Book #18: The Penny

I finished another book last week on our trip called The Penny. It is a novel by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bradford. I had never read anything by Joyce Meyer before although I've seen many of her books on the library shelves. I totally enjoyed this book. I kept thinking how the plot lines and character development would have been perfect for a project in my high school senior English class.

The Penny is about a young girl named Jenny. One day she picks up a penny. This becomes a very special penny to her as it seems to cause a whole string of other fortunate events to happen. Jenny has two special friends in her life, Miss Shaw and Aurelia. Both friends teach her valuable lessons about love, trust, friendship, and God.

One of the passages that really spoke to me was when Jenny was thinking about why she passed out pennies and the weird responses people had to her. It says: "When people like Cindy looked at me like I was nuts, I wondered if my small acts of kindness were having any effect at all. Several times, I thought about giving up, but I didn't. Maybe I'd never see anything come of me passing along pennies. But reaching out to hurting people, even in a small way like this, helped me feel better about the hurts in my own life." I just loved that. It made me think of some things I've done. I don't feel like they were any great acts of service, but I hope maybe they touched someone's life just a little and made their day a little brighter.

One of the messages of the book is to realize you don't know everything about another person. We often find ourselves judging others, but in reality we have no clue about their situation that causes them to do what they do. Also, the hurts you suffer may eventually help you reach out to others who are hurting and help them heal.

My heart hurt for the abuse Jenny and her sister faced from their father and the lack of support they received from their mother. I could see Jenny grow and change through the novel and was pleased with the ending. I would recommend this book. It would be a great one to add to your summer book bag!

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"Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." I John 3:18