Conviction

By Kelly Loy Gilbert
Lexile = 940

Have you ever had the experience that the seemingly unrelated books that you pick up to read end up having a theme? Well, I am unexpectedly on the "Bad Dad in Prison" theme this week... and yesterday was Father's Day!!!

There has been a car accident of sorts and Braden's dad is charged with intentionally running over and killing a cop. As readers, we don't really know exactly what happened; only Braden knows that. And even though this is written from his point of view, we don't get the whole story until very near the end. Perhaps Braden doesn't get the whole story until then, either.

Baseball is the sub-plot of this novel. Braden is a gifted pitcher who is headed for the big leagues. He is a senior in high school and his father has guided his "career" for his whole life. Braden's dad is a well-known Christian radio host and NOT a nice guy. Of course, the public doesn't know about his drunken rants, his completely dysfunctional home life and the fear that his boys live in. Which brings up another fascinating sub-plot. God. Braden has always believed in God and most importantly, that God will take care of him.

"That's how I always thought it was supposed to with God, like you knew where you stood with him and you could trust him to take care of you, but now there's all this - and I know it's like the oldest story in the book that the second things get tough, I'm all like, Where is God now? But I guess I'm just scared of how he's testing me."

The cover of the book says this: "A lie will set him free". So who is the liar? Braden? His father? His brother? This was a difficult, wrenching book to read.