It's been a busy summer, but I'm back with a great book for you!

Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu
There seems to be a new trend in teen literature: teens living in repressive fundamentalist families yearning to escape and find new lives for themselves.  A few current examples are Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle, No Parking at the End Times by Brian Bliss and Rapture Practice, a memoir of growing up in a fundamentalist family by Aaron Harztler.  When I picked up Devoted (Mathieu's second novel for teens) I expected more of the same, but this one surprised me. It is a gentle book about Rachel, a seventeen year old girl growing up in a very large fundamentalist Christian family, taking care of her younger brothers and sisters and her depressed mother, who dreams of the world outside her closed little life and yearns to be able to read books and learn about the world around her. The confusion and guilt is palpable and throughout the book. She never looses her faith, it just changes gradually when she contacts an older girl, Lauren, who escaped from her repressive home life and eventually earned her GED and returned to her home town for a job opportunity. Lauren sends her a poem by Mary Oliver, the last line of which serves as the theme for this story: "What is it you will do with your one wild and precious life?" Rachel leaves her home and moves in with Lauren, whose family attended the same church Rachel's family attends. Rachel's growth is slow and steady throughout the book, her relationships with new found friends believable. This book is full of hope, as you will surely cheer Rachel on in her journey towards self discovery.  It's not an easy journey, and it is not one that Rachel undertakes in anger or bitterness. She truly misses her family and grieves when she realizes she will never be allowed to visit her home again. She continues to have faith and begins attending another church with her new friends and develops a new understanding of her own precious gifts and how to use them. I would recommend this book for high school students who like Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti.