Synopses & Reviews
Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl and lifelong member of the House of Enlightenment, the Evangelical church in her small town. With her driver's license in hand and the chance to try out for a lead role in Hell House--her church's annual haunted house of sin--Lacey's junior year looks promising. But when a cute new stranger comes to town, something begins to stir inside of her. Ty Davis doesn't know the sweet, shy Lacey everyone else does. With Ty, Lacey could reinvent herself. As her feelings for him make Lacey test her boundaries, events surrounding Hell House make her question everything she's ever known about her religion.
Melissa Walker has crafted the perfect balance of engrossing, thought-provoking topics and relatable, likable characters. Set against the backdrop of extreme religion, Small Town Sinners is foremost a universal story of first love and finding yourself, and it will stay with readers long after the last page.
Review
“Walker has written a credible and tender evocation of the moment when a young person's beliefs begin to emerge and potentially diverge from the teachings of a family's religion.” —New York Times Book Review
“Both tender and provocative.” —Publishers Weekly
“Walker takes her character's crisis of faith seriously and sensitively, [and] readers will, too.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Thought-provoking . . . This novel is good because it does push boundaries, for the characters and readers alike.”—VOYA
“One of very few books that allow Christian teens an opportunity to see their faith commitments portrayed without mockery or derision while remaining supportive of questions.” —BCCB
Synopsis
High school junior Lacey finds herself questioning the evangelical Christian values she has been raised with when a new boy arrives in her small Texas town.
Synopsis
Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl, a lifelong member of the Evangelical church in her small town, and up for the lead role in Hell House, her churchs annual haunted house of sin. But Laceys life is turned upside down when a cute new stranger comes to town. As romantic feelings stir inside of her, she begins to not only test her own boundaries, but to question the religion shes known forever. Does falling in love mean falling out of faith?
Synopsis
Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl and lifelong member of the House of Enlightenment, the Evangelical church in her small town. With her driver's license in hand and the chance to try out for a lead role in Hell House--her church's annual haunted house of sin--Lacey's junior year looks promising. But when a cute new stranger comes to town, something begins to stir inside of her. Ty Davis doesn't know the sweet, shy Lacey everyone else does. With Ty, Lacey could reinvent herself. As her feelings for him make Lacey test her boundaries, events surrounding Hell House make her question everything she's ever known about her religion.Melissa Walker has crafted the perfect balance of engrossing, thought-provoking topics and relatable, likable characters. Set against the backdrop of extreme religion, Small Town Sinners is foremost a universal story of first love and finding yourself, and it will stay with readers long after the last page.
Synopsis
The much-talked about story that the New York Times called both "credible and tender" in which a teen girl questions her extreme religious background.
Synopsis
Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl and lifelong member of the House of Enlightenment, the Evangelical church in her small town. With her driver's license in hand and the chance to try out for a lead role in Hell House, her church's annual haunted house of sin, Lacey's junior year is looking promising. But when a cute new stranger comes to town, something begins to stir inside her. Ty Davis doesn't know the sweet, shy Lacey Anne Byer everyone else does. With Ty, Lacey could reinvent herself. As her feelings for Ty make Lacey test her boundaries, events surrounding Hell House make her question her religion.
Melissa Walker has crafted the perfect balance of engrossing, thought-provoking topics and relatable, likable characters. Set against the backdrop of extreme religion, Small Town Sinners is foremost a universal story of first love and finding yourself, and it will stay with readers long after the last page.
About the Author
Melissa Walker has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor. She is the author of the Violet on the Runway series as well as Lovestruck Summer. Melissa manages a daily newsletter, I Heart Daily, and handles blogging for readergirlz.com, an online book community that won the 2009 National Book Award for Innovations in Reading.
www.melissacwalker.com