Reviewer: Lori Graham
Title: The Encore - Becoming Beka Series – Book 5
Author: Sarah Anne Sumpolec
Publisher: Moody Publishers
ISBN: 0-8024-6458-0
Release Date: February 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Young Adult Fiction
Year/Setting: Current
Overall Rating: 5.0
Sexual Content Rating: None
Language (Profanity) Rating: None
Violence Rating: None
Sarah's Website:
www.sarahannesumpolec.com/BecomingBeka/index.html
Beka’s senior year has begun and she is in the middle of many new adventures. She is the editor of the school newspaper which she loves. Things with Mark appear to be going well but Beka can’t quite get Josh off her mind even though he is away at college.
Things with the girl who used to be her friend, Mai, are also continuing down a very strange path. Mai is attempting to blackmail Beka into giving up the editor role and allowing Mai to take over. Beka’s sister, Lucy, is getting into a world of trouble and counting and Beka to bail her out and cover for her.
Her saving grace is in the Lord. Beka’s relationship with Him has grown substantially over the last year and he is with her daily. Plus, she has learned how to play the guitar and is writing some of her own music which provides her escape.
Just when she thinks she might be getting a handle on things though, her father announces he is getting married. What else can possibly happen to her?
I have to admit that an awful lot happens to Beka through the course of her high school years – everything from having charges pressed against her, her mother dying, being assaulted. A part of me wondered a bit if that wasn’t a bit much to expect of any character. However, Sarah Anne handled the dilemmas quite well. The depth of the characters is really well done and very friendly to the reader. The thought processes Beka wanders through are quite well planned and detailed with very little being left to question. Don’t get me wrong, the reader still has to use their imagination along with the words but the pictures created by those words are quite clear.
I think The Encore is the best of the series by far. I enjoyed reading about the growth of Beka’s personality and seeing the confidence in this young character grow. Quite well done and I am looking forward to my middle schooler reading the books so we can discuss them and the topics they pose.
Lori
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