DEEP GREEN: COLOR ME JEALOUS
Melody Carlson
Th1nk Books/NavPress
Fiction
ISBN: 1576835308
196 pages

For readers new to Melody Carlson's series that centers on specific emotional states, this second installment continues where the first ended. In book one, DARK BLUE: COLOR ME LONELY, Carlson featured two high school girls who went their separate ways after one-half of the duo, Jordan Ferguson, made the cheerleading squad and callously abandoned her longtime friend for the popular set. After months of mental and emotional torture, Jordan's former best friend, Kara Hendricks, finds a personal faith in God and begins reordering her once shattered world much to Jordan's continued disapproval.

DEEP GREEN: COLOR ME JEALOUS includes both characters, yet the focus is now on Jordan's trials and tribulations as the newbie to the cheerleading world of cutthroat competition and backstabbing smile to your face, so-called friend/enemy camp. It doesn't take long for Jordan to unwittingly step on some socially uppity toes before a war breaks out, and Jordan becomes the sometimes victim, other times co-initiator scheming her own brand of vengeance tactics.

The script? Jordan steals another cheerleader's boyfriend and Shawna Frye is out for blood. Specifically, Jordan denies causing the breakup between Shawna and Timothy Lawrence and soon begins denying her own personal standards in hopes of keeping her new boyfriend close by and interested. Enter the often shortsighted and regret-laced party scene, where it becomes clear that Timothy is neither the gentleman nor the selfless hero Jordan had envisioned. In true nightmare form, Timothy places himself back in Shawna's arms. Jordan is crushed, then angry, then consumed by jealousy.

Carlson's portrayal of the emotional posture of a jilted and envious teen is compelling, and it hurts to read about Jordan's pain (much of it self-imposed). Still, the author knows how to sustain interest and Jordan's journey to a healthier, saner, mental place is entirely believable. By book's end, Jordan realizes that Kara's faith just might be more than a passing fad, and she takes a serious and introspective look at exactly what believing in Christ can mean for her personally.

Young adults will appreciate Carlson's accurate portrayal of the pitfalls of high school dating, social mores, and all the lingering doubts that make their way to a person's deepest core.

   --- Reviewed by Michele Howe

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