57) Faking Faith

Bibliography: Bloss, Josie; Faking Faith; Flux; New York; 2011; 240 pages; ISBN 978-0-73872-757-8.

Plot:  After a humiliating sexting incident and horrible breakup, Dylan has become an outcast at her high school.  Everyone ignores her and she has been abandoned by her two best friends.  Dylan’s only escape is reading the blogs of homeschooled fundamentalist Christian girls.  She figures she can pass as one of them and starts up her own blog as Faith.  She soon becomes very close to another girl, Abigail, and asks if Abigail’s family will host her for a couple weeks during summer vacation.  While staying with Abigail and her family, Dylan learns things about herself and learns the consequences of her actions as a false identity. 

Review:  This is such a great book.  I had tried reading Bloss' "Albatross" before, and was unable to get into it, but this book grabbed me.  It is told in first person narrative, giving the reader an inside look into Dylan's actions.  The story begins at a start of the year party where Dylan makes out with one of the popular boys.  Her actions lose are not supported by her two best friends and in the end Dylan alienates herself from them.  While her relationship with the popular boy does not last, her life is changed forever by dating him.  Her junior year of school ends in shambles.  Dylan is lonely and has been named the "school slut."  She has no friends and feels that the only thing worth value in her life is the internet.
Dylan stumbles upon the blogs of some homeschooled fundamentalist Christian girls.  She finds the life these girls’ leads fascinating and starts her own blog and a new identity.  Through her new identity, Dylan learns how to deal with the mistakes she made and is able to reconnect herself to the real world.

This book was so awesome!  Bloss shows the reader the importance of finding oneself.  This is a great book for young teens to read to inspire them.  The relationship that Dylan develops with Abigail is so interesting.  It gives Dylan the opportunity to re-evaluate her situation and come to realize her life isn't as bad as she believed it was.  The time that Dylan spends with the Dean family is so interesting.  Getting to learn a new viewpoint on the world is a great asset of the book.  While the book ends on a good note, I actually felt sad for Abigail and Asher.  I was hoping all through the book that Dylan would be able to influence Abigail into finding a different life.  Unfortunately, Abigail is devoted to her faith and the story ends with her devotion intact.  I would love to see what happens to Dylan and Asher in the future.  Bloss definitely left me wanting more on these two characters at the end of the book.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 12 and up

Related Books: Relative Strangers by Jean Ferris; Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden; Best Foot Forward by Joan Bauer

Reader’s Advisory:

When Dylan finds herself an outcast in her high school, she reaches out to find a new identity through blogging.  Blogging shows her a world she would have never experienced otherwise.

Author’s Website: http://josiebloss.com/