Book Description

Robyn Thomas feels cranky, discouraged, and thirsty as she plods up an unfamiliar mountain road bordering The Monongahela National Forest under a blazing July sun. She fuels her angst by kicking rocks and forming thoughts of revenge on her parents for dragging her out of NYC and depositing her into nowhere, which includes the newly purchased house down the road, the one Robyn vows she’ll never call home. It’s the worst birthday of her life. In a rush of unexpected movement, a girl she describes as an Olympian goddess descends from the heights (with a tagalong boy) to swiftly overturn each of Robyn’s complaints; but Samantha Sticker’s simple outpourings don’t stop there. No. Life is waiting for Robyn, and Samantha is just the girl to introduce her to its fullness. Question is, will Robyn take hold? ~ ~. ~ Beyond the Cradle is a Literary Fiction novel that rests easily in the hands of ardent teen readers, and adults alike. The story opens in the mid-nineteen-eighties, extends into the early nineties, and briefly scrolls back into the forties. Its narrator, Robyn Thomas, glides through several of the world’s largest cities, but only one place captures her soul, a mountain community in West Virginia. It’s not so much the place that moves her, as the people who’ve been influenced by the place over generations; for Robyn, one person stands out in particular, Samantha Sticker. The novel encompasses two coming of age stories of homeschooling girls from different family dynamics, dimensions, and worldviews. One arrives nearly fully packaged to walk the earth with surety and grace; the other is obstinate by nature and, even though brilliant, holds false assumptions about herself and life in general. Heart-warming truths run throughout the story, such as, the beauty we can find in family relationships and anchored friendships; the rewards received in practicing sexual abstinence before marriage; the sense of wonder discovered through and within nature; how homeschooling is an honored way of life; and how life choices can add or detract from wisdom's song. Movements within the storyline address the various traps we are prone to enter, mostly unaware, and how God gently comes alongside to uncover those places, if our hearts yearn for true freedom while we're still here on this cradle, called earth. "This story [has] a unique voice and tone. It's a delight to the senses and the soul." ~ Chris Fabry, author of War Room