"Being twelve isn't easy. But Anika Scott, who has joined her parents as a missionary in Kenya, uses her faith and trust in God and His words as guidance to help her through her adolescent problems. Join Anika in her exciting and often dangerous adventures where using God and her own ingenuity she makes discoveries about the truth in the world.
Ankia never dreamed that Sabrina would accuse her of stealing, especially from her friends. Now Ankia must face the shame of being called a thief and find a way to repair the damage that Sabrina has done. Will her friends ever trust her again, or will she forever be branded as a criminal. Ankia will need all the help she can get from God's wise words to find a way out of this mess.
"
"Hey, Anika, I heard you've got an illegitimate brother who
drinks," Sabrina Oats yelled at me, over a whole line of kids.
It was the first day of a new term at boarding school. We were in line
for supper. I didn't need this hassle from Sabrina Oats right in front
of everyone.
See, during vacation I'd found out that I had a half brother. When Mom
was a teenager, she had a baby and had to give him up for adoption. Now
that he's grown up, he found out who Mom was. Without telling anybody he
had come out to where we live in Kenya to see what Mom was like. It was
very weird for our family.
The kids at school would find out about him soon enough, but this was
terrible! Everybody was staring at me. My mouth went dry with panic. How
did Sabrina know, anyway?
"Who told you to stick your nose in?" I demanded.
"Mrs. Geisler told my mom to pray for your family. She said your evil
brother could stop your parents from being good missionaries." Sabrina
tossed her head. "I think just having a kid like you proves how rotten
they are."
I glared at her. Sabrina Oats never liked me. Ever since my cousin
Tianna accidentally broke Sabrina's arm, Sabrina had hated me even
worse. I stuck my chin up. I wasn't going to let Sabrina Oats intimidate
me!
"What's it to you?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing." She gave me a mean fake smile. "I'm just glad my mom has
better morals."
"Look, Mom wasn't even a Christian yet when she had Rick," I said,
trying not to let my voice shake.
"His name is Rick, is it? Rick the wreck! Rick the wreck is going to
wreck your family," she jeered.
"He is not! The mission said we could stay!"
"Well, they made a mistake then," Sabrina said, tossing her head again.
"Shut up, Sabrina," said one of the tenth-grade girls ahead of us in
line. "Even you should be able to tell this is nothing to bug her
about." She frowned at Sabrina, then turned back to her friends.
I let my breath out with relief. Sabrina tossed her sleek, pale blonde
hair. Then she stuck her tongue out at the girl's back. Esther Miller,
Sabrina's friend, was staring at me wide-eyed. I twisted away from them
and saw Amy and Muthoni walking up to the end of the line. I got out of
line and walked toward them.
"So go hide behind your friends, wimp!" Sabrina yelled as I left.
"Hi, Anika!" Muthoni said. "What was Sabrina bugging you about?"
I shrugged and kicked at the dust.
"You and Lisa get to be in the same room. Amy and me get to be together
this term, too. We're in the other room," Muthoni said. She turned back
to Amy. "My dad said we could go horseback riding at midterm break."
"Really?" Amy said, grinning. "Where at?"
She and Amy ignored me and talked to each other. They weren't trying to
be mean. They were just best friends that hadn't seen each other all
vacation.
"Where's Lisa?" Amy suddenly asked. "Isn't she here yet?"
"Her mom made her stay home until she gets over the flu," I said. Lisa
Barnes is my best friend.
"What a drag!" Muthoni said.
"You can sit with us, OK?" Amy said.
"Thanks," I said, feeling a bit better. I wanted to tell them about
Rick, but the words wouldn't come out.
"You're really lucky," Amy said as the line moved up.
"Huh?" I blurted. Lucky wasn't how I felt right then.
About the Author
Karen Rispin is the author of six fiction books. She loved experiencing a mix of culture and adventure while growing up in Kenya. Returning to North America after high school, she earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Penn State University. After a struggle to adjust to being a North American housewife and mom, she began to find things to do. Now Karen lives in Three Hills, Alberta, with her husband, Phil and children Jennifer and Jessica. She teaches riding lessons, trains horses, helps run a rock climbing club, and enjoys hiking and canoeing with her family.
