![](https://wowlit.org//wp-content/books/thumbs/97a8c1ce6c88fe9276afdd7459821a19.jpg)
“A quietly astonishing work of art.” – Starred, Quill & QuireIn the midst of a heaven-rattling summer storm a young stranger blows into a small prairie town. On the run after taking her latest boyfriend’s truck, with a pocketful of stolen money and a heart full of pain, seventeen-year-old Noreen Stall seems to invite trouble. And trouble comes soon enough as Noreen’s new mistakes trigger calamities that shake the lives of the residents of Pembina Lake: Lynda Bradley, a divorced mother and owner of a failing café who’s given up on life and love; Dolores Harper, the village elder who, in spite of her signature sweatshirt that says MEDDLING FOR JESUS, has lost her enthusiasm for helping others; and Del Armstrong, a middle-aged bachelor farmer who is still paying for the tragic events of his own seventeenth summer.Set against the vast skies of a prairie landscape, with a rich cast of unforgettable characters and an unlikely heroine as endearing as she is tough, this affecting novel reminds readers that it’s never too late for forgiveness – and that sometimes the most unlikely messenger can deliver a small miracle.
- ISBN: 9780374378066
- Author: Brooks, Martha
- Published: 2003, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
- Themes: Redemption, Runaways, Small Town
- Descriptors: Canada, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult (ages 14-18)
- No. of pages: 192