MS Review – The Ginnie West Collection

About the Book

Book:  The Ginnie West Collection

Author: Monique Bucheger

Genre: Christian fiction, middle grade

Book 1: THE SECRET SISTERS CLUB

Twelve-year-old BFF’s Ginnie West and Tillie Taylor, want to be sisters. Ginnie’s widowed dad plus Tillie’s divorced mom could equal a lifetime of round-the-clock girl talk and slumber parties. Too bad Dad vowed to never marry again. Ginnie and Tillie come up with the perfect scheme to change his mind: ‘Operation Secret Sisters’ (aka OSS). After all, if they can’t get Dad to move on, Tillie can’t move in.
Things get more complicated when Ginnie stumbles across her mom’s hidden journals. Ginnie can finally get to know the mother she doesn’t remember and her dad doesn’t talk about—if Dad doesn’t take them away.

Book 2: TROUBLE BLOWS WEST

Putting her body in motion before her brain is in gear creates a mountain of problems for 12 year-old Ginnie West. She is certain that defending her twin brother, Toran, from the biggest bully in sixth grade was the right thing to do. But Ginnie couldn’t be more wrong. She quickly learns that Toran doesn’t appreciate being rescued by a girl any better than Pierce likes being knocked down by one.

When Pierce seeks revenge on Ginnie, Toran sets aside his anger and helps her plot a payback prank at Pierce’s house. Sadly, Ginnie learns that Pierce has a reason for being a bully when she sees his dad drop him to the floor like a ragdoll. Realizing he’s a boy in big trouble, Ginnie decides to be his ally, because he won’t let her be his friend.

Book 3: SIMPLY WEST OF HEAVEN 

Twelve-year-old BFFs Ginnie and Tillie are matchmaking geniuses. Sweet! Not long after they schemed to get Ginnie’s widowed dad to fall in love with Tillie’s divorced mom, Ginnie stumbled upon her late mom’s journals, making life even more awesome sauce … until her dad confiscated the journals, determined to protect Ginnie from a danger he won’t name.

Ginnie is counting on her future sister’s help to make Dad change his mind, but Tillie’s not so sure the ghost of Ginnie’s mom will make a good addition to their new family tree. The girls’ world gets flipped upside-down when a blast from the past shows up and makes Tillie go nutburgers. Ginnie is torn between helping her best friend and what could be the answer to her deepest wish.

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My Review

My Review of each book in this anthology

Secret Sisters Club

One thing many pre-teen girls enjoy is a horse story. Monique Bucheger has created a series this group of girls will enjoy. While  some may not consider The Secret Sisters Club a true horse story since it isn’t all about the horse, the book will appeal to those who love horses. Ginny finds solace in riding her horse Calliope. Girls whose moms are no longer living will relate to Ginny. Girls who have absent fathers, for whatever reason, will relate to Tillie. There is just enough romance in the story to appeal to girls of this age group who are just starting to notice boys, and the romance is between adults which will make their parents happy that the plot isn’t encouraging pre-teen romance.

Monique Bucheger shows through many plot points that she truly understands the heart of a pre-teen girl. There are many times that Ginny appears to not think through every aspect of a situation – much like a pre-teen girl. Or when best friends are talking to each other one minute and hugging each other the next.

Trouble Blows West

Monique Bucheger hits topics that are important to many upper elementary and middle school students. In Trouble Blows West she touches on bullying, child abuse, spouse abuse, sibling relationships and step families. Ginnie and her brother Toran are being bothered by a bully. Toran wants to handle it by talking but Ginnie resorts to physical defenses. Toran and Ginnie learn through the well-written story that often there is a reason behind someone’s bullying behavior. Their dad also learns a lesson – to listen better to his kids and find the why behind their actions. 

Simply West of Heaven

Simply West of Heaven starts soon after the ending of book two which readers will enjoy. 

I found this book to be a little more intense than the first two books in the series. Bucheger tackles some difficult topics – abusive husband/father (although most of this is in the previous books, it does surface in this title again), single parents dating, an unknown relative coming for a surprise visit (and all the emotions involved there), and more I won’t mention here as they could be considered spoilers.

The Entire Collection

Every child deserves to see him/herself represented in children’s books – no matter their situation. There are several “types” of children represented in these stories. However, if any of these situations are a part of a reader’s history, it might be good to read the book with an adult. Bucheger does handle each of these situations tastefully but the amount of “trauma” and surprise situations in the story may be hard for some to handle. There were times I felt like there was soooo much was going on in the lives of the characters – how much can they handle. Bucheger does give her characters a strength that many seventh graders don’t have. Then comes the ending – don’t want to spoil it, but there sure is a surprise at the end leaving me wondering where book 4 is going.

I do love this series. I’d compare it to the Heartland series (haven’t read the books but have watched the TV series). As a librarian I always enjoy seeing new to me fiction for kids that is well written.The first two books in the Ginnie West Adventure series would make great read alouds for elementary classrooms or for family storytimes. 

Because of some of the sensitive issues handled in the third story I highly recommend that librarians and other adults read this title before sharing it with children. I think the series as a whole is appropriate for most middle school students. Elementary children may need an adult to read the book with them due to some of the topics covered in the book. These books would be a great addition to a K-12 Christian school library. 

I received a complimentary copy of The Ginnie West Collection. This is my honest review. 

About the Author

When Monique isn’t writing, you can find her playing taxi driver to one or more of her 12 children, plotting her next novel, scrapbooking, or being the “Mamarazzi” at any number of child-oriented events.

Even though she realizes there will never be enough hours in any given day, Monique tries very hard to enjoy the journey that is her life. She shares it with a terrific husband, her dozen children, twelve grand-darlings, too many cats, and many real and imaginary friends. She is the author of several books in three series and hopes to write many more.

More from Monique

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the Kickoff of The Ginnie West Collection (Books 1, 2, and 3) of the Ginnie West Adventures series. This omnibus edition includes The Secret Sisters Club, Trouble Blows West and Simply West of Heaven.

The series starts with The Secret Sisters Club and introduces the reader to 12-year-old best friends, Ginnie West and Tillie Taylor. Ginnie’s mother died when she was 3 ½ in a tragic accident and Tillie’s birth dad hit the road 6 years before the series starts.

Tillie, especially, wants a “whole” family again and who would make a better sister than her BFF? When she suggests to Ginnie that their parents would also benefit by marrying, their scheme, Operation: Secret Sisters is formed.

Things get more complicated when Ginnie discovers a box of her dead mom’s journals and reads one, getting to know the mother she doesn’t remember and her dad doesn’t talk about. Discovering the journals brings up questions and feelings that Ginnie didn’t expect and she struggles to reconcile her desire to know her real mom and while caring about her “new” mom.

Trouble Blows West takes a complete turn from Book 1 when the biggest bully in 6^th grade goes after Ginnie’s twin brother, Toran,  and results in Ginnie knocking the bully, Pierce, on his rear in front of the whole student body in the  cafeteria on page 2. Things get more complicated when the reader realizes that Pierce is being abused at home. Ginnie doesn’t find out right away—but when she does, Ginnie, Toran, and Tillie decide to become Pierce’s allies—because he won’t let them be his friends. Trouble Blows West is a story of kids on the opposite sides of many issues who try to come to some peaceful understandings.

Because of her great influence in my life, I made my high school creative writing teacher, Mrs. Marion Joyce Johnson, a character in this book years ago. A fun happenstance has recently occurred. Mrs. Johnson’s real life son is Col. Greg Johnson, pilot and astronaut for the Space Shuttle Endeavor. I reached out to Greg who read: Trouble Blows West and fell in love with Ginnie and her family. He has graciously written a Foreword for the book.

Simply West of Heaven starts three weeks after The Secret Sisters Club ends. The one thread that wasn’t reconciled in Book 1 is resolved in this book—and the thread opens up a whole lot of possibilities of fun and new adventures for Ginnie, Tillie, and the Wests. This book has my four best twists and guarantees the reader lots of surprises as the story unfolds. Hopefully readers will want to continue to read about Ginnie and Tillie in Book 4: Being West is Best.

The Ginnie West Adventures series truly is a labor of love for me. I enjoy sharing the West family and their stories with new and longtime readers. I especially love it when readers share with me their experiences of finding courage and peace to overcome their own trials and share those stories with me. I hope to empower and uplift my readers and love it when they connect with me.

Laugh lots … love much … write on!

Monique Bucheger

Blog Stops

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, December 16

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 16

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 17

Sara Jane Jacobs, December 18

deb’s Book Review, December 19

Blogging With Carol, December 19

Inklings and notions, December 20

For Him and My Family, December 21

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, December 22

Mary Hake, December 22

Texas Book-aholic, December 23

Sodbusterliving, December 24

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 25

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 26

She Lives To Read, December 27

Artistic Nobody, December 28 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)

Ashley’s Bookshelf, December 29

Splashes of Joy, December 29

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Monique is giving away the grand prize of a $75 Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Apple, or Google Play!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/104ff/the-ginnie-west-collection-celebration-tour-giveaway

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