The Jewels of Tessa Kent

Out of the several books I read this year, the one that really captured my attention was The Jewels of Tessa Kent by Judith Karntz. As I read line after line it became very hard to put the book down, because it brought up different obstacles that a teenage girl may come across in her life time and as a teenager that is something I can relate too. It was so good that at times I felt as if I was Tessa Kent. The very vivid imagery of everything that was happening and the use of ethos, logos, and pathos throughout this book is what really keeps the reader interested. In this novel Tessa has a best friend named Mimi and they are about fifteen years old. Mimi is more of a dare devil or “bad influence” and Tessa is a good girl but is just easily influenced and lets her curiosity gets the best of her. As for Tessa’s parents her mother is a stay at home mom but she is the type that strives to make sure her daughter becomes something in life and for the dad he works to provide for her dreams. So it was a big disappointment/ embarrassment to them when they found out that their innocent daughter was pregnant. Her mom then makes the decision to say the baby is hers so that her daughter can have a second chance at fulfilling her dreams of becoming and actress. I personally believe that Judith Karntz does an amazing job at portraying the peer pressure teens get from their so called “friends”, but the unconditional love a mother has for her child and the distance they will go in order to see their child succeed in life. This novel teaches an important life lesson that just because we make mistakes or have obstacles in our path there is always a way to overcome it and become anything we want in