Briana's Gift » (Reprint)

Lurlene McDaniel is the #1 author of inspirational fiction for young adults. The author lives in Chattanooga, TN.

Thirteen-year-old Casey's mother always said that Casey's sixteen-year-old sister marched to the beat of a different drummer. But it isn't until Briana runs away with an older boy that Casey begins to understand what her mother meant. When Briana returns home alone and pregnant, Casey and her mother try to help Briana come to terms with her options.

It was already complicated to think about Briana's choices and then things change suddenly again. When Briana is in a serious accident, Casey's mother sees things one way. Although Casey understands her mother's reaction, she feels she must try to convince her mother to make a different decision. Casey needs to grow up fast and do what she can to maintain Briana's legacy. Will she be able to make her mother understand that there is only one way to accept Briana's gift?

VOYA

Thirteen-year-old Sissy has disliked the holiday season ever since her father died in an accident two weeks before Christmas when she was five. Her rebellious teenage sister, Briana, runs away with her boyfriend shortly after school lets out for winter break, leaving Sissy and her sickly mother in poor spirits. The prodigal daughter returns a few months later, pregnant and alone. Sissy is overjoyed at the prospect of being an aunt, but her mother and Briana share a sobered attitude toward the imminent birth. When Briana collapses at work because of a brain aneurysm, Sissy and her mother are overwhelmed with grief and the impending responsibility of raising an infant. Sissy suddenly has a great deal with which to cope, from her first crush to convincing her mother not to give her niece up for adoption. As always, McDaniel pulls out all the melodramatic stops in this weepy read. And as always, this reviewer marvels at the author's ability to combine such incongruous topics as a pregnant brain-dead teenaged sister, an arthritic mother, and unrequited love into so few pages. The unrequited love story line is the most refreshing change to McDaniel's typical romantic endings. There are subtle differences in her use of colloquial dialogue, which offers an additional bonus. Her tissue-laden fans will rejoice in this newest addition to her teen angst literature genre.