Alva Jane has never questioned her parents, never questioned her faith, never questioned her future. She is content with the strict rules that defi...
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Jan 28, 2011
Angela
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I'm beginning to feel like stories of young women in oppressive FLDS sects are getting rather repetitive - that the publishers keep putting them out there just so there'll be a new one every year (and every publisher has one), but they're really all telling the same story.
The last two YA stories in this vein I read were Sister Wife and The Chosen One. Those two had a lot of uncanny similarities - Keep Sweet changes up some of the details, but the broad strokes of the story are exactl More...
The last two YA stories in this vein I read were Sister Wife and The Chosen One. Those two had a lot of uncanny similarities - Keep Sweet changes up some of the details, but the broad strokes of the story are exactl More...
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Jan 19, 2012
Jenni
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For some reason, it seems that fringe societies are the popular topic this year. From memoirs retelling stories of life in a strict religious group or escape from such a group to young adult fiction depicting the same, everyone is interested in these groups. This book was just one of about half a dozen such books on the "new young adult fiction" shelf at the library. I chose this book because it discusses the FLDS, a group about which I have read recently.
Alva is a daughte More...
Alva is a daughte More...
Dec 01, 2011
Keep Sweet by Michele Dominguez Greene
Genre; Teen Drama
Today’s belief is that God is to remain by your side as to which path one chose’s to follow regardless to anything. Here, their paths have been made for them and to remain to be followed. In the Mormon community of Pineridge, they go by the sacred prophet to maintain their faith. Although the feelings of jealousy, tragedy, and being deceitful occur, they are not to be acknowledged and to keep sweet.
Being in a More...
Genre; Teen Drama
Today’s belief is that God is to remain by your side as to which path one chose’s to follow regardless to anything. Here, their paths have been made for them and to remain to be followed. In the Mormon community of Pineridge, they go by the sacred prophet to maintain their faith. Although the feelings of jealousy, tragedy, and being deceitful occur, they are not to be acknowledged and to keep sweet.
Being in a More...
Oct 11, 2011
FABR Steph
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Keep Sweet by Michele Dominguez Greene tells the story of Alva, a fourteen year old girl, who was raised in a radical religious cult. As a girl that has never known anything else, her views are warped and she is terribly misguided. Alva’s mother is one wife among seven and Alva is one child among twenty-nine. She believes that her path to heaven lies in her willingness to one day be a sister wife who will bare a child every year for her husband.
The age of consent is of no conseque More...
The age of consent is of no conseque More...
Aug 28, 2010
laaaaames
rated it:
I'm glad I read this hugely spaced apart from The Chosen One because there are a lot of (unintentional, I'm sure) overlaps. Ultimately they cover a lot of the same ground, and while I think The Chosen One is the superior book - and the one to read if you only want to read one book about a girl in a Polygamist Mormon sect, if your choices are limited that way - there is some ground covered in Keep Sweet I appreciated.
Really loved the Mrs. Norton storyline, and appreciated that Dominguez More...
Really loved the Mrs. Norton storyline, and appreciated that Dominguez More...
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Feb 07, 2010
Thecompulsivereader
rated it: 
Alva Jane's life is sweet at Pineridge, the gated Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community in which she lives. Her mother is the favorite of her father's seven wives, and that means a nice home and plenty of food for her and her siblings, even if she has to contend with her father's spiteful first wife and her sister. Alva Jane looks forward to when she will become a woman and hopefully marry her crush, Joseph John. And for a little while, it seems like that might happen—until she is caught gi
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Dec 31, 2010
Greta is Erikasbuddy
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Keep Sweet.... it's what every girl is taught who is raised in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community. No impure thoughts, do as you are told, give into the hand of man to quench his desires.
Kids... I was raised in a different way... but that shouldn't persuade my review.
This book gives you a glimpse into the life of a 14 year old FLDS girl who lives on a compound in Utah with her father and his seven sister-wives and his 20-something chil More...
Kids... I was raised in a different way... but that shouldn't persuade my review.
This book gives you a glimpse into the life of a 14 year old FLDS girl who lives on a compound in Utah with her father and his seven sister-wives and his 20-something chil More...
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Nov 01, 2010
Jackie
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Alva Jane, 14, lives inside the gated community of Pinecrest, a FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints) stronghold. She lives with her mother, Maureen and father Eldon Ray, and all the sister wives of Eldon. As she approaches her inevitable marriage to a member of the community, she sees her world crumble and fall apart with the decree that she will not be marrying her childhood friend, Joseph John. Instead she will marry Wade, a wicked, abusive man nearly 35 years her senior.
She st More...
She st More...
May 09, 2010
John
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Title: Keep Sweet
Author: Michele Dominguez Greene
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)
Is it just me, or are former television stars really enjoying the YA book world? We have Lauren Conrad (who I still need to try out) and her L.A.Candy novels, Carolyn Henessey from That 70's Show with her Pandora series for Middle Grade students, and in the future, Hilary Duff with Elixir. Naturally, picking up this book came with slight fears of bad writing and a cl More...
Author: Michele Dominguez Greene
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)
Is it just me, or are former television stars really enjoying the YA book world? We have Lauren Conrad (who I still need to try out) and her L.A.Candy novels, Carolyn Henessey from That 70's Show with her Pandora series for Middle Grade students, and in the future, Hilary Duff with Elixir. Naturally, picking up this book came with slight fears of bad writing and a cl More...
Apr 10, 2010
Nancy
rated it:
I found this book hauntingly accurate. The author has done her research and has told a tale of a fictional young woman with a story very similar to many others who have told their story of FLDS women in the culture.
I was a little disappointed with some of the improbable scenarios as I think she may have gotten the LDS church confused with FLDS church which are very, very different. The FLDS don't actively proselyte. The FLDS do not attend BYU because it is difficult to get admitted a More...
I was a little disappointed with some of the improbable scenarios as I think she may have gotten the LDS church confused with FLDS church which are very, very different. The FLDS don't actively proselyte. The FLDS do not attend BYU because it is difficult to get admitted a More...
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Mar 20, 2011
Alva Jane is a 14 year old girl who lives in the oppressive world of the FLDS Church, a product of the polygamist environment that surrounds her. Her life revolves around cooking, cleaning, and minding children. She had a talent for math which the family uses for teaching the children and helping making purchases in town.
Because this is a young adult novel (but I think adults would enjoy it too), Alva has the beginnings of romantic feelings with John Joseph, an up-and-coming potential sta More...
Because this is a young adult novel (but I think adults would enjoy it too), Alva has the beginnings of romantic feelings with John Joseph, an up-and-coming potential sta More...
Nov 02, 2011
Maggie61
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This is a pretty quick read, but one that is hard to read in some parts. Although this book is fiction, the sad thing is that the events are really going on for the people who live in these places and this is not fiction for them. It was really hard to read Alva's beating and even more so her wedding night. It is so hard to believe that people actually live that way and think it's okay to have those kind of rules and that multiple wives and children will secure their place in heaven. The idea
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Jan 25, 2011
Colleen
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I found this young adult novel about life in a polygamist cult to be an incredibly compelling read. Alva Jane is the oldest daughter of a favored wife, and has enjoyed her childhood on the compound, oblivious to the darker tones that underpin her life. She is looking foward to marrying a young man in her community until one innocent stolen kiss shatters all their dreams. Married off to a violent abusive older husband, Alva Jane is forced to take a new look at her life and the lives of those arou
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Apr 05, 2010
Emma
rated it:
Growing up in the small FLDS community of Pineridge, 14-year-old Alva Jane has never questioned the world around her and seems to be headed into a wonderful future. She and the mother are the favorites of her father, she excels at school and gets to work at the small community store. Even more important, her crush returns her affections and plans on taking her as his first wife (as long as it's okay with the prophet).
However, Alva Jane's beliefs are shattered after she is disciplin More...
However, Alva Jane's beliefs are shattered after she is disciplin More...
Jan 25, 2011
love this book, it is really in a different perspective. Where im from if you have more than one wife than there is something wrong with you. We think that it is wrong to have more than one wife if you have more than one wife than we think you wont go to heaven. Bu in the polygamy world they think it is right to have more than one wife, They think you have to have something like 5 wives to get into heaven. This is pretty much a conflict of opinions. Now i think neither one is right or wrong. I t
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Feb 17, 2011
Jenny E
rated it: 
This story read more like a dramatized documentary. I swear I saw an A&E documentary about two girls who escaped a polygamy compound and it went over the social heirarchy in that sect... Or maybe this story was just really well researched. Either way, the story got lost in the details, and I really wish there would have been a reuniting scene at the end instead of just the news report and a more definite future for her established. I don't know if this means there's a sequel in the works or i
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Oct 01, 2010
Meghan
rated it:
Having read Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka and The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams, I was definitely interested in reading another YA novel about polygamous societies. Keep Sweet is just as good as both of these books.
Keep Sweet is about a girl named Alva, living in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community of Pineridge. She never questions her faith, or the fact that her dad has seven wives. She is a perfectly respectable young woman, but all that changes when she is cau More...
Keep Sweet is about a girl named Alva, living in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community of Pineridge. She never questions her faith, or the fact that her dad has seven wives. She is a perfectly respectable young woman, but all that changes when she is cau More...
Dec 16, 2011
Louisa
rated it:
Although The Chosen One is the vastly superior book (the gold medal in the FLDS teen book Olympics), Keep Sweet does have a lot going for it too. Alva Jane is a likable, confused but ultimately brave fourteen-year-old protagonist. The sister wives of her mother are very interesting--although I do wish I knew more. And Alva parent's are really scary...like psycho scary.
As several other readers have already identified, the narrative voice does seem a lot older than a scantly educate More...
As several other readers have already identified, the narrative voice does seem a lot older than a scantly educate More...
Apr 15, 2011
Jill
rated it:
In my opinion, this book was much too graphic and sexual to be considered YA, but not "adult" enough in the writing style, voice, and complexity to be shelved with the adult fiction.
Obviously this is a story that needs telling, but at the same time, it made me wonder if the author ever felt bad about profiting from the pain and misfortune of these poor people. Other reviewers have pointed out novels like it, and I worry it's going to turn into a craze like anorexia-themed More...
Obviously this is a story that needs telling, but at the same time, it made me wonder if the author ever felt bad about profiting from the pain and misfortune of these poor people. Other reviewers have pointed out novels like it, and I worry it's going to turn into a craze like anorexia-themed More...
Jul 28, 2010
Marcia
rated it:
This short, harrowing young adult novel tells the story of Alva Jane, a fourteen-year-old girl living in a Fundamentalist Mormon community. The story is familiar to anyone who's previously read on the subject, and while the pages turn quickly, as you worry for Alva's safety and sanity, the overall experience leaves something to be desired. Alva's voice is inconsistent; sometimes she seems to know nothing about the "Gentile" outside world, at other times she explains her religion and co
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Aug 25, 2011
Rhiannon
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 18, 2011
Sara
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Keep Sweet tells the story of Alva Jane, a girl who is initially happy with her polygamist life as she faces the realities of her community. The author tells a very realistic tale of life for a girl in a FDLS community with a character that middle school girls can relate too. The book opens with a happy girl, her fathers favorite, who has the same hopes and dreams that all girls have. Alva likes math and she's got a crush on a boy who likes her back. When she's caught giving the boy a kiss he
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Jul 20, 2011
Kirby
rated it:
Initially it appeared to me that this was an example of the publishing world reflecting the rest of the entertainment industry, i.e. living by the adage "if it 'aint broke don't fix it" or more along the lines of "x company made a killing off that last project, so we will too if we use the same formula!" (For movie examples see "Autumn in New York" & "Sweet November" or the more recently released "No Strings Attached" and "Friends with Benef
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Apr 23, 2010
Heather
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This book tells the story of Alva Jane, a teenage girl living in a polygamous community. She lives in Pineridge, which is a gated (ie, fenced in like a prison) Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints compound. Alva Jane’s father has seven wives and 29 children; the latest wife was just 16 when she joined the family. Alva Jane has a crush on a boy her age, though she is not yet ready to be married – that is, she hasn’t had her period yet. Naively, Alva Jane thinks that the prophet will assign her to
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Jan 11, 2011
Infinite Playlist
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Inhalt
Alva Jane wächst in einer Gemeinschaft namens Pinerdige in der Wüste Utahs auf. Die Bewohner haben sich der Fundamentalistischen Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage verschrieben und führen ein streng geregeltes Leben. Alva Jane lebt mit ihrem Vater, dessen 7 Frauen und ihren insgesamt 28 Geschwistern zusammen. Polygamie ist in ihrem Dorf eine Pflicht, da sonst weder Mann noch Frauen die Chance auf den Eintritt in das Heilige Reich haben. Sobald Mädchen ihre erste Period More...
Alva Jane wächst in einer Gemeinschaft namens Pinerdige in der Wüste Utahs auf. Die Bewohner haben sich der Fundamentalistischen Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage verschrieben und führen ein streng geregeltes Leben. Alva Jane lebt mit ihrem Vater, dessen 7 Frauen und ihren insgesamt 28 Geschwistern zusammen. Polygamie ist in ihrem Dorf eine Pflicht, da sonst weder Mann noch Frauen die Chance auf den Eintritt in das Heilige Reich haben. Sobald Mädchen ihre erste Period More...
Jun 25, 2010
Allison
rated it:
As interesting as a topic as this is to read about, and believe me, it is, something about this book fell flat for me. Maybe it was the inevitable comparison to The Chosen One, which I loved. Maybe it was just the book itself. But something failed to suck me in completely, so I felt more like I was watching Alva's story from a distance.
Something about Alva's transformation from the completely innocent, 100% faithful girl to one who dreams of escape didn't flow for me. And I'm not say More...
Something about Alva's transformation from the completely innocent, 100% faithful girl to one who dreams of escape didn't flow for me. And I'm not say More...
Jun 13, 2010
Jennifer
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Reviewed by John Jacobson aka "R.J. Jacobs" for TeensReadToo.com
Alva Jane has grown up and forever known the world of Pineridge, a FLDS community in the borders of Utah. The Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints have treated her well, and through all that she's known, they've been right. Holy. And what's more, she's caught the eye of the sweetest boy in the community - Joseph John. When she realizes he shares these unguarded feelings for her as well, her life just seems to be ha More...
Alva Jane has grown up and forever known the world of Pineridge, a FLDS community in the borders of Utah. The Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints have treated her well, and through all that she's known, they've been right. Holy. And what's more, she's caught the eye of the sweetest boy in the community - Joseph John. When she realizes he shares these unguarded feelings for her as well, her life just seems to be ha More...
Jul 25, 2010
Shayla
rated it:
Wow, this one had me feeling a little off and "dirty" for a few days after reading. The details of the FLDS community shown here frightened, enraged and overwhelmed me. I can't say I "really" liked this because it disturbed me so much, and yet, maybe that's why I should put I really liked it. It was a very emotional read for me, so obviously the author did her job. Still...it left me feeling a little empty at the end. I'm not sure how you could write an ending to satisfy afte
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Jul 10, 2010
Iasia
rated it:
this book was the most mind boggoling thing i have read this summer. on one hand i learned the ways of the mormons and the way they lived in the old days . i also learned that there are still some of them that live among us today. but i loved the nobelness that alva jane showed in her attemps of freedom and the determination to make a beeter future for the little one and her child.
p.s. in situations like that i wall NOT keep sweet.
p.s. in situations like that i wall NOT keep sweet.
May 17, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
I could not put this book down in the beginning, but the ending was disappointing - not in what happened, but in the writing. It was like the author wanted to hurry up and finish the book so she started leaving out details. Regardless, it was a good read. Alva Jane "keeps sweet," meaning she is a dutiful and obedient daughter to her father and his 7 wives. Her life falls apart when she is caught kissing a boy and must now marry another man 50 years her senior.
