Review and give away: Donut Days (Lara Zielin)

Title: Donut Days

Author: Lara Zielin

Genre: Fiction/Youth Lit

Pages: 246
Rating: 4 out of 5
FTC Disclosure: I got this Advance Uncorrected Galley copy for free from the editor (and, by the way, didn't find mistakes... excellent!)
Summary: (from the back): Emma has a lot going on. Her best friend's not speaking to her, a boy she's known all her life is suddenly smokin' hot and in love with her, and oh yes, her evangelical minister parents may lose their church, especially if her mother keeps giving sermons saying Adam was a hermaphrodite.


But this weekend, Emma's only focused on Crispy Dream, a hot new donut franchise opening in town where Harley bikers and Frodo wannabes camp out waiting to be the first ones served. Writing the best feature story on the camp for the local paper might just win Emma a scholarship to attend a non-Christian college. But soon enough Emma finds the donut camp isn't quite the perfect escape from all her troubles at Living Word Redeemer.

Review: This was the first unsolicited book I've received for review so that in and of itself was fun! And, this book wasn't what I expected; I thought it would be a chick lit book about a donut shop. I didn't think it was going to be so much about Emma's church and moral conflicts amongst Emma and the people in her life. I liked that it had more depth to it than I expected!


Because of the issues (should women be allowed to preach) at Emma's church there was a lot of introspective dialogue and consideration on her part, which was really interesting. The characters struggle with judging people based on looks, the influence of wealth and power, and the ability to share what's going on with those around you, both within the nuclear family and within the larger sphere of friends. I really liked that Emma and her friend Nat are brutally honest with one another in the end and that, even though things aren't perfect, the reader gets the feeling that with time and honesty, the characters will eventually work things out. And, that's how it is in life. Things aren't always rosy and perfect!


If you'd like the chance to win my copy of this book, I am doing my first give away! Fill in the form below to enter. Deadline to enter is January 15, 2010.