Angry by Laura L. Smith

Angry is a new young adult novel written by Laura L. Smith, which tells the story of a well adjusted, "normal" 16 year old girl who devotes herself  into her new role in the high school play to escape the pain of her parent's divorce.  I am sure many teenagers can relate to this story of divorce especially in today's society.  Obviously, considering this novel is written for teens, the emotions are a bit one sided as it does not consider the parents' point of views.  Even though divorce is a difficult thing for anyone to deal with, the reader can not feel too sorry for Emma, the beautiful, popular, talented young girl who has her friends and a leading role in a play to fall back on as a release from her pain. Furthermore, she has her own car (a Jetta) at age 16 and babysits her siblings as a job to earn money.  In fact throughout the book a few  references are made to a past relationship Emma had with a boyfriend from the school year before in which Emma spent a month believing she might be pregnant. Obviously this indicates she doesn't have a difficult time finding dates either.  Other than the divorce part, which is a common thing that many young people as well as families go through these days, the heroine of this novel, Emma, is a character that many young girls in secular society, would envy.   Dispersed throught the book, are some quick prayers that Emma makes to God during the difficult times she faces when dealing with her parents.  No where in the book, is there any positive indication that Emma is specifically a Christian that had placed her trust in the Lord.  Apparently she has sexual relationships, and worldy ties that are opposed to the Christian lifestyle.  It is not obvious through her prayers as to whether it is just out of  religious/ superstitious tradition or habit or from true faith. Nevertheless at the end of the book, after she succesfully performs in her play in front of a packed audience, her attitude changes as she decides not to let the divorce get the best of her and that she has other talents and things going for her life such as her involvement in Drama. This 155 page fast paced story is easy to read in one sitting.  As for the title of the book, I must say that Emma's reactions are in no way innappropriate by the standards of today's society, and she does not come acroos as being abnormally angry either.  As far as Emma's decision to have sex before marriage, it was clearly established in this book that the relationship in question took place long before her parents decided to get a divorce.  In fact perhaps that divorce was a catalyst for Emma to seek a more productive outlet such as acting, rather than sexual relationships, to find fullfillment in her own life.  As a blogger for Navpress I recieved a free copy of this book for the purposes of this review.