Interrupted: Life Beyond Words [Hardcover]

Rachel Coker (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 6, 2012

Can love really heal all things? If Sam Carroll hadn't shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept. Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie's heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Coker writes an emotionally compelling and psychologically nuanced tale. The plot has some weak spots: Allie manages to overhear not one but two crucial incidents that give her unexpected information, and some of her character development late in the story is abrupt. But the historical context is an engaging narrative frame. Coker is one to watch.' - Publishers Weekly Review -- Publishers Weekly Review <br><br> (Publishers Weekly Review)

'A feel-good story for both heart and soul.' - Kirkus Review -- Kirkus Review <br><br> (Kirkus Review)

About the Author

Rachel Coker is a homeschool student who lives in Virginia with her parents and two sisters. She has a passion for great books and has been surrounded by them all her life. In fact, as a young child, Rachel helped her parents in a family-run Christian book business. Her gift for writing became apparent at the age of eleven at which time her parents signed her up for a year of lessons with a professional writing coach. When she is not writing or playing the piano, Rachel enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; 1st Printing edition (March 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310729734
• ISBN-13: 978-0310729730
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 14-year-old author writes stunning story April 5, 2012

By Rebecca Berto

Format:Hardcover

Interrupted: A life beyond words, by Rachel Coker is a stunning portrayal of Allie's life from daughter to orphan, from a steeled heart to growing up in a new world.

I must say: wow. This book had depth beyond the fourteen years of Rachel, her age when she wrote this story. The year is 1939 and at thirteen, Allie is her mother's carer. Her mother -- her only parent -- has a brain tumor, which alters her moods. If that's not hard enough, Allie feels ridiculed for having an "insane" mum from other people in town.

Sam is the closest boy she has to a friend. They're opposites in many ways but they connect -- something Allie is reluctant to admit, but grateful for.

Days after Allie's fourteenth birthday, her mum loses her battle with cancer. Allie is taken away to someone's house, Miss Beatrice. She can't take her cat. Most of her possessions must be left behind.

Interrupted: A life beyond words follows the subsequent years as Allie grows through her teenage years. She clings onto the memories from when she shared tender moments with her mum: poetry, piano, the stars. Her adoptive mother, Miss Beatrice is a kind, accommodating person, but Allie wants her mum and wants to go back to her real home -- Miss Beatrice's house has never felt like her own.

Sam arrives back in her life one day and Allie, who's repressed love from other people, is faced with more choices. As she hangs onto her past, her chance for love slips away. World War II rattles her town, and the world around her. Devastation is everywhere.

This novel is a perfect weekend read. Rachel takes you into this war era, where struggles are daily chores. Allie is a troubled person who blocks out the people who mean the most

to her. As the story developed I found myself hoping she'd realise how her "blocking" was only hurting her more. (I won't spoil with a yes or no hint.)

This story is also about finding faith in God, which can be one of the hardest things, especially for Allie who's had much tragedy in her life.

Interrupted: A life beyond words is a novel I recommend to Christians, teenagers, and those needing to find meaning, those trying to find their way.

Recommended read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Interrupted April 21, 2012

By C. Adkisson

Format:Hardcover

Allie Everly has to grow up way too quickly when her mother is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Allie refuses to let anyone else care for her no matter how difficult it is even when her mother is irrational and doesn't seem to know who Allie is. Allie's mother had taught her that Christians are foolish and that there is no God. If her childhood friend, Sam, hadn't shown up at the door when he did, Allie thinks she might have been able to save her mother. Her father left them years ago so Allie has no one.

Following the funeral, Allie is taken from her home in Tennessee with only a few of her belongings and placed in a home in Maine with Miss Beatrice Lovell, an older woman whose children are grown. Miss Beatrice tries for years to break Allie's hard heart but Allie makes it quite difficult and clear that Miss Beatrice is NOT her mother. The best each of them hope for within Miss Beatrice's home is polite strangers, even though I do feel that Miss Beatrice tried everything she knew to get through to Allie and to show her love. The only joy Allie seems to find is in the writing she does to her mother and sketching.

Several years later, Sam shows up visiting his aunt in Maine. Sam has always been there for Allie even though her treatment toward him when they were children was less than ideal as well. When he heads off to war, Allie realizes she may never see him again. Might this be the tool that will wedge open the small crack in her hard shell? Is it too late for Allie to love and be loved? Will she ever move beyond her bitter attitude?

Set just prior to WW II, Interrupted is the first Young Adult published writing by sixteen year old Rachel Coker. As a middle school teacher, I can say that Rachel's writing far exceeds the ability of most sixteen year olds. While Allie did frustrate me due to her lack of desire to even be kind to the woman who was reaching out to her, does that not indicate that Ms. Coker did a good job in her portrayal? Her writing evoked that frustration in me. I enjoyed all the different facets of Allie's personality that Ms. Coker revealed throughout the story. Just the opposite of Allie, Sam is an endearing young man who continues to turn the other cheek.

I have no doubt that Interrupted is the first of many books written by Rachel Coker which will grace the bookstore shelves. I look forward to reading the story she comes up with next. I did receive this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars interrupted April 3, 2012

By My Favorite Pastime

Format:Hardcover

Alcyone Everly(Allie for short) is 14 years old when her life changes forever. Allie has taken care of her mother for a long time. She has had to endure her father abandoning them and the town ridiculing her mother as "crazy." Allie was willing to endure that as long as she was able to be with her mother. But when her mother dies Allie is sent away to Maine to be adopted by Miss Beatrice.

Allie's bitterness sets in. As the years go by she is determined to never let anyone close to her heart again. She especially refuses to allow Miss Beatrice to be any kind of mother to her. Miss Beatrice is a Christian. All her life her real mother has told Allie that Christians are evil. To never believe anything they say. Allie does not believe in God, why would God have allowed her mother to die? Allie believes that she needs to be strong and to never allow anyone to hurt her again.

When childhood friend/enemy Sam shows up in Maine to live with his aunt, a neighbor to Miss Beatrice and Allie, she is once again confused by her feelings for him. Determined to keep him at arms length, but yet knowing that he is the only person that has ever understood her fully, the wall of Allie's bitterness begins to crumble.

When Sam goes off to fight in WWII Allie doesn't know if she will ever see him again. As she learns to open her heart to the people around her Allie realizes that maybe her mother was wrong about Christians. Allie learns that Jesus is the only one that can bring her true peace and heal her bitter heart.

Written by 16 year old Rachel Coker, I found Interrupted to be a sweet story. Set in the late 30's to mid 40's I fell in love with the characters and setting. Allie's bitterness is easy to understand, I felt sympathy for her, along with some irritation at her behavior. Sam's love for Allie through the years was sweet. And Beatrice's love and prayers for Allie, even when being rejected, was heart-warming.