Romance

AR: 5.4

56116

"Sure, it's unusual to have an eighteen-year-old mother when you are twelve. But when you're an orphan and she's you aunt - and the only mother you've ever known - well, it works out just fine. That why I got so riled up when I heard Grandpa and Uncle Charlie talkin' about findin" a fellow for Aunt Lou!"

I do not want to say anything against this book. It was sweet, it was simple, it was boring. It was far more suited to a very young and unsophisticated reader. I have a friend who has insisted that I must read Janette Oke, so I have now fulfilled that demand. I can say with conviction that she writes for a reader who is not me.

Interestingly enough, I have seen a few movies made from her earlier novels and they were quite respectable, with interesting characters. Character development is her strength and I did like her main character, the young boy, Josh, who tells this tale of his life with his great-grandfather, grandfather, great-uncle and very young aunt. I actually liked all her characters, but there wasn't any plot to speak of and the end result was obvious to me from the get-go.

I feel almost guilty not to give this book a higher rating. It tries to tell a moral tale and I like that effort. But, if I am honest, it isn't up to my standards for what I want to get from a novel. ( )