Like it or not, I
was the one taking care of her. I was the one she’d always depended on. Not
that preacher. He wasn’t family. He couldn’t be trusted and neither could my
mother. So I vowed then and there, no matter what, I’d protect Jessie from
harm. But what I really wanted was someone to protect me.
Genre: Realistic Fiction (with a
supernatural element)
Target Audience: Girls 16+
Subjects: Faith, Family Relationships,
Guilt, the Supernatural
Summary: Guilt is a powerful force. It
can control every move we make. Elvira knows that well. It’s her fault her dad
is dead. It’s her fault her little sister is growing up without a dad. It’s her
fault they live in a dysfunctional family. And she’s determined to make up for
it by taking care of her little sister – even when her little sister starts
becoming strange – saying things that no one could possibly know before they
happened. Driven out of town by stares and horrified comments, Elvira, her
mother, sister and grandmother set off across the country with the preacher man
in search of elusive hope. What they find is not what they ever expected or
imagined.
Notes: This is a realistic story of a
young girl’s emotional struggles for acceptance, forgiveness and love. The
supernatural element is the little sister’s ability to see things that haven’t
happened yet. She tells a little girl not to ride double on a bike and when the
girl does anyway, she crashes and dies. She starts chanting about “seeing Ray” –
the father that died, that she never even met. So the whole family takes a
journey in hopes of finding him. Along the way, Elvira learns a bit about faith
in God and forgiveness. The spiritual elements aren’t the theme, the suffering
is really the theme. But the author does a good job using the spiritual
elements to help the character grow and move past her sufferings and her past.She also has a really good discussion with the preacher man about how people view God - he shares about his father believing God to be an angry, cruel, taskmaster, ready to punish whereas He views God as loving. By the end of the story, Jessie's insights are seen as messages from God rather than something to fear. He is using Jessie to lead and guide them where He wants them to be.
Spiritual Content
Recommendation Scale: 4/5
Reviewer: J:-)mi
1 Peter 2:19 – For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of
unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
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