Title: Riding through Shadows
Author: Sharon Ewell Foster
Genre: Historical Fiction
Comments: Riding through shadows is an inspirational book set in the 60's during the Vietnam War. Beginning in Illinois, then Texas, the main character Shirley, who is 8 years old, is blind to the cruelty towards her race. The theme of this book is segregation and religion. Yet what I enjoyed about it so much is the fantasy that is written into the story as well. When describing evil, like John Steinbeck in, The Pearl, described evil as black, shapeless shadows, the evil in this book takes form of something almost like a monster. Shirley's father is in Vietnam during this time so when he dies, Shirley's mother has to be sent away because of grief and Shirley has to live with a distant relative, Mother Johnson. She takes care of Shirley and they move to Tyler, Texas, where Shirley has to adjust to the different way of life where the line between black and white is much more defined. Mother Johnson teaches Shirley to be much more religious. Throughout the book with all these bad and hard events happening to Shirley the evil "monsters" try to break her spirit and when she is sad or feels grief they become stronger. Yet at the end of the book when Shirley learns to pray she defeats them. This book was very interesting to read because of the mix of ideas within it. I would definitely recommend it because reading it there is a lot to think about, and question as well. If you enjoy this book, you might want to read the next book in the series, Passing into Light
Author: Sharon Ewell Foster
Comments: Riding through shadows is an inspirational book set in the 60's during the Vietnam War. Beginning in Illinois, then Texas, the main character Shirley, who is 8 years old, is blind to the cruelty towards her race. The theme of this book is segregation and religion. Yet what I enjoyed about it so much is the fantasy that is written into the story as well. When describing evil, like John Steinbeck in, The Pearl, described evil as black, shapeless shadows, the evil in this book takes form of something almost like a monster. Shirley's father is in Vietnam during this time so when he dies, Shirley's mother has to be sent away because of grief and Shirley has to live with a distant relative, Mother Johnson. She takes care of Shirley and they move to Tyler, Texas, where Shirley has to adjust to the different way of life where the line between black and white is much more defined. Mother Johnson teaches Shirley to be much more religious. Throughout the book with all these bad and hard events happening to Shirley the evil "monsters" try to break her spirit and when she is sad or feels grief they become stronger. Yet at the end of the book when Shirley learns to pray she defeats them. This book was very interesting to read because of the mix of ideas within it. I would definitely recommend it because reading it there is a lot to think about, and question as well. If you enjoy this book, you might want to read the next book in the series, Passing into Light
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