“Geology student Leo Day has been waiting for a big find to prove his career path is worthy to his father. While riding the train along the Arkansas River in Canon City, Colorado, Leo spots a young woman waving at the passing cars holding something that looks like a piece of fossilized bone. He catches up to the girl after leaping from the slow train and his pulse gallops when he recognizes it as a rib bone from a smaller dinosaur species, most likely a Allosaurus. She confides she’s found several similar bones, and he asks her to show him where.
Whether it was loneliness or boredom that led Jennie Ward to leave the water line and escort this stranger to the place where her daddy’s border collie had unearthed several bones, she couldn’t say, but she enjoys visiting with him. Could he become the friend she’s been praying for? As he leaves, he promises to return soon and asks if she’ll be his guide. She has little time for socializing, given her responsibility to the water works due to her father’s injury and aftermath, but the opportunity to gain a friend is too hard to resist. She agrees.
As the weeks pass, Leo, a man longing for a father’s approval, and Jennie, a girl trapped by her loyalty to a despondent father, become friends and confidantes. And God’s plan for both Leo’s and Jennie’s futures will unfold like an excavation of dinosaur bones.”
Series: As of now, no. Seems to be a stand-alone novel.
Spiritual Content- Psalm 40:1 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, thought over, quoted, & discussed; Many, many prayers & thanking God; Feeling peace; Church going, sermons, & singing hymns; Many talks about God, prayers/praying, having Hope, & creation; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Jennie has prayed for her father to get better for over a year, but hasn’t lately because she thinks that if God hasn’t answered them by now, He wasn’t going to (adding that her Mama could “waste her time imploring Him”, but Jennie was done); Jennie does a prayer that has a hint of sarcasm to it and thinks that if God was as forgiving as her Mama said, He’s understand “her momentary lapse into bitterness”; Jennie has been taught that Someone was always watching over her and that knowledge has curtailed her yielding to many temptations over the years, but wonders that if God isn’t answering her prayers, if He’s even paying attention to her and if she even has to behave then, but decides she won’t deliberately get up to mischief whether God was watching or not because she doesn’t want to hurt her Mama; Jennie feels as if it would be selfish to pray for her own silly emotions when her parents need the prayers more in her eyes; Leo plans to visit the different churches in town as he hasn’t experienced other denominations’ services and thinks it could be “interesting and enlightening”; Jennie and Leo both have a moment where they don’t pay attention during a prayer or sermon because of other thoughts and feel ashamed; Leo considered skipping church for hunting dinosaur fossils, but ultimately to still go to church; All about many mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, thanking God, & blessings over food (including Jennie and Leo praying for and with each other); Many mentions of God, His will, peace, having hope, & not holding on to bitterness; Many mentions of churches (including different denominations like Presbyterian and Baptist & a home-church service), church going, services, worship, hymns, sermons, & ministers; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of Jennie’s family doing a home-church most Sundays with just the three of them; Mentions of faiths & sharing it with others; Mentions of God-given talents; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of the Holy Spirit; A couple mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of blessings & being Blessed;
*Note: Leo hopes to one day help prove that the earth is thousands of years old and not millions like some of his professors teach (when his father asks him what eternal good is Leo doing, Leo wants to respond that he truly believes that he could “do eternal good by disproving scientific theories that discredited creationism”; *Spoiler* Towards the very end, Leo’s father realizes he was wrong to push Leo down the route of his choosing and says he will cheer Leo on in his determination to align his findings with biblical truths *End of Spoiler*); Leo discusses with Jennie about creationist views and evolution views (including how the Great Flood effected things, how evolution is a theory, and Scripture talking about giant creatures); *Spoiler* Claude lashes out at Leo and Jennie when he thinks Jennie has learned evolution thoughts from Leo and bans him from their home *End of Spoiler*; ‘Heaven only knows’ is said once; Mentions of evolution, eras, & fossils of prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs and trilobites; A mention of Santa Claus.
Negative Content- Pain, Injuries, & Being caught in a hailstorm (barely-above-not-detailed); Jennie, Etta, and Leo all try to avoid lying to each other and others (some half-truths and fibs are said still with guilt and asking God for forgiveness; Leo grapples with his conscience about keeping the Ward family’s secret); Mentions of an accident, injuries, & pain (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of the passing of a beloved dog from old age, finding him, & grief/sobbing (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A few mentions of eavesdropping; A few mentions of mummified remains of cats being used in science; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a cigarette; A mention of hunters;
*Note: After Jennie’s father fell and broke his leg two years prior, he hasn’t been the same and his wife, Etta, is his caretaker while Jennie does his work for their living; Jennie struggles with a “tumble of emotions” like “resentment and worry and sorrow and sympathy” when thinking about her father and how he is now; Jennie feels guilt over her father’s accident (*Spoiler* As it happened the one day she wasn’t with him and her mother and her found him hours later with a broken leg *End of Spoiler*); Jennie’s father interrupts, snaps, and is unkind to Jennie and Etta at times because of his “woebegone attitude”; Jennie’s father, Claude, tells Etta that she should have given up on him months ago and that he is worthless and a burden to her (She is hurt by this as she loves him and promised before God to be faithful whether in sickness or death and tells him so); Jennie feels guilt for wanting her father to be hurt (emotionally) like he did to her and asks God to forgive her for the thoughts; Jennie has a fear that she might not have much more time with her father if he doesn’t get better because it seems as if he is withering away; *Spoilers* After Claude bans Leo from their home, Jennie struggles with the temptation of still meeting with Leo because her father didn’t exactly tell her not to see him, but is reminded by her conscience to honor her father and mother which she does despite the temptation to do otherwise; At one point, Etta goes to the outhouse and sobs over Claude and his harsh words & prays after *End of Spoilers*; Leo thinks that Claude may have ‘melancholia’ (which the discussion questions at the end of the book call it depression) and shudders when he thinks of the “treatments” available for it (such as being shocked with electricity or removing a portion of the brain; Leo does not share about this with Jennie); *Spoilers, but also a mental illness* After contacting the doctor at an insane asylum for a possible evaluation of Claude, he is upset at the thought but Jennie says that “we need a different kind of doctor to make us well when our minds are sick. Folks who are stuck forever in sadness have a sickness in their minds. The sickness is what makes them feel sad all the time. They need a doctor to help them.”; A bit later, Jennie tells Leo that she wishes there were medicines for “sicknesses of the mind” and to “cure endless sadness” which Leo says that maybe there will be someday *End of Spoilers*; Leo and his father have a strained relationship because of Leo not following in his father’s footsteps as a minister and his father disapproving of his career choice (Leo thinks often about wanting to be recognized by his father and gain approval from him; *Spoiler* Towards the very end, Leo’s father realizes he was wrong to push Leo down the route of his choosing and says he will cheer Leo on in his determination to align his findings with biblical truths *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of mental illnesses (called “mental diseases”, an “imbalance somewhere in the brain”, and an “illness of the mind” throughout the book), psychiatrists, & an insane asylum (Leo is also concerned that Claude could become violent to Jennie and Etta & share with his family in a letter that Claude is emotionally unstable, which could be perceived as “harsh and critical” but he wants his parents to understand the problem so they can specifically pray); Mentions of schoolmates and professors ridiculing Leo for his interest in paleontology and/or having a creationist view; A few mentions of books and fictional characters (Pinocchio & Oliver Twist); A mention of Leo always thinking that dish washing was a duty for girls as his mother and sisters saw to the cooking and cleaning up at home, but washes dishes himself as a job at the hotel.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Wondering about a possible kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Etta also kisses Claude on the forehead twice & cuddles into Claude in their bed once (barely-above-not-detailed); A few Touches, a couple Embraces, Flutters, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); A few blushes; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Claude makes a comment about Jennie and Leo wandering around without supervision (which Leo tries to tell him that nothing like that has happen and Jennie is very hurt by her father’s accusation; *Spoiler* Later, Etta allows Jennie and Leo to wander the hill again because she trusts them and can no longer trust Claude’s “ability to make rational decisions” *End of Spoiler*); Some young men corner Jennie and make her uncomfortable with their “overly friendly advances” (Leo doesn’t think they meant harm, but scares them off anyway); Etta thinks about how Jennie hadn’t reached the age of noticing boys when they moved to town, but that apparently Jennie isn’t indifferent and Etta thinks Jennie is smitten with Leo; A few mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of handsome men; Very light love, falling in love, & the emotions (Jennie tries to guard herself the majority of the book from having more than friendship feelings for Leo because he will only be there for a summer and reminds herself about it a few times; She also makes a vow to herself to not let her “silly emotions” interfere in their budding friendship);
*Note: A mention of Leo looking at the end of a pup to find out the gender.
-Jennie Ward, age 17
-Leo Day
-Etta Ward
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1915
352 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Full disclaimer: This book made me want to cry at about sixteen different parts. 🥲ðŸ˜ðŸ¥¹
It almost felt like a YA Historical novel with Jennie being seventeen. The mother-daughter relationship between Etta and Jennie plus their conversations were so good to see. I’ve commented on this before in another book by this author, but it’s so nice to see a parent who is active in their young adult’s life and not only caring for them, but also praying hard for their grown child.
The faith content was outstanding in this book. Incredibly strong and incredibly prevalent throughout it. Despite her father being a bear about different things, Jennie honors and obeys both him and her mother. She’s tempted to not listen to their words like most teens might be, but prays about it and does the right thing. Having been a caretaker to a family member for nearly a year this book went with some emotions I’ve felt, but other emotions I could understood in a way that only one who has walked this path could, despite my family’s situation being different from the Ward family. In a way, it felt a little unnerving to read, like it was almost too raw to read and I was encroaching on their private lives. But in another way, I understood. I understood where they were coming from and how the path to healing isn’t as easily as we hope or pray for.
The romance was very light and definitely not the main focus of the book. You could argue the romance is basically non-existent because of the age difference with Jennie being only 17 and Leo is in college. That age gap doesn’t personally bother me in this historical setting and how they don’t even share a kiss or any romantic feelings in that way until the final chapter which is partially set a year later. He treated her at first very brotherly, but then they became close friends. The ending had me squeeing in delight! 🥹🥹🥹
Leo might be threatening Emmett from “The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow” for my favorite male lead by this author. The way he encouraged her, talked with her, prayed with her (!!), and was her friend which gradually lead into possible more was absolutely lovely and so heartwarming.
I grew up loving to learn about creation science and going to lectures in that field, so many parts of this book reminded me of what I learned then. Despite having very little (more like a small percentage) of interest in dinosaurs and being a little bummed at first this book would have the topic (as I’ve seen it a handful of times before in recent years in the Christian Fiction market), I ended up really enjoying those parts and how it was all connected back into the strong faith themes and conversations. Leo was so passionate about it and the connection to creation—which that was pretty frequently mentioned and discussed which this book have the most about creation science or biblical creationism compared to the other ones I’ve read.
One thing I greatly appreciated about this book was that there were no villains/antagonists in it. No person causing trouble or drama, just characters I could cheer for and hope with. I can’t say I see that much and it was very refreshing.
Often when I’m reading, my mind will jump to predicting what will happen in this book—and usually I’m right. Interestingly enough, though, with this story most of my fears of potential events didn’t happen. I was perhaps waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, but it didn’t happen. The ending of this book is a bit opened ended—it truly could have a follow-up novella or epilogue at least!—but it was wrapped up beautifully and realistically. Our trials and troubles don’t wrap up within a month or three hundred pages, so it makes sense that everything this family is going through wouldn’t either. That said, I wasn’t upset about how it ended and honestly had to wipe away my tears multiple times while reading.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Waterbrook Multnomah) for this honest review.
