adie Rose and the Cottonwood Creek Orphan

She stopped dead in her tracks. “What in the world…” 
A boy was leading Bossie away by her halter. For a minute she thought it was Web, but she could see the boy was taller, dressed in ragged dark pants and shirt. An old cap like Riley used to wear covered his head. 
Anger and frustration rushed over Sadie, and she leaped forward and yelled, “Stop! Stop! Bring back our cow!”

Book: Sadie Rose and the Cottonwood Creek Orphan (Sadie Rose Adventure, Book 2)by Hilda Stahl, Crossway Books, 1989

Genre: Historical Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 10-14

Subjects: Orphans, Family Relationships, Forgiveness, God’s Omni-presence

Summary: There’s a thief in the county! And it’s making all of them mad! First someone unties the York’s cow so that it escapes – leaving Helen and Web to take the blame for it! Then someone tries to rob Jewel. When they have a conversation with the bachelors, they hear that food has been stolen from them. When Sadie sets out her last dress to dry, it gets stolen. Enough is enough! Someone has to put a stop to this! But when Sadie finally catches up with the thieving orphan, she’s in for quite a surprise!

Notes: The Cottonwood Creek Orphan is the second of the Sadie Rose Adventures. This series tells of a twelve year old girl’s first year living in the Nebraska sandhills during the pioneer days. Sadie has a knack for getting into danger. The series focuses a lot on family relationships as Sadie lives with her mother, stepdad, older sister, older brother, younger sister and younger brother. It also focuses a lot on the hopes and dreams of marriage for the young girls. The culture was for girls to marry quite young so the characters, especially Sadie’s older sister focus heavily on trying to find a good husband. There is also a strong thread of forgiveness and the importance of telling the truth running through the series.

In this second book Sadie is still wrestling hard with what it means to truly follow Jesus and live a life filled with honesty and forgiveness. Every little thing fills her up with anger towards a sibling or a friend or a parent and she reacts badly, hurting those she cares about the most. Hearing a sad story that causes her to feel sympathy for the orphan she was so angry at helps her get control of her anger a little bit. She finally realizes that she needs to tell the truth to her sister and seek forgiveness. Then she needs to forgive her stepfather for making a decision she disagreed with.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.