Struggling 17-year-old high school senior Adele has a secret . . . she's homeless. Adele enjoys being with the "nice kids" in the church youth group, but she has more in common with the young people who live on the streets. Which group of friends will she choose? And what's God's role in her life? 224 pages, softcover from NavPress.

Average Customer Rating:

3.8

out of

(8 Reviews) 8

Rating Snapshot (8 reviews)

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

2 out of 2100%customers would recommend this product to a friend.

Customer Reviews for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Review 1 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

A truly touching novel!

Date:July 18, 2011

Lala

Top 100 Contributor

Age:18-24

Gender:female

Quality:

5 out of 5

Value:

5 out of 5

Meets Expectations:

5 out of 5

Wow this book really hit me hard! It really made me think about teenagers who are going through a situation like Adele and what I would do! Would act like your her preppy "friends" or what I act more like Pastor Roland in helping her? Was a truly touching novel, but I was sort of bummed how fast the ending was summed up! However I think it was probably the best way to go! Overall this is an amazing book even if it is slightly depressing (I actually wanted to stop reading it and put it down for a while then I thought how some people really live Adele's life and can't simply put a book down as I wanted to! That thought totally made me complete it and I'm glad I did!)! I can't wait to read the rest of the series! This was a great first book of the Secrets Series!

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Review 2 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Lies Always Have Consequences

Date:November 4, 2010

Christy Janes

Top 100 Contributor

Age:25-34

This novel shares a heartwrenching story about a teenager with a loser mom and a runaway dad. While most of us don't have to deal with the drama of deadbeat parents, we probably even less have thoughts of having to live on the street or out of our cars. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be totally alone and homeless, I really give Adele a lot of credit for sticking it out as long as she did before turning to the only One who would be able to change her life.

The biggest lesson that I took away from this book was that lies always find you out in the end. In Adele's case, one of her "so-called" friends discovered the truth on her own, leaving Adele to fess up to her lies and the consequences. And poor girl, just when she decided to start being honest, she got another realization of just how unfair life sometimes is.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the ending. I didn't like that it ended up "several months later," and instead, would've liked some of the first portion of the book to have been shortened just a bit to allow for a more fleshed out conclusion.

Other than that, I thought this was another excellent book perfect for teenagers that's got a lot of lessons on honesty and genuineness. I'm anxious to see what the rest of the Secrets series has in store.

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Review 3 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

2 out of 5

Date:September 20, 2010

Deana Watson

Please take my personal review of Forgotten with a grain of salt. This is my first review for NavPress. The way this program works is that when you sign up to review for them, they offer you a few books to choose from, I believe it was 3. I prefer Christian Historical Fiction/Romance but that category was not available. I had a hard time with Forgotten being written in first person. I picked it up thinking, I committed to this review, so lets get reading. The very first page caught me and before I knew it, I was a third of the way through the book which was good. Then it slowed down, for me, because of the first person narrative mainly. The other characters were not as well developed as I wouldve liked either as this was written for teens. I began to wonder: Where this book was going to end up at? Was she possibly going to attempt suicide? Where was God in this book except to criticize Adeles Christian friends? Why would a teen want to read this as opposed to a classic that deals with the same issues? The story deals with all my questions eventually. It wraps up quite quickly, however, which was disappointing too, and made me think, Is this how teens today expect a book to end, abruptly and neatly tied up with a bow? My last question to myself is, Would I let my teen read this book? I have to answer, "I doubt it," because there is so much classical literature that addresses the issues of abandonment, neglect, societys responsibilities toward the poor and homeless, social stigmas, etc. and does a better job of it, too. That's why they're called classics afterall, right? Ive had a hard time writing this review because, well, who would want to give a negative review? Ive not read this author before and as stated earlier, this genre would not have otherwise interested me. You can see my other reviews here: www.deanawat.blogspot.com

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Review 4 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5

Date:August 29, 2010

Kimberlee

What would you do if you and your mom moved to a new town, and then your mom skipped town leaving you alone to fend for yourself? That is the problem that faces the main character of this book. It shows us how many times we look at others with blinkers on. We want to see the pretty side to everything, and oftentimes we fail to see beneath the surface to the chaos. In this, the first book of her new series "Secrets", Melody does a very good job of taking us below the surface of Adele's life. This story begins with Adele's bi-polar mom getting a new job in a different town. She and Adele pack up everything and move hoping for a fresh start. Adele begins her Senior year of High School as part of the in crowd, and begins to live a life of fiction. Using the difficult situation that Adele faces, Melody explores the difficulties in maintaining friendships when you use pretense to mask the chaos going on in your life. You can only have true friendships if you are being true with them and yourself.I was very taken with Melody Carlson's writing style and storytelling in this book. The ending of this book could have been fleshed out a lot more, but overall I enjoyed the book. It is written in the first person, but that did not annoy me in this instance as it has with other authors. It is the first book by her that I have read, but I can assure you that it won't be the last. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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Review 5 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Date:August 21, 2010

Destiny

Adele Porters life finally seems to be improving when her bipolar mother lands a well-paying job and moves them into a comfortable condo in a new city. However, this all changes when Adeles mother suddenly abandons her. Melody Carsons Forgotten: Seventeen and Homeless shows Adeles rise to a faux-rich and popular high school senior and her fall to a homeless, friendless girl living in an old van nicknamed Darth Vader.The premise of this young adult book is interesting and heartbreaking. Adele is a well-developed character that captures readers hearts. Her story reinforces how easily anyone can become homeless. Her life seems to get worse and worse until she finally seeks the help of a pastor she meets at a local mission. Up until this point, Adele does not have much faith in God. Since Forgotten is a Christian work, I felt this transformation was rather predictable.While the book focuses on Adele, many other characters with interesting histories are introduced. However, each one completely vanishes with no explanation as to what happens to them. For example, Adele meets Cybil, another homeless teenager. She also meets a seemingly nice coworker named Genevieve. Then, there is Adeles mother. Readers are not told what happens to any of these characters. I believe these characters simply vanish, to let readers experience what Adele is going through. Neither Adele nor the reader has any idea what happens to these people. Still, I would have liked to know their outcome.Overall, Forgotten: Seventeen and Homeless is a good read. I would recommend it to readers interested in teenage fiction.I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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Review 6 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Date:August 11, 2010

debs

Adele is a 17 yr old High School student that is trying to get through her senior year and on to college. Starting fresh Adele and her mom are getting a new start in a rich town, with rich teenagers. Adele makes new friends, loves her school and is having a good time, and then everything starts to fall apart. Her mom loses her job, leaves town with her new boyfriend leaving Adele behind. Evicted from her apartment, Adele has to shift her thoughts about being homeless and having to only care about survival. This is a story about friendship, heartache, commitment and homelessness that is very common in todays world. I became much attached to Adele and her feelings, this book made my heartache and I wanted to reach out and bring her into my home. I read this book in one sitting because I became so attached to Adele and wanted her to have a happy ending. The book has a great message - GOD is the true meaning to happiness and that is all you need in life. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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Review 7 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Date:August 8, 2010

L. Miller

Top 25 Contributor

Forgotten by Melody Carlson is the first book in her Secrets series. Seventeen-year-old Adele faces pretty tough circumstances when her mother leaves, she is evicted from her apartment, she begins working at a nursing home, and is eventually forced to live in an old van. Too embarrassed to tell her wealthy friends what is going on in her life, Adele continually lies to them and tries to cover up the truth of her new, homeless life. When everyone finds out the truth, what will she do?Melody Carlson is a fantastic writer. The story is told from Adele's perspective, and you can really FEEL what she is experiencing. It really opens your eyes to a way of life that most readers have probably never experienced firsthand. This book is geared toward a teenage audience, and would be perfect for several friends to read together. The discussion questions at the end would help girls digest the tough topics discussed in the book. Plus, the book is a pretty easy read - I started and finished in a day. The one thing I was disappointed in was that the book came to a pretty quick conclusion. I felt like it was about to have a "to be continued" ending, but suddenly everything was wrapped up and done. However, I can't wait to see what Melody writes next.I received a FREE copy of this book from NavPress Publishers in exchange for my fair and honest review.

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Review 8 for Forgotten, The Secrets Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Date:August 7, 2010

CTF Devourer

Once again, Melody Carlson wakes us up to the real world and throws it in our faces and forces us to think about it. There's no hiding in our nice safe comfortable homes when we pick up one of her books. The world is ugly and teen girls have to know how to respond to this ugliness. Melody Carlson takes them to the Bible, to Christians, to Christ, and shows them how. In this book, the character has to learn that Someone out there truly does care about her, and hurt for her. He's not ready to ditch her because her home life or lack thereof is a mess.On the other hand, it's not the most powerful at communicating the message of that love. She did a good job, but she's done better. This is the first in a new series: Secrets.

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