A story about a special child who was adopted from Ethiopia, in Africa. Tirpe' Rebekah is six years old.
Tirpe' (pronounced Turr-Pay) Rebekah Bilkey is a pretty little girl, and this is obvious from when people first see her. She has a round, cherub-cheeked face the color of cafe'-au-lait, huge, golden-brown eyes, and a headful of black, wiry hair that tends to go in all directions. She is thin in build, and she is rather small for her age.
Tirpe' is also disabled. She walks on leg braces and forearm crutches, and she also doesn't speak. When she was a baby back in her home back in Ethiopia, in Africa, she was struck down with a sudden high fever, and the fever left her partially paralyzed and mute. Still, she had a determined spirit about her, and she handled her new situation with a dignity and sense of courage not found in most kids her age.
Because she was left disabled, her parents decided they didn't want her any longer, so she went to an orphanage, where she stayed until a year ago, when she was adopted by a family in America, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Tirpe' then went to America, where she then met her new family, the Bilkey family, which consisted of a pastor and his wife and their three sons. Shortly after Tirpe' arrived, they added a second child from Africa, a little boy also from Ethiopia, named B.J. (Bryson Joseph), who was then three years old.
Tirpe' is rather shy in nature, but once you get to know her, you find out that she loves to color or draw, and she also loves to read. She is very intelligent, and she isn't afraid to show off for people. She talks either by sign language or by writing down her thoughts on pieces of paper she always carries with her at all times.
Tirpe' does love her family, and she is never short on hugs or kisses, especially for her papa, whom she has managed to wrap around her little finger. She also loves her older brothers, and they don't mind her tagging behind her, even when they are with their friends, for Tirpe' is a child who manages to capture anyone's heart with her determined nature and spunk.
The multiple award winning, 5 Star story of a baby penguin who searches the world to find the woman that saved his life. A wonderful novel with a Christmas feel. Loved by all 4 - 94. Novel or E-book
