GIRL
by Bart Bare
Canterbury House Publishing
225 Ira Harmon Rd.
Vilas, NC 28692-9369
www.canterburyhousepublishing.com
ISBN: 9780982539644

Although 14 years old, Loren Creek is independent enough to care for her terminally ill mother while maintaining their small farm. When her mother passes away, Loren fights for emancipation but is ordered into foster care. Unhappy with her foster family, Loren escapes to a small town in North Carolina. To avoid detection, she cuts her hair, dresses like a boy and changes her name to Lorne Land. Loren rents a small house from a mountain man who has little respect for the law and, at his suggestion, pretends to be his grandson. Guised as a boy, she enters high school, where she’s easily accepted, and joins the track team her freshman year. Her sophomore year, she joins the football team, earning respect as a kicker. But life isn’t easy for Loren; she finds her choice confusing and even dangerous at times and is aware her cover can be blown any moment. Even worse: her foster caseworker is tracking her, slowly getting closer.

Bart Bare has penned a heartwarming tale about a young woman’s journey as she loses the only family she thinks she has and gains a more extended family, touching lives along the way. Loren is a wonderful character, an intelligent, independent teenager who is not afraid to live life as she wants and is open to new adventures and friends. The author paints a colorful picture of the people and mountains of North Carolina, further enriching a truly lovely story.