A Tree, A Book, and A Breeze

The Promise of Jesse Woods Chris Fabry Tyndale The summer of 1972 was the most pivotal of Matt Plumley’s childhood. While his beloved Pirates battle for back-to-back World Series titles, Matt’s family moves from Pittsburgh to Dogwood, West Virginia, where his father steps into the pulpit of a church under the thumb of town leader Basil Blackwood. A fish out of water, Matt is relieved to forge a fast bond with two unlikely friends: Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed-race boy, and Jesse Woods, a tough-as-nails girl with a sister on her hip and no dad in sight. As the trio traipses the hills and hollers, Matt begins to fall for Jesse, and their promises to each other draw him deeper into her terrifying reality. One night, the wrath of the Blackwoods and the secrets of Jesse’s family collide, and Matt joins Jesse in a rescue that saves one life and ends another . . . and severs the bond of their friendship. Years later, Matt is pulled back to Dogwood and to memories of...

Every Waking Moment Chris Fabry Tyndale House Treha Langsam is a mysterious young woman who has fallen through the cracks, much like many of the elderly people she works with at Desert Gardens Retirement Home. But Miriam Howard, director of the facility, sees her extraordinary gift and untapped potential. Treha is a whisperer of sorts, calling those who have slipped into dementia back to a life of vibrant, if only temporary, clarity. When Treha's and Miriam's stories intertwine with a documentary team looking for stories of the elderly, Treha's gift is uncovered, and the search begins for answers to the mysteries of her past. As their paths converge, each person is forced to face the same difficult question: What if this is as good as my life gets? If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been trying to read and review some more contemporary fiction. I’ve read so many pieces of historical fiction that they’re all starting to seem the same to me, so I’ve been shaking ...

June Bug Chris Fabry Tyndale June Bug believed everything her daddy told her. That is, until she walked into Walmart and saw her face on a list of missing children. The discovery begins a quest for the truth about her father, the mother he rarely speaks about, and ultimately herself. A modern interpretation of   Les Miserables , the story follows a dilapidated RV rambling cross-country with June Bug and her father, a man running from a haunted past. Forces beyond their control draw them back to Dogwood, West Virginia, down a winding path that will change their lives forever. I’ve never read anything by Chris Fabry before (well, unless you count his work in the Kids’ Left Behind Books) and to tell the truth, I wasn’t really planning to- until I found this book and realized that it was a modern-day retelling of Les Misérables . I love, love, love that book, so even if I was a little nervous about reading a “modern day” version, I was willing to give it a try. ...