to be honest bltiz

Young Adult Contemporary Romance

Date Published: July 21, 2015

T.C. Booth’s latest novel, To Be Honest, is a heart-warming young adult contemporary romance that focuses on cyberbullying, diversity and the struggles of living with a handicap, from the point of view of a teenage girl.

The book features Starla Emerson, a girl whose self-esteem vanished almost overnight when a freak accident left her with a deformed hand. When her family moves and she can no longer rely on her best friend and boyfriend for moral support, she finds herself all alone one hundred and twenty miles away home.

Starla tries not to stand out at her new school, but when a stranger posts pictures of her on the internet, this puts her in the spotlight against her wishes. And when the cyberbullying threatens to destroy her relationship, things take a turn for the worse.

To Be Honest has received glowing reviews on Amazon.

 EXCERPT

 I left one shelf bare for my memory boxes. I stacked the shoe-sized cardboard boxes so their labels showed. Freshman Year, Sophomore Year, Junior Year. The first two boxes were filled with memories that I collected to keep safe. My Junior Year box felt empty. I removed its lid and took out the orchard ticket stub, the pictures of the guys wrestling in the dark, and a dried purple rose. Jared handed me the rose at school the morning of Sweetest Day. I could only guess what might fill my box the rest of the year. Will I even make any new friends? How would people react when they saw my hand? They’d probably think I’m the creepy new girl and be grossed out by my claw. I took a deep breath and put the box back.

A piece of paper stuck out from between the pages of one of my books. I tugged it free and unfolded it. It was a note Jared wrote to me about two months after we started going out.

Star,

Please don’t be mad at me for the whole TBH thing. I just didn’t know what to say to Jan. I shouldn’t have said anything. I like you a lot! You are my girl. I don’t want anyone else.

Love, Jared

A sigh escaped me. I never got the whole TBH—to be honest—thing. You opened yourself up for drama if you posted a picture with the letters TBH online. A girl named Jan did that and Jared took the bait. He had to honestly say something about her, so he commented under the picture that she was cute. My phone blew up with text messages telling me about it. I cried and sent Jared a text telling him I wanted to break up. I felt so stupid. The entire student body of Cedar High knew Jared told another girl she was cute. He slipped me the note during Algebra class the next day. I forgave him.

About the Author

TC Booth was born and raised in a small town in Northeast Ohio where she currently teaches. She lives with her husband and four children ranging in ages from 13-23. Her pets include one dog named Sammy, and two cats- Sheldon and Sasha.

TC Booth views books as the best form of entertainment and her escape for life’s stresses. She prefers reading a book over watching a movie, and writing over almost any other way to spend her time.

When not attending her children’s sporting events and running them around, you’ll see her writing on her laptop, iPad, and even jotting ideas down on her phone apps.

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Book Review: The Minimum Wage Millionaire

Title: The Minimum Wage Millionaire

Author: Bill Edgar

Genre: Non-fiction

Book Blurb: 

The Minimum Wage Millionaire is a must read for teenagers and parents of teenagers who want to learn about how money works. The book presents a practical approach to accumulating wealth for teenagers who are just starting to earn income with a part time job. Using simple analogies to unravel complex financial concepts allows the young mind to grasp why it is important to invest early and how to start with their first paycheck.

Review:

I know I usually don't dip into the non-fiction genre, but I decided to make an exception for The Minimum Wage Millionaire.  Boy was I glad; the book offers plenty of good advice for young adults (like me.)  The writing was easy to follow and all the terminology was explained/defined.

I really liked how the author uses analogies to explain certain concepts of investing.  Also, the voice of the narration was engaging; it felt as if you were actually talking face-to-face with another person (financial advisor, in this case.)  The author also makes it a point to take into consideration the mind set of the average young adult--he notes that although saving money from a young age is a good habit, it doesn't mean that one has give up all fun activities (such as going to the movies for a treat.)

I also appreciated how the author draws from his past experiences (and the mistakes he made and lessons he gained.)  That allowed readers to connect with the narrator more, knowing that he's a real live person who is offering advice from past experiences. 

Several good points are also made in the book.  For example, the author states that "If it's not our idea, we don't want to do it."  I could totally relate to that statement--everybody wants to be independent and do things their way, but sometimes "my way" isn't the best way.

He also states that "You are responsible for what you believe, so understand the impact people around you are having on you."  I couldn't agree more.  

Advice for starting to invest in the future is presented in a clear way, with the author explaining the benefits of a Roth IRA and how to set up an account; he also compares and contrasts a Roth IRA different plans.  Last but not least, I found this book to be eye opening when I learned that most millionaires don't drive big fancy cars or own private boats; they're normal people who don't spend money on excess things.

The only quip I had was the grammatical errors; I noticed that several of the words that end in double "l''s" (such as "all" or "well") only had one "l." Just only minor errors and the writing was still understandable; they just distracted me for 1-2 seconds while reading.

Overall, this was a quick read (under 100 pages) and well worth the time. I would recommend this book to any young adult who want to retire with $1,000,000 :)

Rating:

About the Author:

Bill Edgar is the author of The Minimum Wage Millionaire: How a Part Time After School Job Can Change Your Financial Life. He is passionate about helping youth understand how to become wealthy. He lives in Elburn, Illinois, with his three nearly teenage daughters (who will all be required to read his book). Connect with Bill on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/696268.Bill_Edgar) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/AuthorBillEdgar).