Adara [Paperback]

Beatrice Gormley (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Adara has always longed to do the things that well-brought-up girls of her time are not supposed to do. She wants to learn to read and write--like men. And she wants the freedom to travel--like men--outside the boundaries of her sheltered life. One day she awakens to a blast of trumpets as the Israelites and Arameans battle just outside the safety of her village walls. Curious, Adara sneaks out to see the battle. Little does she know that this will be her last day of freedom for a very long time. Sold into slavery, Adara becomes a servant to General Namaan and his family and begins a remarkable journey of self-discovery, healing, and redemption--a journey that, in the end, faces her with the hardest decision of her life.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (August 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802852165
• ISBN-13: 978-0802852168
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Fiction > Ancient Civilizations
  • #65 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Ancient Civilizations

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adara: by Beatrice Gormley, June 18, 2003

By 

"sminto" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adara (Paperback)

.
The soldier heaved me over his shoulder as if i were a spring lamb - I screamed - I beat his back, hurting my hands. "Let me go."

Adara was in the wrong place at the wrong time and before she knew it she was a slave. Brought up in the weathest family in her village she was now lower than the sevants that had looked after her all her life. This is the story of how she was brought thousands of kilometers from her home and family as a slave to a new and unknown world. It is a story of faith and trust in God and in what her can do.
The book is aimed at teens and relates to the bible passage 2 Kings chapter 5 and the healing of Naaman in the Jordan river.
This is a great book and certainly a worth-while read!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Bible historical fiction., March 12, 2008

By 

K. Childs (Rochester, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adara (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this historical-fictional novel for teens, which tells a tale of a slave girl who changed the life of Naaman, Commander of the Syrian army. Based on the Old Testament account in Kings 2, chapter 5, the story begins in Biblical Ramoth-Gilead, where the spirited young Adara lives with her family. Soon she will be old enough to be given away in marriage to some unknown husband, but Adara yearns for more from her life -- to be able to read, and to see other lands. As a battle rages outside her village, between the Syrians and the Israelites, Adara impulsively sneaks out to watch the battle. She becomes stuck outside the city walls, and ends up a captive. Taken to Damascus in the land of Syria, Adara starts as the lowest slave girl in the pecking order in the house of Commander Naaman. But after some time has passed, Adara becomes a storyteller for Naaman's wife, and tells tales of the holy prophet Elisha, that Adara's foster mother had told to her. And so, when Naaman has leprousy, and no physician can give him any help, it is Adara who plants the idea that Elisha could heal him. Naaman, desperate to try anything, follows her suggestion, and travels to find the prophet, only to be told by the prophet's servant to simply "go and wash in the Jordan River seven times." Naaman is angry at this answer, since he was hoping for an answer that would be much more grand, and more grandly given. Adara fears that her master will not heed the prophet's advice. Though anyone who knows the Biblical tale knows how this turns out, this novel lets you travel with the emotions of the characters, and to see, in this land and time of many confusing concepts of different gods, that there is a God who heals, and who has compassion on the great and on the lowly alike.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended, January 12, 2011

By 

MBW "Homeschooling mom" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adara (Paperback)

When it comes to finding historical fiction for this time period, I understand that pickings are slim. That said, my advice is to just skip it. The writing is sub-par, the plot is passable.

My bigger concern was that the story contains not-so-subtle feminist and anti-marriage themes throughout. If you choose to assign this as part of your homeschool curriculum (we use TOG), I recommend discussing these aspects with your children.