Pacific Cascades University Series

Questar, $5.99 each

College Series Helps Teens Face
Campus Challenges

Finding good books for teens leads to a chicken-and-egg scenario. Is it because publishers aren't publishing or because kids at that age aren't reading? Palisades (a division of Questar Publishers) has recently taken steps to break this cycle with the newly developed Pacific Cascades University Series. Everybody knows teens like to read about people just a little older than they are, and what better way to prepare girls for college life than to present a series in that setting.

Some of today's topnotch young writers have created good story lines, characters, and situations, all set in Seattle at a fictional university on the west coast. To give a reality check, these writers meet once a year with a pastor and eight college freshmen as the PCU Writers Guild to develop stories that actually reflect what young people are facing on the college campus today.

The PCU series includes nine key characters whose lives interact to form the core relationships in all the books. Each book centers on one character, but all nine play some minor role in each of the stories. Plans call for the series to follow these characters throughout their college careers.

Introducing the series is a story called Freshman Blues (what else?) by Wendy Lee Nentwig, which was issued this past summer. Emily Stewart is the first-year college coed who must deal with a sloppy roommate, financial aid hassles, overprotective brother, making new friends, inedible dorm food, and of course, tough moral decisions. Fortunately, she rediscovers an incredible source of strength that will see her through the year and beyond.

Homeward Heart by well known author Lissa Halls Johnson also came out in the summer of '96. This title has more focus on one basic problem as Maddy MacDonald's party-loving boyfriend leads her to the edge of dismissal.

More recently released is True Identity, book 3, by Bernie Sheahan. Originally from Nashville, Kenzie Dawson is the daughter of a Christian music mogul. She hopes to hide her identity from her friends at PCU, but her roommate turns out to be a Christian music fan and her romantic interest hopes to be a Christian music star. Kenzie comes alive in the latter part of the book as she makes progress toward answering tough questions.

Spring Break, book 4, by Wendy Lee Nentwig, also tells the story of a girl who went to PCU to escape some part of her past (in this case a modeling career) and find something totally new. But Cooper Ellis finds it's a long, long way from New York to Seattle and sometimes the people you wind up liking the most are those from your own hometown.

The Pacific Cascades University Series offers good stories about the new challenges coeds face at college. Teen readers will enjoy their lingo, their rapid pace, romance, and Christian answers to campus challenges. And they make good gifts for under the tree too.

Copyright ©1996, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com