Mel lives in Ashtabula, Ohio, where she and her parents belong to the local Pentecostal church. They're evangelicals and charismatics and speakers-in-tongues. Mel is nearing 15 and, one of the more intelligent girls in her public school, she has the opportunity to attend an academic camp for the summer. The only catch? She has to read many of the books her church has forbidden its members to read-- like Wuthering Heights and-- that door to Satan's thoughts-- The Origin of Species. But Mel really wants to go, so she justifies a sort of lie and forges the permission slip, spending the rest of her time hiding her books in her ever-present backpack or under her bed. Devoted to her church, her pastor, and her family, she is certain that she will be able to argue Darwin's theories with her faith and her knowledge of the Bible-- she is, after all, a Bible Quiz champion. But as Mel reads on she begins to discover that her parents, her pastor, and her church aren't what she thought. And when her parents insist she bring Beth, her Methodist friend, to the annual End-of-Times play that calls for converts-- Mel shocks the congregation, leading to a wild conclusion where she finds herself battling whole new demons and beginning to understand her own evolution in the world. With disarming humor and authentic insight, this novel will show us what life is like for real children of evangelicals all over the country.
Mel is the kind of character readers will fall in love with, identify with, and remember always. She's hapless and earnest and funny and confused and, most of all, trying so hard to do what's right. Caught between her faith and her intellect, she's like so many of us-- struggling to make sense of God and our lives. Kelly Kerney has really captured the voice of this part of America-- a part that so often is portrayed ironically or derisively by those outside or without a sense of perspective by its own proselytizing members. This is Kelly's first novel and it fits very well into out Harvest Originals and Debut Fiction programs. This has off-the-book page potential and YA crossover potential. BORN AGAIN is a real career-starter and we'll have Kelly from the beginning.
