The Heartbeat at My Feet: A Christmas Story of Love and Forgiveness (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781530996902)

Lilly faces her most difficult year in school, feeling inadequate with a single mother and not much money, but then the unthinkable happens. When Lilly's mother is hospitalized and her brother is gone, she has to look to others for support and a place to stay. Wanda, her trusty terrier, is the only constant in Lilly's life. Just when it seems things couldn't get worse, it does. Lilly has to look to others to help her define family. She learns to embrace her strengths and lean into the support of friends to get her through the roughest time of her thirteen years. In the process, she learns even the most popular of her classmates are dealing with insecurities and doubts. As the holidays approach, Lilly, her foster mother, and her brother plan to welcome her mother home to a renewed family, hoping it will be a fresh start for everyone. However, everyone may not be in a position to accept the new definition of normal, especially, Lilly's new friends. Hope and new experiences promise to see Lilly through a difficult milestone in her coming of age. However, she may not have faced the most difficult adjustment. She learns everyone has a story, even the most consistent and reliable. She observes that trouble sometimes makes a person stronger and builds character, and protection may shield the thing most likely to cause growth. "I guarantee you, Lilly, strong, independent people didn't get that way living charmed, pampered lives." Red sat with his hands on the table in front of him. He was trying to explain the benefit of hardship. Lilly understood what he was saying. She knew she was stronger because of her experiences with Virgie. "Struggles make people stronger. If Macy had not experienced what she did in her early twenties, she would probably not be here the way she is today. She might be a different person. I have to say, I liked her before that defining experience and after, but it changed who we are. There is no doubt about that."

Author: Phyllis H. Moore
ISBN-10: 1530996902
ISBN-13: 9781530996902
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 10/03/2016
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.74lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.51d