Riley Mae And The Sole Fire Safari

This was so awkward. And lonely. I looked back up at the sign: SMILE, YOU’RE IN KENYA! Was Kenya supposed to be a happy place? I tried to smile, but something felt fake. Yep. Cheesy. Hmmm. Maybe Flip was right about me leaving my smile in the States.

Book: Riley Mae and the Sole Fire Safari by Jill Osbornse, Zondervan, 2014

Genre: Realistic Fiction/Adventure

Target Audience: Girls 10-14

Subjects: Evangelism, Future, Fear, Friendship, God’s Will

Summary: Riley Mae feels anything BUT happy to be in Kenya! All she wants is to go home. She’s had enough of adventures and traveling and fleeing from bad guys. She wants to get her weekly donut from Sean, to play softball with TJ, to hang out with Rusty, and get a hug from her dad, and even see her pesky little brother! God’s not done with Riley yet though! He’s got some big plans for her in Africa, plans like race training, distributing shoes to orphans, hauling water, attending pre-dawn prayer meetings, coming face to face with a rhino and a lion and an angry bull elephant, and sharing the good news with a girl who only knows bad news.

Notes: The Good News Shoes series introduces a twelve year old girl who really likes softball and cool shoes. So when she gets an offer to be a spokesgirl for a company marketing athletic shoes for girls, she jumps in headfirst, not knowing she just signed up for some serious adventures. The theme verse for the series is Ephesians 6:15 - and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In this third book the focus is on being content where God has you and on being ready to share the good news at any time. Riley is pretty homesick and unhappy for the first part of the book, but when she sees how God is working in her life and others through her she finds contentment being in Africa. She gets a chance to share the Gospel with an orphan girl and lead both the orphan and an adult listening nearby, to salvation in Christ. She starts feeling called to be a missionary and bring the good news shoes to people all over the world.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Philippians 4:12 – I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.