By Nicole Seitz | Thomas Nelson | softcover | 320 pages | $14.99
In Saving Cicadas, 8-year-old Janie Macy is a normal kid, as far as she knows. She lives in a small town with her mother, Priscilla Lynn; her older sister Rainey Dae, who has Down syndrome; and their grandparents. When her mother gets pregnant, though, her whole world changes.
Janie knows her mother is upset about being pregnant, but she only begins to understand what is at stake after her grandparents tell her about abortion and she and Rainey look it up online. When Priscilla Lynn schedules an abortion, Grandma Mona decides Janie must try to stop it. To help her do so, she tells Janie some closely held family secrets that change Janie’s world.
Nicole Seitz deals with the weighty issue of abortion through the innocent eyes of a child. The supernatural surprise at the end makes for a somewhat far-fetched story, though the book’s message is powerful and thought-provoking. Through Janie’s eyes, readers will see the abortion issue in black and white.
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