Amazon Lynn Dove - Author Amazon.ca chapters.indigo.ca Category:  Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Word Alive Press ISBN-10:  1926676394 Type: Fiction Pages: 160 Copyright: Nov. 2, 2009 ISBN-13: 9781926676395 Shoot the Wounded, the first book in the “Wounded Trilogy“ is written for youth and young adults, addresses how lies and gossip destroy a person’s spirit. It speaks to the heart of relevant themes such as bullying, teen pregnancy and family violence all the while pointing the characters and ultimately the reader, to hope in Jesus Christ. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5x5P_PPEXU Excerpt

This was a gripping book
Best friends Leigh and Ronnie have grown apart now that they are in high school. But then Jake movies to town and seems to bring them back together. At first. Then the rumors start. And Leigh can't believe that her friends could have done the things people say. Her heart is broken. What is it with people who claim to be Christians but don't live like one?

This was a gripping book. I read through it in one day. What I liked most about it, and what I think makes it different from every other Christian contemporary teen book I've read, is that it deals with assumption. We all do this. We assume we know what's going on everywhere. We hear something--what is truly a rumor or gossip--and we accept it as fact. We jump to what we feel is the obvious conclusion. Then we let it color our opinion of a person. I really enjoyed thinking about this as I read this story and watched what happened as people assumed they knew what was going on. This is a great read for teens.
-Novel Teen-

I recommend this book to both teens and parents
"Shoot The Wounded" centers around the small town and families of Maplewood. Leigh and Ronnie were best friends in grade school, things changed as they started high school. Their family life was very different. In her teen years Ronnie turned wild. Jake was a new boy in the neighborhood. Soon problems arise though between Leigh, Ronnie, Jake and others at school. Jake has a past that is about to threaten his friendship with Leigh and Ronnie.

This book digs deep into the lives of youth, the rumors, and the gossip. Words can damage people. That's when you find out who are your real friends. The characters are well developed. I recommend this book to both teens and parents. I believe it will open dialogue between them. Shoot The Wounded reflects on many of the issues teenagers have to contend with today, pregnancy, drinking, family values and peer pressure.
-ReadersFavorite.com-

Rumor Weeds
When the seeds of doubt or suspicion take root, they become watered with additional thoughts on it and begin to grow, soon becoming fact in our own suspicious little minds. So it goes with "Shoot the Wounded" when things appear a certain way. We are quick to point the finger and "shoot" our own. Christians are just as guilty as non-Christians in their finger-pointing. It quickly worsens when we verbalize our suspicions with others. They then add water to an already growing perceived "truth," feeling free to spread this as fact to others, sometimes disguised as prayer requests. Even when the gossip proves false, the scars remain. There could also remain some thread of doubt among the accusers. Mistrust. Wonder.

Because of the believability of a story, I haven't come across too many really good Christian books but this one hits the spot! While it's true that I almost wrote the ending of this one off as "contrived," the author pulled it together nicely.
-Love Starbucks-