Small Town Sinners follows Lacy a sixteen year old Evangelical Christian who has always seen the world as black and white. Now that she is a Junior Lacy is eligible to audition for a part in her churches hell house (a horror house that leads viewers through various sins) and Lacy wants to be the abortion girl. Through a series of events including an old friend returning to town and her sisters best friend's pregnancy Lacy starts to wonder if the world is as black and white as she has always believed.
This was a wonderful look into an evangelical community that was done with respect. Lacy is believable as a small town religious girl who has always followed her parents teaching and rules without question. The framework of the hellhouse along with the disruptions in her friends allowed for a believable trigger for Lacy to question how she viewed her faith. This book somehow manages to walk the line both respecting and criticizing religion at the same time and I feel religious readers as well as those who have viewed religion from the outside will enjoy the book. It is neither preachy nor anti-religion and I do not feel it would offend religious readers. The real message one gets from the book is not that religion is bad but that one must make their own decisions about their beliefs and being kind, forgiving and understanding is better than sitting in judgement. I was very engrossed in the story and finished the book within hours.
Appropriateness: There is no adult content in the book however the book does deal with discussions of teen pregnancy, drunk driving, abortion and bullying. There are a lot of discussions of hypocritical behavior by adults and kids and Lacy sneaks out and lies to her parents multiple times (to do things that she feels she needs to do). I would recommend this book to teens 13+
