Bargain Seeker on the Prowl

 The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere is a book I chose from Amazon’s Bargain Book selection to read together with my 13-year-old daughter. This story teaches a life lesson about making decisions and having to live with the consequences of the decisions you have made.

This story is set in rural Tennessee in 1947, and involves a poverty-level family struggling to make ends meet and just putting food on the table is a major feat. A series of unexpected events and cruel acts cause this newly widowed, mother of two to take into their home a young African-American boy because of a promise she made to his dying mother.

Having lived in the South nearly all of my life, I can understand the struggle and backlash from the predominately white community this family had to endure. My daughter could not understand how people could be so intolerant and filled with hate just because of the color of a person’s skin.

If you choose to read this with your child as I did, be prepared to stop and answer a lot of difficult questions that will arise in the mind(s) of your young one(s). If you read this book alone, be prepared to read it from start to finish in one sitting as you are drawn into the story and captivated by the characters. Either way, it is difficult to read this book without shedding tears.

For $4.99 (hardcover) plus shipping at Amazon, The Angels of Morgan Hill is definitely a bargain for your bookshelf.