Slumber Party by Christopher Pike

I love reading a book I read in high school over again. I especially love reading Christopher Pike and what's really cool is that it seems this book (unlike the Final Friends series) has stood the test of time.

I remembered Slumber Party as soon as I started reading it. I remembered the hot older boy skiers, the jealous friend, the melted clues, the culprit and this rather steamy, for an 11 year-old (I'll talk about it more during one of my 30 day challenges coming up) kiss. I did not remember the reason that it all began, however, which I found very odd.

What I liked and still like about this story is that the main character girl isn't wimpy, even if she is a little boy crazy. I like that her peers also think so as it is her bravery, level-headedness and, well, genuine kindness that prevail in the end.

What I recognized as a grown-up:

1] I'm not really sure I'd let my kid go for a weekend alone with other kids to a cabin a mile away, by foot, from a ski lodge.

2] I'm not sure I'd let/condone my kid dating a older (23 to her 17) guy from a different country whose prospects seem to be slim and whose main goal seems to be to flit around the USA.

3] Grown-ups don't seem to exist in Christopher Pike books...there's a sheriff, some old guy who parks their cars, and the parents...at the end...they're near a ski lodge...where are the grown-ups?

4] I think this book may be the reason why I didn't drink when others were and why I wasn't really around those that did during my younger years. It can be pretty scary and obviously horrible accidents can happen.

5] Does Christopher Pike only write 'crazy female'? If there's a 'crazy male' Christopher Pike book could someone send it my way?

And, finally, I don't understand why this is marked as horror by some on Goodreads. Maybe it's because this book is a nice little creepy send-off to books like Carrie, which I've seen, but haven't read and whose movie version is mentioned by the characters. I think that Horror novels have an elevated amount of violence that stops me from reading them and that this book does not possess. If this is horror than a]I've read horror and b] Mary Higgins Clark books like A Cry in the Night and While My Pretty One Sleeps are also. I do remember being creeped out by this book loads and, well, I still am.

5 Stars

Sigh, sweet nostalgia.


Teacher Advisories 

Sex 2/5

There's a steamy kiss with some butt grabbing and the girl ponders what it would be like to have sex, for the first time ever, with a boy she just met. And, this kiss was/is steamy enough that I remembered it 25 years after reading the book for the first time.

Language 1/5

Low, almost non existent...

Substance Abuses 2/5

The whole accident occurs around under-age drinking. There's alcohol at the cabin.

Violence 4/5

So, yeah, a little girl's face gets melted off and then there's a big house explosion that kills a teenage girl.


Touchy Subjects

Slumber Parties
These should always happen with parent permission and adult supervision...so, I guess that makes me pretty lame. Gah, I hate feeling lame, but thems the breaks.

Secrets
All the girls have a terrible secret they are hiding...if Lara had told Celeste in the beginning, maybe, just maybe...
Accidents while under the influence
There's a horrible accident that happens when the girls, then middle graders, get into an adult liquor cabinet. I'm not sure that kids understand that accidents while drinking don't just include driving.
Make-out sessions
Especially with older men where you must lie to convince him to kiss you are not cool, and, well, lying isn't cool either!



How this book is used in the classroom

1] Independent Read option

Adam by Ted Dekker (Guest Post by Kate Sutter)

While Ted Dekker’s fiction horror/thriller Adam may be classified as “YA fiction,” it is definitely not for the immature. Written in a similar vein as popular shows like Criminal Minds, it will appeal to readers who like a good crime/suspense thriller. The story is based on an FBI behavioral pathologist Daniel Clark (who is so obsessed with the case that it brought about his divorce) teaming up with a forensic pathologist Laura Ames to catch a serial killer (Eve) with a background in kidnapping and child abuse. Clark's ex-wife is also investigating the case in an attempt to help bring peace. They use some techniques that will be familiar to crime show watchers and some that are not Standard Operating Procedure. Adults should be aware that Clark has his heart stopped twice as an attempt to relive his "near death experience" with the killer from the time Clark saw and almost Eve. The end of the book contains an exorcism when it is determined that the killer is driven by generational demonic possession. Even though Dekker repeatedly portrays the main characters as not religious, they put up very little resistance to the action. 

I liked how Dekker split up the story into sections, beginning each with a magazine article installment about the crime written after the killer is caught. The final segment seemed less developed than the rest of the book and seems to assume the reader has committed to the story long enough to overlook missing details that made the rest of the book hard to put down. It does not take away from the story too badly but left me with questions I did not expect to have when I came to the end. I felt like I needed a sequel just to find out what happened with all the characters.

The book is technically Christian fiction, but like other books I have read from this genre by authors like Dekker, Frank Peretti, and sometimes Randy Alcorn, they tend to be light on being “preachy.” These authors do shy away from the foul language and sex found any much contemporary fiction, but do not avoid it completely. A non-religious reader might not notice much “Christian” in some of these author's books at all, though most reference Christian views of themes such as redemption and good versus evil, and the supernatural world more overtly than secular novels. 


3 Stars

Teacher Advisories

Sex 0/5 

There’s some sexual tension between the two FBI agents, and at one point the pathologist tells Clark’s ex-wife that they haven’t been together. Definitely nothing a teenager will be concerned with, and probably not their parents either.

Language 0/5

I don’t remember seeing anything….

Substance Abuses 0/5

Unless you count getting totally intoxicated on someone's soul...than I bump it up to a 1/5.

Violence 4/5

This is a horror book about a serial killer, ya know. ☺ There are details without being overly gory especially in the final scene. It's also on the creepy side.

Touchy Subjects

Supernatural/Spiritual Concerns
The killer’s relationship with the Catholic church, unbelief in God, and demon possession are all prominent in the story and become more so as the story progresses. As a Protestant, I was not offended by anything until the very end where I saw parts of the exorcism as gimmicky, mostly due to lack of detail. The book is not trying to convert any readers to a belief, but religious elements are an overarching part of the story.
Final analysis – this book should be read by mature readers who are prepared to confront beliefs (or possibly, suspend them completely) about the supernatural and religion. Even if they do not believe in such matters, a hostile opinion or inability to maintain an open mind to these themes will make if difficult finish the book.

Motivation (and consequences)
For both Daniel Clark (FBI Agent) and Eve/Alex Trane/Alex Price (serial killer)
Medical Ethics
Good vs. Evil

Obsession
Clark’s obsession with the case, his ex-wife’s obsession with winning him back, the consequences of being obsessed

How this book is used in the classroom

1] Independent Read option

Use as a choice book. Know who is reading it.