WWRW: Finding Grace

Do you know Laura over at String of Pearls?

If you do, you probably already know she wrote a book. If you don't know her, I supposed I just told you she wrote a book. Laura is an inspiration to me because she writes from the other side of motherhood and she raised 5 (from what I can tell) wonderful men. As a boy mom it's great to see!

Finding Grace is at it's heart, a book about a young girl named Grace who decides to try and become a Saint. We follow Grace through her growing up years through all the trials and tribulations of high school into college. Interwoven through Grace's story, we intimately meet her entire family with detailed back stories and anecdotes. We also meet her close friends and their families.

Finding Grace is lengthy--it spans many years and covers most of the moments that stick out in retrospective of high school. Being unfairly blamed by a teacher? It's got that covered. Prom? That's there too. Unruly hair, arguments with Mom and poor outfit choices? Who hasn't been through that? Making a choice and bemoaning the fact that you should have listened to your parents? Yep.

In actuality, that was the aspect I appreciated the most. I believe teenagers have trained their minds to forget that their parents were young and they have the ability to listen and learn from some of their mistakes. I am not foolish enough to believe that children won't make their own mistakes and learn their own lessons. However, it is nice to know that sometimes parents can successfully help their kids learn from their own childhoods.

Throughout the book one gets a nice little vocabulary lesson from our main gal Grace, a veritable wordsmith. Though, if you don't have a Kindle and you think you may need a dictionary, you will not. Laura is nice enough to define most every word that's unusual.

Finding Grace is also chock full of faith. The Catholic faith is what grounds the book and the characters and makes for an interesting back drop to the 1970s setting. While I am firmly in the pro-Vatican II camp, I have never actually considered before how difficult of a transition it must have been for the faithful. A little like the "And With Your Spirit" change only completely different. Grace's goal to be a saint came across as honest and hopeful, it was never "beat it over your head" or trite.

The title alone is deeper than it appears. As yes it is a story, ultimately, of Grace finding herself. It is also a story about many of the characters finding God's grace and grace within themselves to hold themselves to higher standards. Even some of the most secondary characters are touched with grace. (And by Grace Kelly our main gal.)

While Finding Grace is written from Laura's experiences, and from a female perspective, I wouldn't go ahead a lump it into a "book for girls" category. If anything I think it would be a good book to read for young men to comprehend how complex the female brain is. Even as a coming of age book, this book is a mature read and probably best read by late teens and adults.

If you're looking for a book to read bop on over to Amazon and check it out! Oh and stop over and meet Laura, she's pretty great. She also has all these CatholicMatch.com success stories in 3 out of 5 boys! It's giving me hope for my best friend who is a 7/7 and looking. (One can only hope she ends up with someone like a Pearl boy!)

Linking up with the ever lovely Jessica for WWRW.