Lassie: Hayloft Hideout

Sarah said slowly, almost to herself, “You guys live here, don’t you?” Briny started to protest. Sarah just stared at her until Briny said in a small voice, “Don’t tell anyone, Sarah, please.”

Book: Lassie, Hayloft Hideout by Marian Bray, Chariot Books, 1996

Genre: Adventure, Animal Stories

Target Audience: Boys and Girls 10-14

Subjects: Stealing, Lying, Trust in God, Showing love to others

Summary: Jimmy is interested in one thing and one thing only right now: winning the contest to be the one to meet football hero, Blair Coughlin. But Sarah has a different priority right now, and that priority is causing her to do things she never would have dreamed she would do things like lying to her parents and stealing. A family of six kids is living out in an abandoned barn because their parents are both dead and they will be split up and sent to various foster homes if they get caught. Sarah and Jimmy’s goals conflict when Jimmy brings home the money he raised for the contest and Sarah steals it to give to the kids. Something has to change – but what?

Notes: This is one of the books in the Lassie series, based off of the TV shows. In this book Jimmy and Sarah both have lessons to learn. Jimmy learns about showing love to others when a kid on his team is accused of being the one to steal the money just because he’s quiet and shy and others don’t know a lot about him. By the end of the book he has shifted his priorities to put showing love to others as a higher priority than meeting his hero. Sarah has to learn to trust God and the adults in her life. She quickly falls into believing that not telling the adults and letting the kids stay in an abandoned barn is what’s best for them and even agrees to steal and lie for them. She has to learn to trust and to be trustworthy. It’s sort of a look at doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

1 Samuel 15::22 –But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.