■Belle of the Glades
■Author: Cheryl Abney
■Ages: 8-12
■Publisher: iUniverse
■ISBN-10: 1475975406
■ISBN-13: 978-1475975406
■SRP: $11.95
■Reviewed By: Cheryl Malandrinos

Rating: 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Eleven-year-old Isabelle Lacey feels abandoned and alone. After the death of her parents, she is cared for by her aunt while they travel to her Uncle Arden’s place in Okeechobee, Florida. The dangers of living in such a place are new to the former city girl, and she must learn to adapt to a perilous environment.

A map-inscribed shell rock drops Belle and her friends into the middle of a dangerous adventure filled with Everglades creatures and outlaws. Through it all, Belle must depend on her faith to help her adjust to her new life and keep her safe.

Belle of the Glades is a lovely faith-filled middle grade novel girls will enjoy. Readers will be drawn in by its plucky main character. Abney has created a girl whose sense of loss and abandonment makes her sympathetic, while her tenacity in coping with challenges inspires and empowers.

Abney paints a beautiful picture of the Florida Everglades in 1918 with rich details and descriptions of the world which Belle now calls home. The mystery of the shell rock propels the action forward to a superb conclusion.

Lovers of historical novels and adventure stories will want to read Belle of the Glades by Cheryl Abney.

I received this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.