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The Tender Years grows from the rich heritage of the Love Comes Softly novels to initiate A Prairie Legacy, a series as certain to enthrall new Janette Oke readers as it is to delight already-devoted fans. Here the author resumes a vibrant tapestry of memorable characters, compelling themes, and events which may well suspend breathing, but never believability.
For those to whom Marty and Clark and their progeny have become both familiar and dear, the prologue offers an opportunity to "catch up." But the moment chapter 1 begins, all readers will identify with granddaughter Virginia's teetering on the brink of adulthood. Her emotional floundering, her forging and fragmentation of friendships, her questioning of authority and selfhood, her tentative discovery of romance are universal to the "tender years" of any era. "Growing up seemed to be such very hard work. Why did one have to do it all alone?" is the question asked at the end of the chapter.
In actuality Virginia is never "alone," except as she efficiently resists the support system enclosing her. There is older sister Clara, whose caring she often interprets as "bossiness," younger sister Francine, whose tender, tearful concern Virginia translates as "nosiness," her parents' thoughtful guidance, which seems smothering, restrictive. What Virginia yearns for, strives for, requires is inclusion in Jenny's "in" group.
Jenny is daring, exotic, imaginative, "in charge," and -- less obviously -- wounded and confused. Whenever she's thwarted, however slightly, she masks vulnerability with rage. Her worldliness has tainted Virginia's contentment; her cynicism threatens Virginia's trust.
Still, Virginia risks even Jenny's ire and ridicule when the stakes are high enough -- as on the afternoon by the swollen creek.
In the aftermath of that venture -- with one friend dead and others injured, Virginia finds it difficult to forgive and nurture her subdued friend. Further, she resents her mother's attempts to help Jenny to physical wholeness and to a knowledge of God.
"Just because children grow up in a Christian home, they are not immunized from a desire to be part of the crowd," says Oke. "We've all been through it. When I was raising my children, I reminded myself you just need to keep love flowing. Someday it will be over."
Now Oke writes as a grandparent, and grandparent-readers will appreciate the special feeling Virginia has for her grandparents in the story.
"Prayer is so important," Oke comments. "Our privilege as grandparents is to pray for our grandchildren and their parents."
In The Tender Years, Janette Oke weaves a compelling blend of suspense, romance, the universal agonies of teenage years, and a fundamental love of God and family. Readers will be touched ... and blessed.
Evelyn Minshull is an author and writing teacher in Mercer, PA.
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