The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 388
My rating: 4 stars
Ages: 16+

Lucy in secure in her life as a Pastor's Kid, relying on her faith and her relationship with her family to guide her life. But when her mom is diagnosed with cancer, Lucy's faith fails her and she starts pushing back against the things she was taught. Instead of helping with her parents' church camp over the summer, Lucy becomes a counselor at the "hippie" camp. It's there that she learns about who she really is and what it means to love and be loved.

I just really love Lord's writing. It's so approachable and easy to read, but with a depth that usually comes from much more complicated writing. I like the view of Lucy's crisis of faith--I think it's something that a lot of people go through. She still held onto the things she was taught, and still wanted to be faithful, but was angry at God.

There comes a time in every teenager's life that they need to learn for themselves and stop relying on their parents to tell them how they should be. And there comes a time when a child learns more about their parents as people, with histories and faults. Lucy learning these things and growing as a person and a friend was natural.

Also, I cried several times.

There is some swearing (about four f-words) and mention of sex.

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