Teen Fiction

Saving Grace

Name: Saving Grace
Author: Darlene Ryan
ISBN: 9781551435084

by Darlene Ryan

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

Evie was pregnant and forced to give up the baby. But she can't just leave the child with strangers, especially when she thinks the baby is being neglected. With her boyfriend waiting in the truck, Evie snatches the baby and convinces to drive her to Montreal where she plans to start a new life with her child. When the baby won't eat and she and Justin argue, she ends up alone in a small-town. As the baby becomes sicker, Evie must decide whether to admit her mistake and turn herself, or keep running.

Darlene Ryan is the author of Rules for Life, an ALA Best Book nominee. Darlene lives in Fredericton, NB.

Synopsis

Justin looked over at me. Then he looked at the baby. But he turned and started up the old river road. "You said you just wanted to see her," he said. "So I lied." "Evie, you can't just take someone else's kid." "I didn't steal someone else's kid, Justin," I said. "She's mine and I'm keeping her." Evie was pregnant and forced to give up the baby. But she can't just leave the child with strangers, especially when she thinks the baby is being neglected. With her boyfriend waiting in the truck, Evie snatches the baby and convinces him to drive her to Montreal where she plans to start a new life with her child. But when the baby won't eat and she and Justin argue, she ends up alone in a small town. As the baby becomes sicker, Evie must decide whether to admit her mistake and turn herself in, or to keep running. Darlene Ryan is the author of Rules for Life, an ALA Best Book nominee. Darlene lives in Fredericton, NB.

Children's Literature

When fifteen-year-old Evie gave birth to her daughter Brianna, her father pressured her into giving the baby up for adoption ("Just because you were stupid enough to get yourself pregnant doesn't mean you're going to ruin the rest of your life."), but Evie has never felt at ease with the decision. Convinced that her daughter's adoptive parents are neglecting her, Evie tricks Justin, the baby's father, into helping her kidnap their daughter. When Justin has second thoughts, Evie is left on her own, on the run, with few resources and an increasingly sick baby on her hands. Taut pacing and tense situations help guide the plot along, and will be certain to draw in reluctant readers, as will the book's small trim size and large print. Short sentences, controversial topics, and realistic (i.e., expletive-laden) dialogue also help make the book feel relevant to its audience. Many ethical questions, some of which are left open-ended, lend the book well to class or small group discussions. Part of the "Orca Soundings" series of books for reluctant teen readers.

About the Author, Darlene Ryan

Darlene Ryan has been writing for as long as she can remember, although she pursued post-secondary degrees in biology and education. Despite being endlessly fascinated by theories on the origin of the universe, she decided she wasn't cut out to be a scientist and returned to writing. Darlene was the 2006 poet recipient of the Dr. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell Early Childhood Literacy Award. As Sofie Kelly, she writes the best-selling Magical Cats mysteries. She lives with her family in Fredericton, New Brunswick. More information is available at www.darleneryan.com.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Canadian Book Review Annual

"This is a compelling, insightful addition to the Orca Soundings series. Recommended."

NMRLS Youth Services Book Review

"This Orca Soundings title with its fast-pace, high interest content, and low reading level is a perfect choice for a struggling female reader."

Puget Sound Council for the Review of Children's Books

"This high-interest Orca Soundings book will be sure to stimulate good discussions about responsibility, good and harmful decisions and hard consequences."

VOYA - Laura Woodruff

Fifteen-year-old Evie, forced to give up her baby girl for adoption, kidnaps her and heads for Montreal. When boyfriend Justin, who was duped into driving, calls the police, Evie flees into the night with her sick infant in Saving Grace. The small, large-print paperback books in the Orca Soundings series use simple vocabulary and short sentences combined with lots of authentic dialogue and engrossing subject matter, making them ideal for high-interest, low-reading-level collections. The authors are not afraid of controversial language or material, which is in large part the secret of the series' appeal. Open endings lend to discussion and further exploration. These little novels with their colorful covers are sure to be a hit.

KLIATT - Lisa Carlson

Fifteen-year-old Evie is running away with her baby, Brianna, who was renamed Grace by the family who adopted her. But Evie did not want her baby taken away, and now she has her daughter back and she's running to Montreal where she'll become a fashion designer and raise Brianna. Of course, there are complications along the way, and in the end Evie must decide between her desire to keep her child at all costs, or let her be adopted by a family that can give her a better life. Saving Grace raises many questions about teen parenting and paints an intensely sharp picture of the problems faced by kids who have kids. Two other issues are forced adoptions and parental kidnapping, neither of which is resolved in the novel, but remain open for reader discussion. Ryan crafts her two primary characters, Evie and Justin, Evie's boyfriend, exceptionally well, not only revealing their ignorance of child-rearing but demonstrating that they, too, are still children trying to grow up. No clear-cut answers are provided in this novel; readers are left to consider the situation and come to their own conclusions. Plot, character and themes all interconnect to become a remarkably intense story. Highly recommended for middle and high school readers. Girls will perhaps find the plot more interesting, although boys could benefit from analysis of the characters and further discussion of these themes.