Interrupted: Life Beyond Words by Rachel Coker

Reading level: Ages 15 and up
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (March 6, 2012)
Language: English
Buy the book: Amazon

Can love really heal all things? If Sam Carroll hadn't shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept. Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie's heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved.

Rachel Coker has written a novel with a Christian-based theme that is entertaining and interesting without being preachy or "goody two-shoes".  I found this book to be a refreshing change of pace.  The main character is a young woman who has had to deal with major tragedy and upheaval in her life at a very young age.  She deals with these things by building a wall around herself and keeping a tight rein on her emotions.  Allie has to take responsibility for her single mother when brain cancer causes dementia to set in. Her mother does not believe in God and doesn't trust Christians, believing that they are hateful and deceptive.  When circumstances require a big change in Allie's life, she tries desperately to hold onto her mother and their shared memories.  The link between her old life and the new is an annoying guy named Sam Carroll.  He is a rock that Allie can cling to in spite of herself.  Allie pretends to have everything under control until World War II intervenes and causes her to realize that there is only one person in control and it's not her. 

There is a lot about Christian faith in this book but it is not overpowering nor does it make the book too heavy.  The characters are believable and the story is realistic.  I don't think that the religious aspect should keep anyone from enjoying the story.  I would recommend this book to everyone.