The Promise of Jesse Woods

There are authors that tell stories and there are authors that are storytellers. Chris Fabry is a storyteller that weaves a story into the deep crevices of your heart.  I have read each book he has written and that one is my favorite till the next book comes out and I have a new favorite book.
He has such a knack of involving the reader in the plot and you feel what the characters feel and you become engrossed in what is to come as the book evolves.

A lot Chris Fabry's books take place in a magical town of Dogwood, West Virginia where the times are simpler and life is slower. The setting is 1972, with the Vietnam War overseas and the World Series in the background, young Matt Plumley moves to Dogwood when his father moves there to pastor a small church .  Matt makes friends with Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed race boy and Jesse Woods, a tough young Appalachian girl along with her sister Daisy Grace. What transpires when these three embark on finding their  way through many interesting trials, escapades, growing pains, first love, friendships, innocence lost, and just trying to make it through each day when  circumstances are tough.  Fast forward to 1984 and Matt is living in Chicago and suddenly needs to return to Dogwood and to Jesse to find out what the truth behind the promise she broke and why. You must read the book to know what the promise is. The plot goes between 1972 and 1984 which was a fascinating way to tell the story from past to present.

 Since I lived through that time period, it was fun to relive some of the things that the author threw into the story. This was another superbly crafted plot with believable characters set in a location where things were very different in 1972. You could laugh at their antics and cry at the heartbreaking things that happen in life especially when you are young. As Jesse Woods says "Maybe God lets us choose.  Maybe he lets the good and bad happen so we can work it all out ourselves" Please, do yourself a favor, and read this book, you will be amazed at how this story sticks with you long after the last page is turned.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free copy just for my honest opinion.