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| The Merciful Scar |
Reviewed by Marian Baay
~5
stars~*****
When
Kirsten was sixteen a tragedy happened to a family member and because of her
guilt she started cutting herself to try to ease the pain inside of her.
Now she
is twenty-three and is still struggling with pain deep inside her. One night,
after a fight with her boyfriend, she wants to cut herself. She didn’t expect
her boyfriend to return at the very moment she was cutting herself, and that
things could get so dangerous. She ends up in a hospital psychiatric ward,
because people believe she tried to kill herself.
A pastor from church stops by and tells her
about Sister Frankie, an ex-nun, who takes girls like Kirsten under her care
and ministers to them, so they can find healing at her ranch.
Kirsten
knows nothing about ranching or sheep, but since she has no other options she
decides to hear Sister Frankie out. Frankie is not the ‘sister’ she had
expected to see—wearing jeans, boots and a baseball cap. Kirsten decides to give it a chance and goes with
Frankie to her ranch for 30 days.
As a
fragile and skinny girl, Kirsten finds ranch work heavy, but after some time
she is learning and getting stronger. She also finds new friends and favorite
animals to care for.
Frankie
is like a mentor to Kirsten and she encourages her to listen to God’s voice. With
Sister Frankie’s loving care and spiritual guidance, slowly understanding the
things that haunt her will dawn and healing can begin.
Even
Sister Frankie’s handsome nephew, Andy, seems to have ghosts from his past
haunting him. A sweet friendship blooms between Andy and Kirsten and together
they try to find healing from the scars of the past.
A touching
story about a young woman who couldn’t carry her guilt on her own. She tried to
relieve some of the hurt by cutting herself, but finally found healing in the
most unexpected place. The reader will often be reminded of Psalm 23 throughout
the book—The Lord is my Shepherd.
The
authors captured the emotional aspect of the story very well and the tough
subject was also made easily comprehensible for Young Adult readers.
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