt (Todd)

pg. 136: teal shirt (Todd)

[Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christian Teen Highschool Series
Very good!
VERY 80’s!
She, her family, and friends all love her brother with Downs Syndrome. Since this was written in the 80’s it used a word — exactly one time — that was good, normal, and respectful back then, but is seen as rude now (r*t*rd). But! Once again, it was the accurate description back in the 80’s, and her brother is treated as fully human, fully respected, and fully loved.

[Rebecca White · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Lexington learns a lot more about Minda and realizes that her behavior stems out of issues at home. Her bother Ben is hit by a car which brings out some unusual reactions from the characters.

[Stephanie Duerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not expecting a lot from this book but it gave me a lot and then some. Going to check out the first one and maybe the third one and maybe the whole series

[Alizabeth Ostler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book! The plot was fascinating and was relatable, even though it was written in the 80’s. I definitely enjoyed this book and will be reading the rest of the series!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book as much as the first in the series. And the fact that the cover has a locker, making me think summer is over but really they have not gone to school yet, really bugged me. But, a good book and it teaches a lot about forgiveness and the importance of not gossiping.

[Alana]

I had this in '88. Too Christian for me, I think. I got rid of it soon after.