Row This Boat Ashore

Prayers. Huh. I turned over to shake off that thought, but it wouldn’t go away. It sure couldn’t hurt anything, praying. Maybe God could help me stop loving a boy who apparently was never going to love me. Maybe God could help me just be “friends” since that was what Michael wanted.

“Okay, God,” I said silently. “I’m sorry I hate my brother and I’m sorry I want Michael to kiss me and hold me when that probably isn’t right anyway. I really do like You, God and believe in You, but could You please help me out? Either get Michael out of my heart or make him love me…okay?”

Book: Row This Boat Ashore by Nancy Rue, Crossway Books, 1986

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 16-20

Subjects: Dating Relationships, Family Relationships, Faith in God, Physical Disabilities

Summary: Felix has never known anyone like him before – really! She’s never known anyone as wonderful, anyone as strong, anyone as encouraging, anyone with a close relationship with God. She’s seriously attracted the first time she meets him and it doesn’t take her long to fall in love when she gets to know him. She’s also never known anyone as limited as Michael though. Michael is physically handicapped. He’s in a wheelchair, unable to walk. Michael is everything Felix ever dreamed of in a boyfriend and everything she never imagined she would want.  He’s changing her world and she’s not sure how to deal with this. Then, just as she thinks she’s starting to figure things out, an accident happens and he shuts down, completely closes her out of his life. Now she’s alone again and has no idea where to turn for answers.

Notes: A stand alone novel, Row This Boat Ashore deals with a high school senior pondering the meaning of life. No longer content with chasing boys or pursuing the latest fashions, Felix seeks something more, something deeper. When she meets and falls in love with a boy in a wheelchair who introduces her to faith in God, she starts thinking she may have found that something deeper – until pride comes between them and he backs away. The book then starts looking at the issue of how Michael feels when he can not have any independence and has to rely on others to help him. There is a lot of focus on prayer – not just giving a wish list of requests to God, but truly communicating with Him and relying on Him for strength in your weakness.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Ephesians 6:18 – And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Romans 8:26 – In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.