I Will Follow
by Bethany Patchin and Clare Cook
by Bethany Patchin and Clare Cook
"Meg Atwell, age sixteen and three-quarters, is a young woman with principles. Romantic principles. She’s never been kissed and never been on a date. She’s also never traveled far from her home in Wisconsin, so she’s apprehensive about embarking on a five-week missions trip to Mexico. Little does she know what joys and challenges await her—in the heart of Monterrey, in the faces of its children, and in the eyes of a young man."
(from back cover)
Reviews
This novel captured my attention from the first chapter, and over the next few days I read a page in every spare moment, staying up late to finish it when I could not wait any longer to find out what happened to my new friends. I have never read a fiction book with an ending quite like this one, and I guarantee you that it will clench your heart and make you think deeply.The story follows two sisters—Meg and Teresa—on their adventure working in Mexico on a 5-week missions trip with their father and a handful of other youth. As Meg struggles to learn Spanish and stay strong in her walk with God, she meets a young man named Diego. What follows is “a different kind of love story” that challenged my convictions regarding relationships. I was encouraged by Meg's integrity and could sympathize with her struggles. The authors did an excellent job making this a book that any teenage girl could relate to, regardless of lifestyle or background. It holds a lesson for everyone and is a pleasant read besides.
-Natalie Marie Nyquist, age 18
I Will Follow struck a deep chord for me. It is the most challenging, heart-wrenching, convicting, and inspiring novel for young women I've ever read. I literally could not put it down, and yet, when it ended, the next step was mine--because the story is similar to each of ours and we can write the ending. I laughed, I squirmed, I sighed, and I cried. But there was no escaping the message--follow Christ, above all else.
It's not a happily-ever-after story. It's real life, hard work--and the hardest of all, it challenges us so deeply with the truth that we have to face it just as Meg does. I highly recommend the book to every teen girl or single young woman I know. It is a challenge we each need; yet it is an encouragement to know that we are not alone and others face the same things we do. But in the end, we are inspired to choose as Meg did--to follow the Lord instead of her own wants and desires.
The authors wrote in such a way that you knew they had been there, facing the same things in their own lives. But they didn't give their story a nice, comfortable and romantic ending--they left off right where each of their readers are, leaving them to write the next pages in their own lives.
-Gretchen Louise Glaser, age 18
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