Avra's God

She didn’t know this Cisco. Where would this stranger go? What would he do? She sank onto the floor, her body curling around the shell fragments of fear churning in her belly.

Dear God, it feels like Jesse and I are grafted together. How did that happen? Did You do it? Do I have a choice? I can’t love Jesse. I’ve never felt warm and bubbly about him. Why are things so complicated? What now? I could use a playbook about now. God?

Book: Avra's God by Ann Lee Miller, Flawed People Press, 2012

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 18-30

Subjects: Dating Relationships, Family Relationships, Neglect, Salvation

Summary: Four young college students, two girls, two boys. Four hurting souls, three torn apart by the role their fathers did or did not play in their lives. One young girl unsure why she’s clinging to her faith and values. A wanta-be rock star, a singer with vocal coach training, a casual musician and a sound board controller. Their lives intersect and in their pain they deeply hurt one another. Only the saving grace of the God Avra clings to can restore the brokenness and bring forgiveness, healing and love.

Notes: Written for the purpose of imitating the style of Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, Avra’s God focuses on the character development of four college students. Each character is struggling in some way. But when they start dating, each of the boys breaks the girl’s heart, dumping her and leaving her feeling unloved and rejected again. One boy is the son of a priest, but has been rejecting the faith – if his Heavenly Father is anything like his earthly father, he knows he can’t measure up. A girl knows nothing of faith but gets just small crumbs from Avra, just enough to seek the truth for herself. The second boy is trying to find fulfillment in sex and wild living but God catches up to him and draws him to Himself. Avra is a Christian and holds to high morals, still protected by a loving family, including a dad that demands Cisco not have sex with Avra. When temptations come, she isn’t sure why she resists and when she loses Cisco, she falls apart, but it’s in her brokenness that her own faith is strengthened. Nothing is overly graphic in this book, but you know the characters are sleeping around and such. I highly recommend this book to all young people dealing with dating relationships of their own.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Psalm 10:14 – But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.