Take One by Karen Kingsbury

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite novelists. She has the ability to examine the reality of life without getting lost in its ugliness. Take One, is the first in a series that is actually a continuation of two other series written by Kingsbury. The characters in those series became so real to readers that no one was ready to say good bye when the last book was written. Take One doesn't begin where the others left off, those characters are more  like the extras for a new set of actors. 


Take One follows the struggle of two former missionaries as they seek to break into the movie industry, producing films that would uplift and encourage. They are met with trouble at every step in the process, but they refuse to give in to defeat. "A couple of willing guys looking to change the world...God's used less than that in the past. A stuttering recluse to change the mind of the Pharoah [their misspelling, not mine] of Egypt...a scrawny kid with a stone and a slingshot to bring down the Philistine army... A group of fishermen to bring the message of hope to an entire world."


The side story throughout the novel is that of Andi, the daughter of one of the producers. She is beginning her freshman year at Indiana University, the location shoot of her father's movie. Andi's struggle is that of many as they start out on their own, she spends most of the novel trying to sort out what she really believes. Early in the book she finds herself thinking about the apparent inconsistency of a loving God and an unfair world. "She hated when her thoughts went this way. Her stomach hurt and her heart beat faster than usual. Every breath felt tighter than the one before it. Because this was her very deep, dark secret - the thing that no one knew about her. Andi Ellison had doubts now. Her perfect faith in God was riddled with subtle cracks and shifts." Andi spends the rest of the book dealing with the after effects of allowing these cracks and shifts to grow and dealing with them when they first appeared. 


I don't want to give away too much else about the plot line, but it is a great start to what I anticipate will be a great series.