Leave it to Claire by Tracey Bateman Published by: Warner Faith (2006) 320 pages Rating: 7/10 Buy it Now:    Also by Tracey Bateman: Claire Knows Best I Love Claire Thirsty

When I was checking around on this title, I noticed it referred to as "mom lit." I didn't even know such a classification had been invented. Apparently, rather than just aimed at female readers in general, it's targeted more specifically at readers who are moms, I assume.

Fortunately, Leave it to Claire is entertaining and interesting enough that you don't have to be a mom to enjoy it. Claire, the protagonist, is a single mom raising four kids while trying to to maintain a writing career (yep, it's another writer writing about being a writer). One son is wearing all black and hoping to be a championship skateboarder, one is addicted to video games, and the other is perfect. Or is he? Meanwhile, Claire's daughter is humiliated and annoyed by her mother's very presence, and Claire's own mother is moving away. Oh, and Claire's ex-husband's new wife wants to be her friend.

Life can be a mess sometimes, and Claire resolves to get hers cleaned up. She makes a list of things to accomplish in her life and sets out to do them, despite facing surgery and a few other problems.

Leave it to Claire is written in a first-person easy-going narrative that is very similar to the writings of Lisa Samson. Claire is a likeable character, and a very flawed Christian. While certain resolutions and plot points are predictable, the writing is entertaining enough to keep things moving.

And it raises some difficult questions. Claire's ex-husband cheated on her repeatedly, but has now become a Christian, along with his new wife. What kind of forgiveness and reconcliation can there be in a situation like that? Is it even realistic to be "friends" with that couple? Thought-provoking, to say the least.

While it may be targeted at moms, Leave it to Claire should be a good read for anyone who enjoys Christian fiction. Recommended.