Hey, everyone! It’s Erin today!
it’s been a while, hasn’t it? But I thought I’d make a post reviewing one of Charity’s books!
Here it is!
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“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future’” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). The Lord has a plan for us, a new beginning for us, if we choose to accept it. But what if it seems like life is out of control, with unstoppable change occurring? This theme is emphasized in The Mystery of the Missing Boat by Cari Legere. Legere, a teenage author and student at the Young Writers Workshop, has loved writing since she was a young girl. Although she is young, she writes about mature themes like change in a simplistic way that readers of all ages can understand. Her two published books are The Mystery of the Missing Boat and The Children’s Home, with a sequel called Discovery of Secrets in the process of being written.
The Mystery of the Missing Boat opens with the James family moving from Buffalo, New York to Belfast, Maine. Anika, a thirteen-year-old girl with hair as yellow as the sun, has no desire to move. Struggling with the idea, she wonders what in the world could be waiting for her in their new home. However, despite her reservations, Anika makes a new friend, Mia Grace Jones (or simply Mia), and an enemy, Meera Jenkins. Meera appears to be cool, but this popular girl is a major bully when it comes to girls she deems not worthy of her attention
Some time later, Anika has a nightmare. In this dream, her father is on a boat during a storm, then he disappears, never to be seen again. Of course, it is just a dream. It wouldn’t happen… right? But the next day, her dad buys a boat and goes to try it out. A storm blows up out of nowhere, and he does not come home. Although all evidence points to him drowning, she is positive her father is not dead.
Together, Anika and Mia (whose brother had disappeared two years before in a similar storm) decide to take on the mystery. Setting out on a boat with a pistol and an ancient sword, they are ready. Can these two teenage girls solve the mystery of the missing boat, and find Mia’s older brother as well? Could this be the reason Anika’s family moved?
The author has truly captured the meaning behind God’s plans in The Mystery of the Missing Boat. While Anika has no desire to move, nor does she see any reason to do so, God has a plan for it. In fact, at the end of the book, there is a repetition of the word ‘new,’ which Anika cannot help but notice and comment on. On her fourteenth birthday, Anika proclaims to her family, “It is all a new beginning, and I hadn’t even seen it” (28). The truth in this sentence is overwhelming; while we may not understand or even see what God is doing, the truth is He is giving us another chance, a new beginning.
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Doesn’t this sound amazing? It really is! If you want to support Charity, you should definitely check her book out! You can find it on Amazon and BarnesnNoble.com!
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