Review: "Pure" by Terra Elan McVoy
Pure, Terra Elan McVoy, (Simon Pulse, Hardcover, 9781416978725, 336pp). Find it on IndieBound here, Amazon here, or better yet, high tail over to your indie book store.
Ok, so I have to admit I felt a little strange reading this book in public. I’m all for pink, but the cover does scream, “young adult girl.” In actual fact, though, I’d recommend this novel to any person interested in the challenges of being a young high school American girl, especially if you’re concerned with the moral questions related to purity rings.
Written in the remarkable voice of a high schooler, Terra Elan McVoy explores the depths of a group of close friends who pledge themselves at church not to have sex until marriage. They mark this pledge with purity rings and all is hunky dory until one of the friends admits she and her boyfriend have broken the pledge — and she’s not even particularly remorseful. After all, they’re in love!
So the girls have to decide what do do about the pledge-breaker, what the Bible really says, and how to cope when the true horror happens — her parents find out.
I get the impression that many young adult books tell the stories of girls and their high school antics without having much at all to do with real life these days. McVoy’s characters, though, have after school jobs and homework and cell phone restrictions. These real students deal with the real challenge brought on by a certain type of Christian movement, the black and white, false ease and clarity of purity rings.
So, if you work with high school youth, read this book. If you have high school children, read this book. If you’re in high school yourself, I totally recommend it even more.
And, I have to admit, it feels extra special to be able to give this book a ringing endorsement because I happen to know the author quite well. Terra Elan McVoy is a former babysitter of mine, a fellow First Pres Tallahassee member, and, now, a good friend and the manager of my favorite independent book store, Little Shop of Stories in Decatur. She’s purely good. Read it.
Oh, almost forgot: check out Terra’s website as well.
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thanks for the recommendation, adam. i’ve been debating about the topic of my m.div thesis and have toyed with the idea of teen christian novels basically because i hate them. but this looks like i wouldn’t throw it across my room in anger. yay! thank you for sharing and i look forward to reading it.
Definitely check it out, Taylor. It’s a good look at the culture behind the pledges, as well as the internal anguish of the main character as she determines for herself what’s right. So totally perfect (and fun to read too
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I checked a couple of book sites and they don’t have the book listed. Then I found one which said I could pre-order, and that the publish date is today.
BTW – I’m a bit jealous. I remember the days when I could get a lot of reading done. I’m approaching 4 years as a pastor, and I do about a tenth of the reading I did while in seminary.
It might be worth negotiating – get a day off, AND a reading day. Have only three or four days in the office – assaulted by emails, correspondence, magazines, catalogues, phone calls, people dropping in, planning events, writing newsletter and newspaper articles, etc, etc…
DennisS, it just came out this week so give it some time to make every list. It’s on IndieBound and Amazon, though. Re reading time, I’ve heard just the opposite from pastors as well — that they read so much more out of seminary (for fun, at least), than they did in seminary, so I guess it’s a context thing. I think it’s about choices: Americans watch 3.5 hours of TV per day on average, and 50% of Americans read average of 1 novel per year. Hmmm.
What is the Biblical response to someone who breaks the promise of chastity? I hope the young teenage girls find Deut. 22:21 ” they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from you.” Nothing like a good murder mystery.
Having said all that I won’t be reading the book, but I may be giving it out as a gift. I liked Terra a lot when we met at B-Day Party; she is one of your friends who you can take anywhere – not like me. If she is half the writer that she is as a person, then this is probably a great read filled with humor and heartbreaks.
Frankly I found the teen years to be very difficult and uncomfortable and I must admit that where I grew up there weren’t very many chastity rings gumming up the works. It is good to have somebody giving the insider’s view to the real issues that are facing young girls/ladies these days.
Prayers for record sales and an appearance on Oprah.
Peace,
George
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