Kicking
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4.6 • 28 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Esther is her granddaughter's last chance.
Zoe Prescott is out of options. After one reckless night too many—running from police, bleeding, and terrified—she's about to be sent to a facility for at-risk youth. But her grandmother offers a different path: Come live with me. Start over.
Small-town Maine is the last place Zoe wants to go—cold, boring, and full of weirdos. Worst of all is Rachel the church lady with the crazy hats who somehow gets appointed as Zoe's mentor. Rachel is cheerful, persistent, and uncomfortably perceptive. Zoe hates it.
She also hates her community service assignment, but she's not in it alone, and suddenly she finds herself with friends. Together, they stumble into a mission that's almost fun: catching the church vandal.
As Zoe's walls start to crack, and a little light seeps in, she must decide who she wants to be: the angry lost girl, or the girl who admits God's had her back all along.
Gritty, honest, and deeply compassionate, Kicking is a powerful Christian novel about a lost girl, the grandmother who refuses to give up on her, and the community who loves her unconditionally.
This is Book 2 of the New Beginnings Christian Fiction Series. Readers say this series is best read in order. Binge the completed series:
Book 1: Knocking
Book 2: Kicking
Book 3: Searching
Book 4: Knitting
Book 5: Working
Book 6: Splitting
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Merrill (The Prima Donna) kicks off the New Beginnings series with a potent tale of betrayal, faith, and forgiveness. When long-suffering pastor's wife Tonya Mendell discovers her husband is having an affair with a congregant, it is the couple's preteen daughter, Emma, who feels the brunt of the trauma. After being humiliated by a best friend turned mean girl, Emma gets into a fight with her parents, storms out of the house, and is welcomed into the home of the neighborhood recluse, Fiona Patterson. While Emma's parents continue their marital charade in an attempt to keep Roy's pastoral position, Emma finds solace with Fiona and the Puddys, a "weirdo" homeschool family she is forced to spend time with but previously disregarded, who prove to be more reliable than Emma's own family. Meanwhile, in a separate story line, seven elderly women have been told their diocese is shuttering their church. In response, they start New Beginnings in a dilapidated old building. The services are unconventional, but they just might be what Tonya, Emma, Fiona, and the Puddy family need. Merrill's theological insight on God's grace amid difficult circumstances resonates and will have readers anticipating the next installment. Fans of Francine Rivers should take a look. (Self-published)
