Summer Snow

In her sophomore outing and excellent follow-up to After the Leaves Fall, Baart continues her saga of Julia DeSmit with the same careful prose and enjoyable storytelling she showed in her debut. Julia's pregnancy is starting to show and she's dropped out of college to live with her grandmother and work at Value Foods in a small Midwestern town. Her beloved ""boy next door"" is marrying another, and the father of her coming child is out of the picture. But when the unexpected happens, Julia discovers the bitterness of being unforgiving, the possibility of second chances, and the place in her life that only God can fill. Baart communicates deep spiritual themes with a light touch, and some scenes, such as Julia and a friend watching cottonwood fluff (""summer snow"") blow over a lake at sundown, are lovely. She also has a knack with characterization, and wise words come from both expected and unexpected places. This is a treat for faith fiction readers, and proves Baart is not just a one-hit wonder.