Christy

Christy, by Catherine Marshall, is a novelized account of Catherine’s mother, Leonora Whitaker, as a 19-year old teacher, who travels in 1912 from her protected upbringing and loving parents in Asheville NC to a remote valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee only 40 miles from her home and parents. Her encounters with the residents of Cutter Gap, both with her students and their parents plus the mission supervisor and pastor, bring us a vivid view into the past of these mountain folk, but also ourselves in today’s world. As Christy struggles with learning how to teach 65 students in her one-room school house, she has to come to grips with a foreign culture, her inner person, her ideas of God and his creation, and how to respond to what she believes her life should be and will be. As we watch Christy grow in wisdom and maturity, we can see how we can best grow ourselves in our service to the community. Christy is not a book for all ages, but it is an excellent book for mature youth and adults to examine themselves and how they view the world today through the adventures of a young lady seeking God and how to do his will.