Review: Empathetic and Engaging!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 13, 2013
The author paints a clear picture of the oft clashing cultures of Christianity, Humanism and Muslim and offers us three strong young women who must, for the sake of a class, work together to investigate each other's religions. D.L Sleiman does an excellent job of respectfully delving into each one, revealing their strengths and weakness in clear, honest investigation. The characters of Allie, Rain, and Layla feel real and deep. As each of them goes about sharing about their upbringings, their families and their trials and blessings from their own perspectives, the reader is given an empathetic look into the stresses and pressures each culture applies.Writing a novel from three different points of view is no easy task--but the author does so seamlessly. I was never left feeling that one character got more page time than another. Having grown up in a cultural area heavy with Christian, pagan and humanistic beliefs, I can say she did a great job portraying those cultures. And having only heard what the media portrays as truth from a Muslim perspective, I found that introduction honest and respectful. All in all, Sleiman used a gentle, respectful, loving hand to guide the reader into areas they might never have tread before.The only down side for me was the use of The Message as a true biblical translation--which it's not. I think a lot of Christian churches include it these days, trying to connect with youth better, but I've found it lacking in many ways, and sometimes out and out wrong in its interpretation. Outside of this criticism, this book was heart-touching and real, examining the struggles we all have in connecting respectfully to one another--and how we can honestly share our faith in a true, loving, impactful way.  I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!