Rise Above

By Peg Willis

Book Overview

On the evening of a tragic flash flood in tiny Heppner, Oregon, young Lilyann and Gilbert Harmon are abducted. With nearly a quarter of the town's residents dead--and some of the bodies buried deep in the mud of the Willow Creek Valley--most people assume that the children died and their bodies were just not found. But their father refuses to give up hope and combs the Pacific Northwest for seven long years in search of them. Meanwhile, the children, in the "care" of the man who took them and passes himself off as their true father, suffer poverty, neglect, and abuse before being given into the care of a loving couple far from Heppner. After several years the "father" returns for them and takes them to another town where he uses them to create the illusion of a good family while he pursues a life of crime. Heppner, meanwhile, struggles to remake itself. The town's residents struggle to rise above the bitter blow they've endured. The struggle is real, even in the midst of laughter and new life. But healing from physical, mental, and emotional wounds continues, leaving in its wake a hope that is real and powerful.Many new "ready made" families are formed, as widows and widowers abound--and the number of houses in town has been reduced by a fourth. New babies are born, and children begin to play again, even as they struggle to make sense of something the wisest adults cannot understand. Although fear has become a permanent resident in this little town snuggled (or trapped) at the junction of several streams in steep canyons, hope and courage begin to rise above that fear.The two missing children, learning survival skills as the need arises, finally return to their home and true father. In the end, it is a Heppner prostitute and a well-known gambler who discover the missing children's real identity and return them to their rightful father and home.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0578170000
• ISBN13: 9780578170008
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Peg Willis
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"
• Grade Range: Grade 11 to Postsecondary