Books for Christian Girls: "Wings of a Dream" by Anne Mateer

About this book:

“Rebekah Hendricks dreams of a life far beyond her family's farm in Oklahoma, and when dashing aviator Arthur Samson promised adventure in the big city, she is quick to believe he's the man she's meant to marry.

While she waits for the Great War to end and Arthur to return to her so they can pursue all their plans, her mother's sister falls ill. Rebekah seizes the opportunity to travel to Texas to care for Aunt Adabelle, seeing this chance to be closer to Arthur's training camp as God's approval of her plans.

But the Spanish flu epidemic changes everything. Faced with her aunt's death, Arthur's indecisiveness, and four children who have no one else to care for them, Rebeka is torn between the desire to escape the type of life she's always led and the unexpected love that just might change the dream of her heart.”

Series: No, a stand-alone.

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, read, & quoted; Prayers, Blessings over food, & Thanking God; Many Talks about God, trusting Him, His plans for you, your dreams, faiths, & praying; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Church going & sermons; Singing a hymn; At one point, Rebekah wonders if God abandoned her and isn’t hearing her prayers, but continues to pray for God to lead her; Many mentions of God & His plans; Many mentions of prayers, praying, blessings over food, & thanking God; Many mentions of churches, church going, services, preachers, sermons, & hymns; Mentions of Heaven; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events from the Bible; Mentions of Christians & their duty; Mentions of Christmas;

*Note: A child tells her sibling that if he doesn’t listen to her, God will send him to a bad place with the devil; A mention of a rumor that the Spanish Flu is a judgement from God.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘oh my stars’ and a ‘rats’; When something crazy happens, Rebekah thinks that she wants to say the word her brother said when their father’s wagon rolled over his toes, but she dares not to do that; A bit of eye rolling; Seeing a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Pain & Injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of wars, fighting, injuries, & deaths; Many mentions of illnesses, injuries, blood/bleeding, pain, & deaths (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of outlaws, robberies, & jails; Mentions of cigarettes & smoking; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of wringing chicken necks for food; A couple mentions of plane crashes; A couple mentions of deaths of children (a drowning & an animal attack, barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of a child receiving a whipping & using the switch for misbehaving; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of manure; A mention of a saloon; A mention of lying;

*Note: A couple mentions of a father leaving his family; A mention of a rumor that the Spanish Flu is the Germans attempting to kill the Americans.

Sexual Content- a cheek kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing; A man’s eyes rakes over Rebekah’s body (she is uncomfortable); Mentions of chaperones & a man not taking advantage of a young woman; A mention of not having anyone to warm your bed; Some love, thinking you’re in love, falling in love, being in love, & the emotions;

*Note: Rebekah’s mother gives her instructions on what to do when a man tries talk to her (which is to glare at him) and what a lady should and should not do (which Rebekah doesn’t always follow and decides that she may not tell her mother about certain aspects of her trip); A few mentions of a mother who passed away in childbirth; A mention of a woman’s curves.

-Rebekah Hendricks, age 19

1^st person P.O.V. of Rebekah

Set in 1918-1919

315 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This might have been my second time reading this book, but because it had been so long, it truly felt like the first. I remembered absolutely nothing about what happened in this book or what the ending was. I don’t think I’ve ever had that experience before and it was neat.

While this book could be considered as romance, it felt much lighter than most Historical Romance Fiction because we only see Rebekah’s point of view and it’s more focused on taking care of the children—though she does have a couple potential beaus and there’s a few kisses, but I thought it overall felt so much lighter compared to others I’ve read and reviewed.

Now, on Rebekah. She can be annoying at times. Particularly at the beginning of the book, because she comes across as very young, thinking that she should be able to make her own decisions and to live the life she desires. But we see a lot of character development from her and I really enjoyed that. She knows she needs to be with the children and will do so because God brought her there. She has her moments of weakness and wanting to leave—because it’s all so much to handle—but she knows her place for right now is with the children. I teared up at quite a few parts because of the changes we see in her and all the faith content. I found the faith conversations to be very realistic and also helpful.

This was a really pleasant, warm book to read again. I think if you enjoy Janette Oke or Rachel Fordham’s books, you ought to check this one out.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!