The Choice

 Her eyes were so full of worry, he couldn’t tell if she was mad at him or not. How could she not be? He thought miserably as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his dungarees and walked away from them kicking at the dirt. I messed this all up. She wouldn’t believe me now if I told her I was just trying to protect Bud. Nobody would. And maybe he couldn’t blame them. What if Abe does die? Will thought. It’s my fault. How did I make the wrong choice? I tried so hard to guess what Jesus would want me to do –

Book: The Choice by Nancy Rue, Bethany House Publishers/Focus On The Family, 2002

Genre: Historical Fiction

Target Audience: Boys 10-14

Subjects: World War II, Friendship, Relationship with family, faith, hope, prayer

Summary: The war is at it’s end. Hitler is dead and some soldiers are on their way home – including Fawn’s dad. But not Will’s yet. And there’s still some battles to be fought. When Will, Miguel and the others discover a military site in the hills above their town and when Will pieces together parts of overheard conversations, he realizes that once again, someone he cares about could be in serious trouble. He also soon realizes that he has no desire to involve some of the others in trying to help. He doesn’t want them in trouble. But when they get involved anyway, Abe winds up in the hospital with severe injuries. Now Will really has no idea what to do. How can he help? How can he do what Jesus wants when he has no idea anymore what that is? He has many mentors in his life, but the things that are going on seem too big to share with anyone.

Notes: This is the fifth set of books in the Christian Heritage Series. Each set focuses on a particular time period and tells the story of a young boy growing up in that time. This set is about a young boy who is growing up during World War II while his father is off fighting in the battles. In this book, Will is still trying to take matters into his own hands when troubles come. He has learned to listen to and try to follow Jesus, but he still feels he has to DO something about all the troubles. He isn’t perfect at the end of this book, but he takes another major step in trusting God to take control of the troubles and concerns that come his way.

Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Joshua 24:15 – But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”