Hope in Patience by Beth Fehlbaum

ISBN: 9781934813416
Publisher: WestSide Books (2010)
 312 p.

Reading Level: Grade 9 and up.

Summary:

The second installment of the Hope series brings 15-year-old Ashley Asher to live, finally, with her father and stepmother after enduring years of abuse at the hands of her stepfather and neglect at the hands of her mother. Ashley’s road to recovery is long and hard, and she sometimes lashes out as well as scratches furiously at herself. She has to endure countless setbacks such as having to confront her stepfather and mother in court and having her post-traumatic stress disorder triggered when she’s with her friends. Her best friend, Z.Z., her therapist, her stepmother’s and father’s kindness and love, along with her new appreciation for the new girl, K.C., a potential boyfriend, help give her strength to continue on her journey through life. This realistic and engaging portrayal of a girl struggling to find herself after years of abuse can be used to help children throughout America reach out for help and start their healing process.

Critical Evaluation:

Fehlbaum shares on her blog, and incidentally on her fantastic visit to my class, that the Hope novels mirror her story of surviving childhood sexual abuse. In this courageous novel, she emphasizes that they are survival stories, not abuse stories, which speaks well of her intention to reach out to others who are going through the same horror.

The themes she weaves in her novel are those that a teen must come across every day.

The prevailing one is the effect that abuse has on a child over the years, the possibility to overcome trauma, and the intolerance of others that leads to isolation. This last theme is reiterated through many characters. Ashley is isolated because of what she’s gone through, and getting close and trusting her family and a potential boyfriend proves hard. K.C.’s journey as a lesbian makes her, too, feel isolated from her parents and peers, but she finds acceptance in Ashley, her friends, and Bev. The other supporting character that I think could prove to be an interesting spin-off story is Marcus, a teen who holds his Bible and religion so tightly that hate and intolerance oozes from his pores. But as he says during the class presentation,

“What if all the answers aren’t in here? Where does that leave me and my family? What if our way isn’t the only way? Like, there are people in the world who never heard of Jesus. What if they all go to heaven, too? . . . It’s all I’ve got,” he whispered. “This certainty in being right—it’s all I’ve got.” (p. 281).

Later, when K.C. extends a hand to Marcus in friendship and Marcus responds that he can’t be her friend, the scene is heartbreaking. It is harrowing to see how a learned behavior results in a teen’s not letting himself be friends with someone he’d really like, if only he could let his guard down and didn’t take his religion so hatefully. I, for one, can’t wait to read the third and last installment of the Hope series, and I look forward to engaging with the same characters as well as some new ones.

Reader’s Annotation:
After years of abuse, a young girl needs to find herself and hope her new family
offers sanctuary from her thoughts and her memories. Between newly discovered
family and friends, Ashley finds hope in Patience.

Author Biography:  
Beth Fehlbaum, born in Texas in 1966, grew up in DeSoto. A year after graduation, she married her high school sweetheart and now has three grown daughters. Fehlbaum holds a BA in English, with a minor in Secondary Education, and a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. In addition to being an author, she is a teacher who specializes with at-risk youth.

Fehlbaum bravely wrote the Courage novels partly as a way to deal with her own abuse when she was young, but this is a survivor story, not one of simply being a victim of abuse. Fehlbaum further states that those who are isolated need fiction, stories of survivors whom they can relate to in order to help bring them out of their isolation. Her novels should bring solace to those teens who feel that they are all alone. Perhaps these books will be the example a teen needs in order to seek help.

Genre: Realistic Fiction – Deals with abuse.

Curriculum Ties:

Because this is touted as a reluctant-reader novel, it would be great for a lower-level English class, but I think it would be equally beneficial if all reading levels read it in a humanities class or a creative writing class. It’s not a memoir, but many aspects are taken from the writer’s past, and it would serve as a great exercise in dealing with the hard issues in one’s life. The author has made an excellent guide in order to teach this novel that can be found here: http://www.bethfehlbaumya.com/teachingresources.htm

Booktalking Ideas:

A great way to engage the students would be to utilize the area of the book where they are placed into groups to perform skits dealing with fear and other issues presented in the novel such as intolerance and abuse.

Read-Alikes:

-Courage in Patience by Beth Fehlbaum.

-Scars by Cheryl Rainfield.

-Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks.

-Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher.

Challenge Issue:

This novel deals with sexual abuse and the healing process one young teen must go through to become whole. There are moments of challenging language, but it’s nothing that teens don’t use daily. I would argue that this novel can bring hope to teens who have none and are looking to survive their day-to-day lives. This novel and others like them let teens know that they are not alone in their pain and misery, but can grow to live fulfilling lives.

Reason to include in blog:

When reading this for class, I found it to be a very realistic portrayal of a teen’s struggle through abuse. The author’s visit was enlightening, thought provoking, and heartbreaking when we heard what this author and so many go through in their life.

References:

Fehlbaum, B. (2009). About Me. Retrieved from http://www.bethfehlbaumya.com/

Fehlbaum, B. (2010). Hope in Patience. Lodi, N.J.: WestSide Books.

Book Trailer: