No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook (April 3, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601429045
• ISBN-13: 978-1601429049

About the Book:

Challenging perceptions of discrimination and prejudice, this emotionally resonant drama for readers of Lisa Wingate and Jodi Picoult explores three different women navigating challenges in a changing school district--and in their lives.

When an impoverished school district loses its accreditation and the affluent community of Crystal Ridge has no choice but to open their school doors, the lives of three very different women converge: 

Camille Gray--the wife of an executive, mother of three, long-standing PTA chairwoman and champion fundraiser--faced with a shocking discovery that threatens to tear her picture-perfect world apart at the seams. 

Jen Covington, the career nurse whose long, painful journey to motherhood finally resulted in adoption but she is struggling with a happily-ever-after so much harder than she anticipated. 

Twenty-two-year-old Anaya Jones--the first woman in her family to graduate college and a brand new teacher at Crystal Ridge's top elementary school, unprepared for the powder-keg situation she's stepped into. Tensions rise within and without, culminating in an unforeseen event that impacts them all. 

This story explores the implicit biases impacting American society, and asks the ultimate question: What does it mean to be human? Why are we so quick to put labels on each other and categorize people as "this" or "that", when such complexity exists in each person?

My Thoughts:

First of all, my thanks to the publisher for my advance copy with no services provided in return.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way...

Wow.

I've been a fan of Katie Ganshert's writing since her first book released.  I'm also a follower of her social media, so I'd been reading her posts and articles about race relations in America.  I'm going to be honest--I had mixed feelings about what I was reading.  I found myself growing defensive, because I was frustrated.

After I read the novel, I even asked the question of fellow readers, "How can I make an impact if I'm just a white woman who can't relate to the marginalization of minorities?"  Then a sweet sister gently pointed out that Katie Ganshert is a white woman, and she wrote this book.

That gave me hope.  Real, genuine hope.  Because this book is going to spark a dialogue that will invade ever crease and crevice of our culture.  Of our church.  Of our souls.

It's also likely to create a firestorm, so I've been praying over Katie, over the book release, over everyone who's going to be impacted by this powerful story.  While it's rooted in true, real events, it is fiction.  And fiction is powerful.  Fiction can disarm, lower defenses, and persuade people to really think and soul search.

After all, Jesus used story often.  Ganshert is just following in His footsteps.  Don't misconstrue what I just said.  I'm not saying she is on the level of Jesus--but just as our Savior used story to the power of the parable to convey powerful and sometimes painful truth, Katie Ganshert has utilized the power of story to convey a powerful and painful truth:

we still have a long way to go to reconcile people to Christ and to one another.

The truth is, I'll never understand what it's like to be a black woman in America.  Or a black man.  Because I was born with white skin.  But that doesn't mean I can't work to understand, and can't raise my voice to affect change.

The novel?  Well written.  The story?  Powerful.  The lessons?  Painful.  The author?  Passionate about her faith, her family, and her fiction.

So I highly encourage you to set aside any previous mindset or anger or confusion or preconceived notions about "No One Ever Asked" and read it with an open mind and an open heart.  Allow yourself to walk in the shoes of Camille, Jen, and Anaya.  And see the multilayered message within the pages.  Then let God use the story in your life to motivate positive change in your life, your family, your neighborhood, your church, your community, your town, your state, and your nation.

Go forward with Jesus and flip the world upside down.  And fear not, because He goes before you.  Just as He's gone before Katie Ganshert as she wrote the novel she was created to write.

Thank you, Katie Ganshert, for giving me a voice and opening my heart.

Until the next page turns, 

Deena

P.S. I don't normally do this, but any hate-filled or profane comments will be immediately deleted.  Not to silence your voice, but to silence your disrespect.  So if you want to be heard, keep it polite and keep it civil, even if you disagree.