Author: Lisa Colozza Cocca
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Merit Press
Publish Date: March 18, 2014
Source: I received a copy from the publisher; however, this did not affect my review.
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads.com: "The eldest of ten children on a dirt-poor farm, Becky trudges through life as a full-time babysitter, trying to avoid her father's periodic violent rages. When the family's barn burns down, her father lays the blame on Becky, and her own mother tells her to run for it.
Run she does, hopping into an empty freight car. There, in a duffel bag, Becky finds an abandoned baby girl, only hours old. After years of tending to her siblings, sixteen-year-old Becky knows just what a baby needs. This baby needs a mother. With no mother around, Becky decides, at least temporarily, this baby needs her.
When Becky hops off the train in a small Georgia town, it's with baby "Georgia" in her arms. When she meets Rosie, an eccentric thrift-shop owner, who comes to value and love Becky as no one ever has, Becky rashly claims the baby as her own. Not everyone in town is as welcoming as Rosie, though. Many suspect Becky and her baby are not what they seem. Among the doubters is a beautiful, reclusive woman with her own terrible loss and a long history with Rosie.
As Becky's life becomes entangled with the lives of the people in town, including a handsome boy who suspects Becky is hiding something from her past, she finds her secrets more difficult to keep. Becky should grab the baby and run, but her newfound home and job with Rosie have given Becky the family she's never known. Despite her guilt over leaving her mother alone, she is happy for the first time. But it's a happiness not meant to last. When the truth comes out, Becky has the biggest decision of her life to make. Should she run away again? Should she stay--and fight? Or lie? What does the future hold for Becky and Georgia? With a greatness of heart and a stubborn insistence on hope found in few novels of any genre, "Providence" proves that home is where you find it, love is an active verb, and family is more than just a word."
My Two Cents:
"Providence" is the story of Becky, a young teen trying to create a new life for herself after her family pushes her out. Becky hops a train and finds something that will change her life. When she finds a baby, she realizes that she needs to do everything to take care of the baby as well as herself. Luckily she lands in a friendly town filled with interesting people who have really big hearts. This is a warm tale that reminded me a lot of books like "Where the Heart Is" by Billie Letts.
I enjoyed this story! It starts out a little bit slow but as you get to know the characters and become invested in their story, the story begins to feel like it is going faster and then becomes quite exciting towards the end with the uncertainty surrounding what will happen to the characters. I enjoyed the writing for the most part. I wish that we got to see a little more about motivations of the different characters in the book, especially the main character, Becky, but overall I did enjoy the storytelling in this book.
The characters definitely make the story. I felt so bad for Becky. You want her to find a place that she can call home so badly because her family life was so horrible. I also really liked Rosie who sees right away that Becky and baby Georgia just need love, pure and simple love. She gives them a home and seems to have a sixth sense about giving Becky exactly the kind of loving home that Becky was so lacking.
This book would be perfect for when you are looking for a quaint story with a big heart!
Thanks for the review- I hadn't heard of this one before. It sounds like a cute story.
ReplyDelete