Shades of Truth

Starred review from November 21, 2011
Kinsman (Spilled Ink) opens the From Sadie’s Sketchbook series with 12-year-old Sadie Douglas’s recent move from California to Owl Creek, Mich., where her father will mediate between bear researchers and the state’s Department of Natural Resources and the local hunters who want to remove the threat posed by bears. The move is also designed to help Sadie’s mom, who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome. Sadie misses her best friends, and the local kids, most of them children of hunters, don’t welcome the new bear-hugging family. Sadie’s classmate Frankie seems especially to have it in for the new girl. It isn’t clear how much Sadie can trust her new friend Ruth, but her art classes open a door to observation of the world and the expressions and motives of people—and bears—coexisting in that world. Kinsman offers a realistic and nuanced rendering that works for readers who want to know about the role of Christian faith in a young person’s development, as well as those who like a fresh story about the journey of growing up. Flickering Hope, the next book in the series, is available
simultaneously. Ages 9–up.

March 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-Sadie and her parents have moved from California to a cabin in the Michigan woods for her father's new job as mediator in a conflict among hunters; the Michigan Department of Natural Resources; and Meredith Taylor, a scientist who is studying the local black bear population. Sadie finds herself the target of harassment from Frankie and her pack of girls at school; they project the same hostility as Frankie's dad, a local hunter who Sadie and her father think they may have seen poaching. Mom has been ill with chronic fatigue syndrome for the last two years; Dad seems inept at mediating the dispute, letting meetings become chaotic and buying a hunting license and rifle so as to appear less prejudiced. Sadie ponders the role of prayer, wondering if it is more than wishing on a dandelion, as she and her former best friend, Pippa, used to do. She takes private drawing lessons and attends youth services with a new friend, but realistically and frustratingly keeps her thoughts and conflicts bottled up. In the end, little is resolved. The characters, plot, and portrayal of the bear/community conflict consistently lack realistic depth. Shallow and at times confusing, this book lacks polish and veracity.-Joel Shoemaker, formerly at South East Junior High School, Iowa City, IA

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