Scenarios 2: All That Glitters

Scenarios 2: All That Glitters is the second book in the Scenarios series. Identical twins Drew and Dani take very different paths on their first day of high school. Dani chooses to take things slow and steady while Drew jumps at the chance to make a fresh start and aim for popularity and success. Drew's plan seems to be working. She's captain of the JV Cheerleader team, has caught the eye of the star quarterback and is rapidly becoming one of the most popular girls in school. Her popularity leads her to where she's facing some tough decisions and having to make some very grown-up choices. Little lies to her parents begin to escalate and soon she's faced with the biggest decision of her life. Will she disobey her parents, lie to them and choose what seems, at the time, to be the most fun thing to do or will she instead choose to obey her parents and risk losing her new found popularity and maybe even her dream guy? The beauty of this series is that YOU get to choose for her. The author pulls you into the story so that you feel like you are right there with Drew, understanding how she's feeling - and almost feeling it with her. Then, at the crucial moment, the reader is asked to make the choice and the book splits into two. If you choose for Drew to obey her parents, you continue reading and discover what happens when she does so. If you choose for Drew to disobey her parents, you skip to another place in the book and read how the story unfolds and what the consequences of that disobedience are. These books are excellent for teen girls to help them stand back for a moment and see just how quickly situations can develop and think about the consequences of the different choices they may make. I highly recommend All That Glitters to any teenage girls. They are great books to read and you might just learn something valuable while you're reading.

I will say that I liked this book A LOT. To be honest, I enjoyed it more than the first book in the series. Previously I had issues with characters acting younger than their age or too many actual sermons in the book. This book had neither. Both Drew and Dani act like actual freshmen in high school. It's interesting to see how they began to grow apart and start trying to form their own distinct personalities. Stories about twins growing up sometimes have one twin resenting the other for leaving them behind. This one begins that way but Dani soon finds her own niche. Once again, the characters have close and good relationships with their parents. They can confide in them and are able to turn to them in times of need. In return, the parents are understanding and allow their daughters to choose their own paths. I really appreciated how the girls' mother was compromising in terms of their clothing choices. While she had set guidelines about what they could wear, she also was willing to let Drew make her own decisions. I liked the scene where she comprised with Drew involving the layering of clothing. I'm glad she was willing to let her do her own thing and still respect the guidelines she had set down. They also were cool with letting their daughters hang out with guys because both girls respected the rules set for them. I thought that the situation Drew found herself in was very relatable to what goes on in high school these days. Granted, the party involved everything that could possibly happen, but it still was portrayed in a realistic light. The only qualm I had was a line where Dani is horrified to hear that Drew held hands with a boy. This made me shake my head a bit because it sound like holding hands makes Drew sound like a loose woman. If they had been kissing, then I could understand the shock. I know that it could imply that holding hands could eventually, down the road lead to more intimate things. However if you're in high school, it really would not be that big of an issue. That being said, I really enjoyed this book. It's a fun read, the characters are real, and the story is something that a lot of teens either have faced or will face in the future. I've been told by the author that the next few books will also have themes that will appeal to older teens so I'm looking forward to those. I wish that I had the opportunity to go back in life and be able to step back and look at both outcomes before I made a decision. Teens will enjoy this one.

After reading this book I had tears in my eyes. It brings back so many memories of what my children went through as they were growing up. Tweens/Teens today have so many temptations and choices facing them. For there to be a series of books that can help prepare them in making decisions is wonderful. By reading the story, weighing the facts, making their own decision and then reading the outcome of each choice, it will hopefully give them pause when they are faced with a similar situation. Parents could use this series as a tool for opening communication with their child. The books are Biblically sound and present Christian family values of love and forgiveness when mistakes are made. But, the entire concept is to help tweens/teens make the right choices so that guilt and pain are avoided.

This book is about a young girl, freshman in high school, who goes out to be a cheerleader and falls for a junior. Although she knows she is not allowed to date yet, Drew chooses to go against some of her parents wishes and do what she wants. But then a decision has to be made that could cost her parents trust: Should she lie to her parents are go to a party where there is no adult supervision with this boy? O'Dell allows readers to make their own choice and choose the high or low road and then find out what would happen. This is by far my new favorite book. Odell keeps the attention of the reader well and allows for a connection to take place. I truly wish I could have had this support when I was in high school. I felt as if I never went to parties and I was just not cool. But O'Dell breaks that feeling and allows readers to know that taking the high road in life may not alway be easy, but it is the way to be. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to any teenager I know!

If you have a daughter/granddaughter/niece/cousin/friend of a friend's friend who is a tween girl I highly recommend getting these books for her. There are great life lessons to be learned in these books and are great conversation starters for parents and teens. The second in the series is All that Glitters about identical twins Drew and Dani. There are so many topics covered in this book, drugs/alcohol abuse, purity and honesty . As a mother of twins it was interesting to see how Nicole showcased the need for more individuality amongst the girls and the struggles that each had with their new identity. All that Glitters also focuses on teen relationships and the pressures that go along with them. The reader is asked to help Drew choose whether to be honest to herself and her family or go along with what the "popular" people are doing.