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| Book #19 of 2010 |
| Title: Saving Maddie |
| Author: Varian Johnson |
| Publisher: Delacorte Press |
| Pub Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Grade: A- |
| Comments: When Maddie returns to town, Joshua can’t wait to reunite with his old friend. But Maddie’s been sent to live with her aunt by her preacher father who seems to have washed his hands of his unrepentant daughter. Joshua wants to help save her, but his parents discourage him as they think she will be a bad influence on him. The more Joshua gets to know Maddie, the more he realizes that things aren’t so black and white and just because a person isn’t a hardline Christian doesn’t mean they aren’t a good person.
The summary makes the book sound dry and preachy but it is absolutely a character driven novel and not a problem novel or religious screed. Saving Maddie is wonderful for one reason: Madeline. The character is so lovely and so well written. You feel for her completely throughout the book. My only complaint is that Joshua is a little bit TOO good in the beginning. Even a kid trying desperately to live up to his family’s (and the Bible’s) standards is going to fail sometimes; he didn’t have to be THAT good to have his changes be shocking to his parents. Their relationship feels very authentic though and you can see why the two of them are attracted to each other despite their differences.
As soon as I finished, I thought that this book desperately needs a sequel from Maddie’s POV. I mentioned this on Twitter and Varian responded that there’s one in the works!
Reviewed from ARC provided by Random House at ALA Midwinter
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