Donut Days

Donut Days by Lara Zielin

Summary: Emma is the daughter of evangelical minister parents who is having quite the difficult time. Her mom may lose her position as co-preacher at their church, one of her friends is newly hot and in love with her, her best friend isn't speaking to her, and her parents have announced their financial support only if she attends a Christian college. This takes place over a three day period as people camp out to see the opening of a new donut store.

I really liked Emma-she was very likable and I enjoyed her feelings about her parents. She feels completely left out over the things that are happening that will affect her. But the end promises hope for a stronger family unit and reevaluation of how each views the others.

At the donut campout, I really enjoyed her interactions with Bear and his evangelical biker gang. They showed a more human face of Christianity. Most are able to realize that they are not perfect and they do not act like they are. They just try their best to live out Jesus' teaching and improve themselves.

Her friendships are not as important. Lately it seems like I've read a lot of books where the female main character is not speaking to her friends due to a fight and thus female friendship is not important to the book. I'm not trying to single this book out because I feel like I've seen that a lot; this just happens to be the review where I'm writing about it.

I also thought that not all of the subplots got enough attention. I would have liked more with the hot guy in love with Emma; I thought it got short shrift. I also would have liked more with her younger sister, who was adorable in the little we read about, and the sibling rivalries that always seem to appear in families. I also think the girl on the cover doesn't look old enough to be a senior in high school-she looks maybe 14. That doesn't detract from the story; it's just something I noticed.

Overall: 4/5 for funny (predictable) story with a sweet narrator and good message. Recommended.