In the Heart of the Dark Wood

A motherless girl hungry for hope . . . and the dream that could be leading her astray. Almost two years have passed since twelve year-old Allie Granderson's beloved mother Mary disappeared into the wild tornado winds. Her body has never been found. God may have had spilled out his vengeance on all of Mattingly that day—but it was Allie's momma who got swept away. Allie clings to memories of her mother, just as she clings to the broken compass she left behind, the makeshift Nativity scene assembled in Allie's front yard, and to her best friend Zach. But even with Zach at her side, the compass tied to her wrist, and the Nativity characters just a glimpse out the window away, Allie cannot help but feel lost in all the growing up that must get done. When the Holy Mother disappears from the yard one morning, Allie's bewilderment is checked only by the sudden movement of her mother's compass. Yet the compass isn't pointing north but east . . . into...