The Series Zealot

Clap Hands, Robin Jones Gunn's Sierra Jenson and Christy Miller are Redeemed!

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Series Fiction: Judge Not

The Sierra Jenson and Christy Miller series by Robin Gunn are whitebread Christian fiction fare. Harmless as a Sweet Valley Twins, the Sierra and Christy series are a bit overly didactic. Christians in Christy's world are answerable to a stricter set of behavior guidelines than their non-Christian counterparts. When Christy is angry at a friend for misunderstanding her conversion, she quickly checks herself, thinking, "Some Christian you are! Yelling at your best friend! Real Christians don't yell at their best friends!"(Gunn, 5). Here, Gunn marks a delineation between believers and non-believers; anger is clearly for the heathens.

Both series are linked through the association of the main characters. Sierra and Christy are not exactly contemporaries, though they did cross paths on a summer mission trip. The girls' lives are similar as well. Both struggle with issues of faith and acceptance and both look to (male) disciples for guidance. Stylistically, the Sierra Jenson and Christy Miller series are atypical series offerings. Christy and Sierra are not super-heriones, instead, their teen gurus are the perfection symbols. In Christy Miller #4, Surprise Endings, Christy aspires to be her spiritual guide, Todd's, prom date. She is crushed when he confides that he has asked another girl to accompany him. However, when Todd shows Christy his prom pictures, Christy is surprised and, later, ashamed at her earlier motives.

"The picture showed Todd standing tall and dashing in his tux with a teal blue bow tie and matching cummerbund. He looked finer than any knight in shining armor. Jasmine wore a long, blue satin gown with straight, long sleeves. The skirt covered the bottom of her wheelchair, and in her lap lay one long-stemmed rose. . . Jasmine's dark hair was cropped short. Her hands lay useless in her lap, with fingers frozen in a twisted grip. And although she wore makeup, she still had a plain, simple-looking face. . . Jasmine deserved to have a special prom night, and she deserved to have it with Todd"(Gunn, 141).
Although the books do address issues of drug abuse and eating disorders, the topics are covered in a black and white manner; any dubious choices made by the main characters are swiftly punished and Sierra and Christy quickly learn the error of their ways. The ultimate fault of both series lay in Gunn's rapid disqualification of all things un-Christian, as exemplififed in this scene from a Sierra Jenson:
"Paul swished ice cubes around in his nearly empty cup. 'Jalene is. . . well, she's different.'

'You mean she's not Christian,' Sierra said.

Paul looked at her, startled at her discernment. 'I didn't say that.'

'You didn't have to.'"(Gunn, 58)

In spite of religious exclusionism (and this is a large fault to overlook), Gunn's prose is easy to read and even charming; Sierra and Christy are real (for series heroines, that is) and the plots, excepting their at times heavyhanded religious messages, are enjoyable.