Ask Lily

Rue's appealing series has made consistent appearances on the CBA bestseller list since it began last year. It's no wonder Lily, a brainy middle-schooler, is both lively and lifelike, much more robust than her counterparts in other religious-themed fiction. The problems she faces tend to be staples of girls' series: in Ask, for example, Lily starts an advice column in her school paper and ends up needing a dose of her own counsel. When she turns into a ""rebel,"" Lily becomes interested in Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi and goes overboard with her desire to improve students' treatment at school. But Rue develops these conflicts with imagination and sympathy for her character. Lily's parents and her stalwart friends redirect her to prayer and God. Fortunately, the parents are free-thinking enough that their responses may catch readers off-guard once in a while. A hallmark of this series is its nonfiction tie-ins; companion volumes offer straight, candid and Christian advice on topics related to the novels' themes. For these novels, there will be The Blurry Rules Book: It's a God Thing ($7.99 paper -70152-X) and The It's MY Life Book: It's a God Thing ($7.99 paper, -70153-8), both by Rue. A YWOF (Young Woman of Faith) journal and Bible are also available. (Sept.)