Disaster on Windy Hill

“And the man Dugan?” she asked. “What happened to him?” Ben faced Kate. “I don’t want to tell you.” “I think you’d better.” Kate tried to sound calm, but her stomach churned. “I think I’ll need to know.” Ben came out of the stall. “After the boss fired him, Dugan found me. He showed his fist-” Ben held up his clenched fist. “He said, ‘Just wait! I’ll get even with you!’ If Dugan knows we’re related-”

Book: Disaster on Windy Hill (Adventures of the Northwoods, Book 10) by Lois Walfrid Johnson, Bethany House Publishers, 1994

Genre: Adventure

Target Audience: Girls 11-15

Subjects: Guilt, Love-Marriage, Family Relationships, Friendship, Love For Others, Revenge, Fear, God’s Love

Summary: An announcement of an engagement and the purchase of two new horses should be exciting and joyous occasions but the dark clouds hanging over them make it hard to be joyous. Ben announces his engagement to Miss Sundquist but they can only get married if it is safe and if he can provide for her. Ben works so hard this wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the evil man who threatened revenge on Ben for reporting his theft to the boss. This man is going to try to get Ben fired and try to destroy Ben and all those he cares about. That’s only one of the burdens weighing on Kate though. The other burden is how little crop they have to harvest due to the lack of rain. That also puts them in danger from fire and even Papa is taking action in case of a fire. And in this time of low crops, Kate just brought home not one, but two new horses that have to be fed!

Notes: Disaster On Windy Hill is the tenth in the Adventures In The Northwoods series. The series focuses on a young girl right at the beginning of her teen years as she adjusts to life in a very different kind of home and to a new family. The story covers about a year and a half of her life. The main character, Kate has a strong sense of curiosity and stubbornness so whenever she finds something odd she determines to find out what is going on. Sometimes the mysteries find her, sometimes she seeks them out. Through the series she transitions from someone who has only heard but not accepted a relationship with God to a girl learning to put her trust in God and look to Him for wisdom and direction.

In this final book, Kate gets to strengthen her faith in God even more as her dreams seem to be gone. It’s not like she hasn’t experienced tragedy before, but not as someone who has her own faith. It feels as if God is letting her dreams die. And when the tragedy happens all she can think is how she doesn’t deserve God’s love since it was her fault. In fact, she doesn’t deserve anyone’s love. Her wise Papa once again directs her to the Scripture and helps her understand that his love is there no matter what she does and so is God’s. Then Eric helps her understand that the same is true of him.

Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Psalm 103:11 – For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him