Devoted: A Novel, by Jennifer Mathieu
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Devoted: A Novel, by Jennifer Mathieu
Free Ebook Online Devoted: A Novel, by Jennifer Mathieu
Rachel Walker is devoted to God. She prays every day, attends Calvary Christian Church with her family, helps care for her five younger siblings, dresses modestly, and prepares herself to be a wife and mother who serves the Lord with joy. But Rachel is curious about the world her family has turned away from, and increasingly finds that neither the church nor her homeschool education has the answers she craves. Rachel has always found solace in her beliefs, but now she can't shake the feeling that her devotion might destroy her soul.
Devoted: A Novel, by Jennifer Mathieu - Amazon Sales Rank: #538622 in Books
- Brand: Mathieu, Jennifer
- Published on: 2015-06-02
- Released on: 2015-06-02
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.51" h x 1.19" w x 5.80" l, 1.00 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 336 pages
Devoted: A Novel, by Jennifer Mathieu From School Library Journal Gr 6 Up—Traditional patriarchal belief systems stress that girls should be under the control of their fathers until they marry at very young ages and are then placed under the control of their husbands. Rachel Walker, a Born Again Christian teen, is one of 10 children whose family follows this plan until something from the outside world tugs within her. Rachel learns that Lauren Sullivan, a girl who escaped from this community a few years ago, is back in town working at an animal hospital. Through emails, Rachel finds that she and Lauren share similar radical ideas. Lauren sends the protagonist a line from a poem by Mary Oliver, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do/With your one wild and precious life?" This haunting question gives Rachel no peace, but she knows that the answer for her is not to follow in her mother's footsteps. When a neighbor tells Mr. Walker that Rachel was seen at the animal hospital, he decides to send her to a religious retreat that will reprogram her to become obedient again. This proves to be too much for Rachel and she gets Lauren to rescue her. Rachel's courage allows her to follow a new destiny that will honor her precious life. Many teens will have no difficulty in rejecting the strict tenets of Rachel's faith. Readers will be drawn into her anguish even though the outcome will come as no surprise. VERDICT Devoted chronicles that calling to pursue one's heart's desire, a feeling that most teens will connect with and understand.—Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY
Review
“This thoughtful, character-driven study of one girl's struggle to reconcile her strict, conservative Christianupbringing with the modern secular world is an exceptionally nuanced treatment of religious choice.” ―Booklist, starred review
“An engaging, illuminating, but never sensationalized portrayal of one plucky teen's self-discovery and pulling away from a controlling, restrictive (and real) religious movement.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“This exploration of life within and removed from a fundamentalist community makes for riveting reading, all the more poignant for the sympathetic characters in both worlds.” ―Publisher's Weekly
“Devoted chronicles that calling to pursue one's heart's desire, a feeling that most teens will connect with and understand.” ―School Library Journal
About the Author
Jennifer Mathieu teaches English to middle and high schoolers. She is the author of The Truth About Alice and lives in the Houston, Texas, area with her husband and son.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. I've been waiting for a book like Devout. Rachel did everything she was told to ... By Ann After reading Kathryn Joyce's book about the Quiverfull movement, I've been waiting for a book like Devout. Rachel did everything she was told to do but she had a yearning and an unquenchable need for learning. She was sheltered from the big bad world because her church told her it was evil. Her wondering about a young woman who came back to their little town after being shunned was the opening of the door for her. Read's like fiction, a family shunning a young woman because she wanted more than to marry young, have baby after baby, and be at the beck and call of her husband, to whom she would be handed over like a piece of property at her wedding. Shirt shows more collarbone than acceptable, you are called out. Bra straps show through 2nd hand me down clothes, called out. Always being warned that you are the cause of a mans lust because they can't control themselves? Sadly there is a percentage of religious cultures here in the US who raise their daughters this way. No interaction with the outside world if they can help it.Sermons which condemn, no loving God in these homes, the God of condemnation and hellfire.This was one of the best books that I have read this year. Kudos to the author.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Amazing and Thought-Provoking By K. M. Martin My thoughts are really scattered after reading this book. It shows a world that is so alien to me.Rachel Walker is a member of a very strict religious sect where young women are taught to dress modestly so as not to incite lust in males and who are taught that their only future role is to be a helpmate to their husband. But Rachel is chafing at the restrictions of her life. She is smart and curious and doubts that she can fit. Not that she isn't devoted to God, she tries to pray and does believe but she has questions she knows she isn't allowed to ask. She sees her older sister Faith who is married with one baby and another on the way by age 20. She sees that her sister sees to fit into the life as if it were made for her.When Lauren, a young woman who left the congregation six years ago, comes back home, Rachel has someone she can talk to. However, it has to be secret. Once someone leaves the strict Calvary Christian Church it is as though they are dead. Rachel uses the family computer, which she has taught herself to use and uses to manage her father's landscaping business, to begin sharing secret emails with Lauren. When her parents find out about the emails, they decide to send her to Journey of Faith, a camp that reprograms those who are straying. Rachel knows that the camp would change her to someone she isn't. She runs away to Lauren.Lauren takes her in and helps her find her feet in a world that is really strange to her. Luckily, for both Lauren and Rachel, Lauren's boss at the veterinary clinic and his family help the girls. His real estate agent wife hires Rachel to organize her business which gives her some money and a chance to see what happens in the outside world. Their son Mark also shows her what boys can be like as he offers her friendship with no strings.This book is great at portraying the range of emotions that Rachel feels. At one point she says that she alternates between mournfulness and euphoria. I enjoyed getting to know Rachel and am hopeful for her future.Readers who wonder what it might be like inside the world shown on 19 Kids and Counting will enjoy this inside look from the perspective of a young woman who just doesn't fit there.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. An amazing book about a girl in a difficult situation By Kate (Mom's Radius) I was anxious to read this book since I loved Mathieu's The Truth About Alice. Devoted is another amazing book about a girl in a difficult situation. Mathieu handles the topic of extreme Christianity almost without judgment. It is the backdrop for Rachel's existential, coming of age tale.Told in the first person by Rachel herself, this book is compelling and fascinating. Mathieu definitely did her research. Rachel's world is so scary but so true. I instantly felt for Rachel. The amount of work she was made to do at just 17 years old: homeschooling her siblings, cooking dinner every night, putting her siblings to bed, never being able to leave the house alone, not even being able to read the books she wanted to read.The book portrays several strong female characters: Rachel, Lauren (another former Calvary Christian young woman who helps Rachel escape her parents' house), and Diane (a friend of Lauren's who offers Rachel a job helping with her real estate business). These three women are such a great contrast to the other women within the cult-like church: Rachel's mother, Rachel's older sister Faith, and Lauren's mother.I enjoyed how Mathieu created two similar young women with very different reactions to their oppression. Lauren left her parents' home out of anger, and six years later she still cannot pray or go to church because of the anger bottled up inside her. Rachel leaves more out of curiosity. She wants to learn, and she cannot understand a God that would give her a brain and not want her to use it. It's only when she is free from her father and her pastor that she is able to pray again. She still loves God and her family even if she cannot follow Pastor Garrett's rules anymore.Rachel's adaptation to wordly things is very realistic. She slowly becomes comfortable with TV, starts reading Lauren's mystery books, and develops a friendship with Diane's son, Mark. I appreciate Mathieu's avoidance of anything romantic between Rachel and Mark. That would have been unbelievable.Since I just started this blog, I especially liked that Rachel gets in touch with Lauren after discovering her blog about escaping her "Fundie, Homeschooling, Woman-Hating Past".http://momsradius.blogspot.com/2015/06/book-review-devoted.html
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Devoted: A Novel, by Jennifer Mathieu
Devoted: A Novel, by Jennifer Mathieu
