Saving Cicadas is a story of a family told through the eyes of a young girl. Her mother is facing hard times & must make a tough decision. A decision not totally understood by this 8 yr old girl.

Janie says she is “more or less a normal kid. Like most, I dreamed of saving the world someday. Not like Superman, but I don’t know–making sure kids had clothes and enough to eat, making sure people like Mama had good jobs that made money and made them feel good when they went home each day, like they did something with their brains–like they did something to help the world in some small way. Not like they were wasting every second of every day of every year of their lives–like Mama had said, oh, more than a time or two.”

Trying to decide whether I wanted to read this book, I read some reader reviews and the first ones I read were pretty negative. They also contained ‘warnings’ to people not to read this book because of its Christian content and “anti-choice propaganda”. That definitely got my interest, so I had to read it.

I was not disappointed. The characters are engaging and the book a charming read. There are family conflicts and surprises, but some of the biggest surprises come towards the end and I don’t want to give any of that away.

Kudos to Nicole Seitz for taking on a difficult and controversial topic!