No Guys Pact

Holly's Heart #9

by Beverly Lewis

While trying to earn money to help a friend attend church camp, fourteen-year-old Holly and several other girls have fights with the boys in their lives, causing all kinds of trouble during the week at camp

Genres: Teen, Contemporary, Christian Fiction

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a teenager, I greatly enjoyed this book, along with the rest of the series. However, I cannot recommend it to young girls because of the silly, flippant way in which Holly and her friends change from one boyfriend to another.

[Rhys-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back Cover Blurb:

Holly and her friends are looking forward to an entire week of bonding over nature hikes and campfires--not to mention the cute guys--at their church camp in the mountains. But when she discovers that Amy-Liz can't afford to go, Holly and her best friend, Andie, cook up an amazing plan to raise money for the newly established church-camp fund. No one will be left out of these adventures!

But when they arrive, the girls aren't having any fun. The guys' mean pranks and total cluelessness are making for a less-than-enjoyable camping experience. How did the guys of Dressel Hills become so rude? When the girls create a secret society to teach the guys a lesson, the guys retaliate, and soon there's an all-out war between the guys and the girls! Can they ever learn to respect each other? An unexpected source suggests that perhaps the girls could learn their own lesson!

My Review: Rereading this book in a series I enjoyed a couple of years ago was quite an experience. I realized just how much Holly thinks about boys--especially at her age! She and the other girls in her youth group seem to think about nothing but boys, and even though in this book they refuse to speak to any, this book doesn't stray from the pattern.

I also realized what an unlikable character Andie was. I wonder that she had any friends at all. However, Holly wasn't much better. The side characters were okay, and I love Kayla and Paula's character voices. This book had a good description of setting, and I felt as though I knew what it was like to go to church camp in Ouray, Colorado.

The Christian content, however, felt slightly tacked on. I think it might have been that way with the rest of the series, too. But at the end, there was a bit of good theme regarding unity among Christians.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Quickie Review

After a bit of a hiatus from the Holly's Heart series, I am now back into it! This one feels like a cross between VeggieTales and Lizzie McGuire, and makes for enjoyable reading. Of course, if you didn't enjoy the first novel or two in the series, you wouldn't even care about this one...right?

Content Concerns: Some Nickelodeon-sitcom-esque pratfalls. A prank involves the girls' underwear being put on display, but that is vilified.

Score: 4/5

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F LEW hh bk.9

[Theo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Please don't ask what possessed me to pick this book up.

I WANT MY TWENTY MINUTES BACK.

[Rachel]

I love this series!

[Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great :)

[Sheila Samuelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in 2004