The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen

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The Land of DecorationThe Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story of a young girl, Judith, being raised by her fundamentalist Christian father (Brethren, I believe) whose mother died in childbirth because she didn't believe in blood transfusions. They pray daily, eat lamb and bitter greens every Sunday to remember the Exodus and accept that the apocalypse is a definite and definitely soon event since we live in a den of iniquity.
Judith has a world in miniature built on her bedroom floor (the titular 'Land of Decoration') and a bad time in school. Neil has threatened to put her head in the toilet and Judith does not want this to happen. So when she starts to pray for a snow day and decides to make it snow in the Land of Decoration, and it happens in real life that Monday she decides it must be a miracle, and that she made it happen. Her inner dialogue with God unfolds as the story progresses.
Judith was a lovely character. I really felt for her situation, at school and at home. And the supporting characters were engaging and interesting as well. With a background of a strike in the factory where her Dad works and conflict between Neil's Dad and hers, the story unfolds with the conflict between her real life and her pretend world growing stronger. As her father battles his doubts and daemons, Judith has decisions to make that may change more than just her world....

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