Catching Moondrops by Jennifer Erin Valent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“I’d grown quite fond of the wind since Miss Cleta had taught me the secrets of it. “It’s the breath of God, Jessilyn,” she’d say, lifting her face to greet it. “Just listen to it talkin’ to your soul.”
― Jennifer Erin Valent, Catching Moondrops
With wonderful quotes like that it isn’t hard to see why I loved this series so much. The characters are also likeable and they make you want to read about them. You’ll want a peaceful resolution but I don’t think I can put into words the powerful event that brought that peace. Two words: Beautiful and Soul-stirring!
I grew up in the South and this series just felt so authentic. There is a lazy little feel to it with the sleepiness of southern living thrown in. While the south is known for hospitality though—we can also be pretty doggone stubborn.
Stubbornness and hatred led to sad times and such a sad history being explored and I wish I could say that racism has been completely abolished but sadly it does still linger. Luckily it isn’t as prevalent as it once was but books like this help us remember so that we do not repeat history. I guess like the book points out, it isn’t a racism problem; it is a heart problem and folks need good solid reminders of the pain and horror that hatred brings.
This author captures all of that and she does so beautifully that this series is definitely in my top-ten for 2013.
Jessi has grown up and at 19; Luke is finally looking at her as a woman. It is all she has ever dreamed of but when her best friend also finds love—Jessi’s world once again is turned upside down.
The white folk in the town haven’t really forgotten that the Lassiter family took in a, “colored girl” and to add insult to injury there’s a new doctor in town; one who offends people because of his color. Top that off with a few young boys who are bent on stirring up trouble with the white folk in the name of social equality—their reasoning was correct but their method was all wrong as is often the case with issues like this. You can’t really go about acting silly and stirring up trouble when you want to mend broken fences.
The Klan is no longer concerned about lying low and when a young boy is killed—Jessi’s heart is hardened even more against God and everyone else. She’s just angry! She’s angry at the Klan, maybe even angry at God because how could he let stuff like this continue to happen?
I don’t want to go much further than this because the book is so good I want you to read it for yourself to see the resolution but let’s just say between Gemma, Mr. Lassiter, Luke and Ms. Cleeta, there is a lot of wisdom that you can take away from this series.
I challenge you to pick this series up if you’re into Christian Historical Fiction. You will not be disappointed! I definitely will be reading again in the future and I will also be eagerly awaiting future works by the author.
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Jennifer Erin Valent is the 2007 winner of the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild’s Operation First Novel contest and 2010 Christy Award winner for Fireflies in December. She lives in central Virginia, where she has worked as a nanny for over fifteen years. A lifelong resident of the South, her surroundings help to color the scenes and characters she writes.
www.jennifervalent.com.
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