Leap of Faith

Gr 10 Up—Generous helpings of drama and romance will keep teens enthralled by this sometimes heavy-handed, often unrealistic, but always compulsively readable novel about a girl who steals a baby. Seventeen-year-old Faith can't stand her drug-addicted mother and their squalid life in Ohio. When her mother agrees to have a baby and sell it to an equally unfit couple, Faith kidnaps her half-sister and drives to Florida, where she begins to build a life for herself and baby Addy. Faith calls herself Leah, pretends to be 19, and attempts to pass Addy off as her own child. Running out of money and struggling to care for an infant, the teen is lucky to meet a kindhearted waitress who helps her find a place to live. Soon Faith finds herself drawn to the handsome and almost too-good-to-be-true son of her landlord. Chris, a roofer and musician, dotes on Addy and mostly doesn't push Faith to fill in details of her past. Before long, the boy's grandmother finds Faith a job at an Italian restaurant, and despite daycare dilemmas and troubling memories, Faith seems to have an entirely new and improved life. However, she is always looking over her shoulder, fearful of the police and newspaper articles that may reveal her true identity. While the novel does portray some of Faith's struggles, critical readers may wonder if a teen on the run with a newborn baby and very little cash would really fare so well. The past does come back to haunt Faith, of course. While some will find the conclusion unfulfilling, they will also root for Faith and Addy to find the happiness they deserve.—Miranda Doyle, Lake Oswego School District, OR