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ALL IS WELL by Kristen Embry Litchman

ALL IS WELL

by Kristen Embry Litchman & illustrated by Warren Chang

Pub Date: May 1st, 1998
ISBN: 0-385-32592-4
Publisher: Delacorte

An unusual story, both gentle and inspiring, of friendship in the face of serious obstacles. When a non-Mormon family moves in next door in Salt Lake City in 1885, Emmy doesn’t find it easy to explain to her new friend, Miranda, why, as a Mormon, she has two mothers but only one father. Further complicating their friendship is that Miranda’s father works for the Salt Lake Tribune, which is campaigning against the illegal practice of polygamy; government agents are actively hunting down those who break the law and jailing them. This forces Emmy’s father to go into hiding, but not before he enjoins his family not to ever let non-Mormons (Gentiles) into their home in his absence. Emmy and Miranda find ways to work around his conditions until Miranda becomes gravely ill with typhoid. Emmy believes that the only thing that can save her friend is a blessing from Emmy’s father, but if he returns to Salt Lake City, he will certainly be apprehended. Although Emmy and Miranda occasionally slip out of character and into roles as mouthpieces for their respective points of view, Litchman’s debut is a sound one; she offers readers insight into a part of the American experience that is often ignored or misrepresented in history books. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 9-12)