High Desert Secrets

She lay there a moment letting her eyes become accustomed to the cavern’s dimness. Suddenly she stiffened. The cave was not empty!

Book: High DesertSecrets by Joan Rawlins Biggar, Concordia Publishing House, 1992

Genre: Adventure

Target Audience:

Subjects: Honesty, Trust in God

Summary: Jodi is dismayed when her summer plans, of working on setting up a museum at the old house they’ve found, are ruined. But a short time later she finds herself on an entirely different kind of adventure that is just as exciting. Some family friends invite Jodi, Mike and Billy to their ranch in Oregon. Before long they’re riding horses, meeting mysterious guests on the ranch, discovering a cave and much to Jodi’s delight, hanging out with good looking young ranch hand, Tyler. The kids are too busy to mourn the loss of their original plans! And if they can solve a mystery in the process the summer will be even better!

Notes: This is the fourth in the Adventure Quest series about a set of siblings and their cousin who get into adventures and solve mysteries on their travels. In this one, the spiritual issue is honesty. Jodi discovers something and tries to justify not telling anyone about it. She doesn’t speak a lie, she just withholds the truth. Through the example of another, she realizes that this is as dishonest as speaking a lie. There’s almost a mini lesson it as well, about being content. Jodi thinks her summer will be ruined when they are told they can’t work on the museum and at the end of the book admits that it was a great time after all.

Recommendation Scale: 4/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Ephesians 4:25 – Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.