title: Chelsea and the Outrageous Phone Bill (Best Friends, Book 1)
author: Hilda Stahl
description: Grade 5-8-- When her family moves to Michigan, Chelsea is especially hard hit about leaving her longtime best friend. Lonely, she begins to make frequent secret long distance phone calls to Sidney; she is found out when the bill arrives. Stahl uses this situation to illustrate the need for children to obey their parents, to call on God for guidance, and to show the difficulties that arise when they do not. That heavy-handed message overshadows the story; the word ``obey'' is used repeatedly and exclusively, without the relief of synonyms. The parents' advice about God often sounds as if it were being delivered from a pulpit. Also, there is an apparent lack of love among the members of the family--one of the most basic of Christian values. Another problem is that readers never learn how the characters feel about the various scenarios, making their personality changes--such as Mom and Dad's promise to help Chelsea when she confesses--seem sudden. --Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC<BR>Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: Executive Sweet
  Book 1
  by Alexis Adaire
  
  Copyright © 2014 by Alexis Adaire
  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced
  or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of
  the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
  Published by Twisted Pair Publishing
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and
  incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
  fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
  actual events is purely coincidental.
  UUID: 34c92d1b-3fec-49d6-9cdf-298576ea1e4c
  TwistedPairPublishing.com
  
  Table of Contents
  Cover
  Title Page
  Copyright Page
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  More From Alexis Adaire
  Alexis Adaire Biography
  
  Chapter 1
  Chelsea Broussard was venting at Odyssey, the bar at the Benton Hotel in
  downtown Chicago. She’d had a shitty Friday to cap off a shitty week, and
  though it was only February