Almost Eden

(Paperback)

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Description

It is the hot prairie summer of her twelfth year and Elsie is at a crossroads. Her beloved mother who is mentally ill has been hospitalized, and Elsie thinks that the breakdown is all her fault. Mental illness is simply not discussed in Elsies close-knit Mennonite community and she is rudderless. Nothing Elsie does seems to go right: theres no pleasing her bossy older sister; she forgets to feed the cat, so her father gives it away; shes supposed to watch out for her younger sister, but she lets her come home alone from the swimming pool (despite the lurking menace of a weird stranger around town); and she bargains with God to make her mother well again to no evident avail.

Elsies conversations with God, her struggle to overcome guilt, and her honest desire to prove herself are laced with a wicked wit and clarity of vision. Almost Eden is a beautiful portrait of a town, a family, and a young woman willing to challenge the things that dont make sense to her, and to fix the things that dont seem right.

Reviews

Praise for Topher:

[Topher] gives mystery fans ages 10 to 12 exactly what they want [It] can stimulate a young readers curiosity (and pulse rate) from start to finish.
Quill & Quire

a dramatic, suspenseful story that will keep you wondering and guessing right to the end.
Lethbridge Herald

Praise for What They Dont Know:

riveting
London Free Press

Author Bio

Anita Horrocks has published three previous award-winning novels for young adults, Topher, What They Dont Know, and Breath of a Ghost. Almost Eden is her first novel to draw on her own Mennonite background growing up in southern Manitoba. Anita has two stepchildren and two grandchildren. She and her husband live in Lethbridge, Alberta.