Jennifer Erin Valent

Jessilyn Lassiter's struggles, hopes, and dreams feel so real that the reader of her dramatic story can't help but fall in love with her and her book. Jessilyn is 13 and lives in the South at a time when it matters a lot to her community that her family takes in her best friend Jemma--who is black--after Jemma's parents die. In fact, a local branch of the KKK meets just down the road from Jessilyn--and her adventurous spirit finds her tangled up with them more than once. Fortunately she has show more the protection of her father, the wisdom of her God-fearing Mother, and the friendship of Luke Talley to guide her through the most tumultuous summer of her young life.
This was an extremely enjoyable book to listen too. There were lots of scenes full of dramatic tension, balanced against lighthearted childhood adventures and ending with a message about the importance of faith. The characters are memorable and I can still call them up vividly in my imagination. Valent well deserved to win the Christian Writers Guild's 2007 Operation First Novel contest and I look forward to reading more from her. Definitely pick this one up, it's a great coming-of-age story but readers of all ages will easily identify with the human drama contained within. show less

There were so many things to love about this story. I thought it was awesome that even though it's the third book in a series, you can read it without having to read the previous books. I haven't read them and I didn't get the sense that it was necessary to enjoy this book because the facts were touched on enough to give you a sense of history with the characters. I loved how there was danger, intrigue, and heart pounding romance in this novel. There was also a great lesson in the story show more about what it means to really know Jesus compared to knowing about Him because you were raised going to church.

Jessie's faith journey was genuine, honest, and realistically portrayed. Her insight into the darkness in her own soul was powerfully written. There were a few things that were vividly described and thus made me cringe, but it was necessary to appreciate the situation the characters were in. Some things just don't feel right when they are glossed over - like prejudice in the south. Thankfully the author didn't gloss over anything. This book was awesome on so many levels that I could go on and on. show less

This is probably a story for someone who is in middle school to read. I could see it being good if I was younger. But being that I am in my mid twenties, it definitely was not targeted for someone like me. It would be a good book to read to help kids understand what it was really like during the time of slavery and how people had to live in constant fear for no reason at all other then because of the color of their skin. It's very detailed and an unnerving book to read. It's just very honest.

Jessilyn Lassiter tells her tale of mishaps, struggles and discoveries during the summer of 1932. She's just turned thirteen and she finds trouble, or trouble finds her, just about every time she opens her mouth. Her best friend is Gemma, a slightly older African-American girl whose family lives on her daddy's farm.

All is as it should be in the south in the 30s, including segregation of the races, and everyone knows their place in the world. That is until a freak lightning strike from a show more thunderstorm kills Gemma's parents, leaving her orphaned and alone in the world. The Lassiters take Gemma into their home as a member of their family, and thus starts the insanity of bigotry and hate delivered by friends and neighbors.

Even now, nearly two generations later, I can't grasp why anyone would treat other human beings with such disdain, fear and hate. Is it because I was raised in Kansas, where the fight to be admitted as a free-state made bleeding headlines in national newspapers in the 1850s? Or because I grew up with civil rights already a fact, albeit not equally applied, but definitely a step further down the road to freedom and tolerance.

This is a good first novel for Jennifer Valent. I struggled a bit with the amount of dialog, and the southern colloquialisms, and I was breathless most of the time trying to keep up with a headstrong impulsive foolish thirteen year-old girl with more guts than sense. show less