~Saturday Stories~
Typical Sadie: Frankie grinned. “Nice shoes, Sparkie.”… I chose a desk, pretending not to hear one of the girls say, “Sparkie’s my dog’s name.” Everyone burst into laughter. Okay. No big deal. The best thing was to laugh too. Once they saw I could take a joke, the Sparkie thing would go away.
Moving from California to Michigan in seventh grade isn’t easy. Especially when your dad is a mediator hired to settle the infamous bear-hunting dispute in the community. Should hunting bears be OK? Sadie doesn’t think so. But with Dad arguing that he shouldn’t take any side, Mom’s illness not getting any better, a friend hiding the truth, and seeing a bear being shot outside hunting season – can things get any worse? Where can she run when everything goes bad?
Shades of Truth is a book that deals with a lot of issues: moving, betrayal, friendships, illnesses, trust. Throughout the story, Sadie grows a lot in her faith. She learns how to pray and Who to come to when everything doesn’t seem to make much sense. Naomi Kinsman weaves in lessons of faith, art, and friendships beautifully.
Myself, I also had a sort-of move in seventh grade, so this book resonated with me in that sense. At the end of most chapters, Sadie wrote an email to her best friend back in California – so like me.
This is part of the Faithgirlz! From Sadie’s Sketchbook series. I recommend it to all middle school girls.
For more on Naomi Kinsman, visit her website and Facebook page.
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