Not So Simple Life by Melody Carlson has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine. It is the first book in the “Diary of a Teenage Girl: Maya” series.
Not So Simple Life by Melody Carlson has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine. It is the first book in the “Diary of a Teenage Girl: Maya” series.
Fifteen-year-old Maya Stark, daughter of the famed ’80s singer Nick Stark, lives with her alcoholic, drug-addicted mother. Her father, who is traveling the world to revive his career, has little idea of the struggles she faces or the depth of her desire to become emancipated from her family. Despite her disdain for the fashion industry, Maya lands several jobs in high-end retail and modeling. She plans to divorce herself from her parents and prove herself legally and financially worthy to become independent at age 16. Maya hits a turning point when her mother is arrested on drug charges, and her Uncle Allen and Cousin Kim invite her to live with them. In the comfort of their “normal” home, a depressed and suicidal Maya finds God and begins a new life serving Him.
Maya’s grandmother takes her to church when she’s young, but Grandma Carolina’s death leaves Maya angry and skeptical about God. Maya’s cousin, Kim, and uncle, Allen, are Christians. Kim urges Maya to keep a journal, ask Jesus into her heart and begin meeting with the youth pastor’s wife weekly. Kim’s youth pastor encourages Maya’s difficult questions about God and assures her He is big enough to handle them. Maya accepts Christ and discovers a sense of peace and belonging that she’s not known before.
When Maya does something nice for her photographers, she mentions feeling good, “kind of like karma.” At the end of each of Maya’s journal entries, she puts in a “green tip.” Maya’s a vegan and into saving the earth. Throughout the book, the author seems to have an environmental agenda. At the very end, Maya does come to the conclusion that God (the Creator of the earth) comes first, not the planet.
Maya’s mother, Shannon, is an alcoholic and a drug addict who frequently disappears for days at a time, fails to pay bills, physically and verbally abuses her daughter, squanders child support and steals the money Maya earns at her job. Maya’s dad is too busy to be bothered by a teenage daughter, though he does step in to help when Shannon is arrested on drug charges. Maya’s bosses in the fashion/modeling industry are harsh and snooty. Maya’s uncle and older cousin, Kim, invite her into their home when she has nowhere else to go and offer kindness and patience — as well as God’s love.
The word crap appears a few times.
A couple of the girls Maya meets in the fashion/modeling industry live with their boyfriends. Maya mentions that there are some sleazy people in the modeling industry who want to take advantage of young talent.
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