Jenny B. Jones
In Between : A Katie Parker Production
Kate Parker is scared. She is about to be placed in a foster home. All the things she has heard about these places from others will probably come true for her. After all, her mother is in prison, her grades are in the cellar and she has nothing going for her. What could pretend-parents and a place called In Between offer but more of the same: get used to a place, be ignored, or worse, rejected and moved on? It probably wouldn’t even be worth while to unpack.
This delightful story for teenaged girls has all the intrigue, suspense, disaster and romance which are part of so many girls’ lives. They may not all be ‘orphans’ placed in foster care but many will relate to Click on the cover the feeling of loneliness and confusion which Katie experiences. They may also have developed coping to go to Amazon strategies similar to Katie’s.
Ms. Jones weaves a tale of doubt, calamity, growing trust and, finally, acceptance. The premise of foster care is a difficult one to portray well but through Katie’s eyes we get a glimpse into what is, for many, a frightening experience.
As Katie learns to open up and trust, she also learns that things are not always as they seem. Even a pastor’s family can have its secrets and hurts.
This story of learning to trust, to believe and to give is very readable.
This is a Christian novel and although there is no preachiness, the church youth would have been somewhat more believable if they weren’t so perfect. They are, after all, human and do have their faults.
Another misgiving about the story is that the time frame may be a little short for all the events to logically take place. If all this happened in six weeks, what will the next six be like? But that could just be my ‘older’ generation hang-up.
The switch from wanting to get sent back to the home as soon as possible to working hard to stay with her foster family seems to be an abrupt one.
I did enjoy the story and these few quirks were annoyances at best.
This delightful story for teenaged girls has all the intrigue, suspense, disaster and romance which are part of so many girls’ lives. They may not all be ‘orphans’ placed in foster care but many will relate to Click on the cover the feeling of loneliness and confusion which Katie experiences. They may also have developed coping to go to Amazon strategies similar to Katie’s.
Ms. Jones weaves a tale of doubt, calamity, growing trust and, finally, acceptance. The premise of foster care is a difficult one to portray well but through Katie’s eyes we get a glimpse into what is, for many, a frightening experience.
As Katie learns to open up and trust, she also learns that things are not always as they seem. Even a pastor’s family can have its secrets and hurts.
This story of learning to trust, to believe and to give is very readable.
This is a Christian novel and although there is no preachiness, the church youth would have been somewhat more believable if they weren’t so perfect. They are, after all, human and do have their faults.
Another misgiving about the story is that the time frame may be a little short for all the events to logically take place. If all this happened in six weeks, what will the next six be like? But that could just be my ‘older’ generation hang-up.
The switch from wanting to get sent back to the home as soon as possible to working hard to stay with her foster family seems to be an abrupt one.
I did enjoy the story and these few quirks were annoyances at best.