It seems like all of the Christian women in my life who like to read Christian fiction have been on the Karen Kingsbury bandwagon for some time now. Sadly, I was slow on becoming a fan of Karen’s. Between Sundays was the first book of hers I have ever read, and I loved it. Consider me on the bandwagon.
Between Sundays addresses the crises of forgotten foster kids in America, set against the backdrop of San Francisco 49ers football. Cory Briggs is an eight-year-old who lives in San Francisco with his single foster mother and he is convinced that the 49ers star quarterback, Aaron Hill, is his father. His foster mother, Megan Gunn, doesn’t believe that because she was best friends with Aaron’s mom before she passed away, and believes Aaron’s mom would’ve told her if that were true. Megan doesn’t press the issue one way or another until the Christian backup quarter back, Derrick Anderson, comes to the foster youth center and Cory hatches a plan to let Aaron know he is Cory’s father. Cory’s face-to-face meeting with Derrick starts a series of events that will affect Derrick, Aaron, Cory, Megan, and 49ers football forever.
I really enjoyed this book because the characters were believable. They had their faults, their dreams, their disappointments, their questions about faith, and their triumphs. The few scenes on the football field were believable and I could tell Karen Kingsbury had done her football research. She also wove in a love story that made the ending all that much sweeter. Even if you’re not a fan of sports or football, I believe you will enjoy this book as much as I did because even though it’s about football, the heart of the plot is a love story. A lot of Kingsbury books are written in series form, but this one is a stand-alone. If you’ve never read a Kingsbury book before, I recommend starting with this one, like I did. Just be prepared to be tired from late nights of being engrossed in this story of love, redemption, believing in promises and discovering God’s love for all of his kids…foster or not.
Reviewed by -Melissa Paulson
