Reviews

I found this book on Amazon and because I have always been interested in early revivals, I purchased it. As I was reading, God started igniting my heart to pray for revival. The desire became greater and greater. Now I am speaking to everyone I meet about praying for revival. I believe, if God did it once, He will do it again. If your desire is for God to stir your heart to see souls saved, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. If you love revival history, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. If you want to read a great historical fiction THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. Watch out! You won't be able to buy just one. You will want to buy several to give away. I believe as you read this your heart will also be stirred to PRAY FOR REVIVAL.

"Hadassah"

​

This book really grabs your attention and keeps it. I also loved the accuracy of it having lived in the area for some time. Definitely one I will recommend to others. When is the next one coming out?

"Intensely His"

​

I couldn't put this down for 3 days between homeschooling 3 children, regular household stuff and church activities. I kept picking this book back up during the kids bath time, during breaks between school subjects, during meals! Thank you Melanie for this amazing book!

Charity King, homeschool Mom

​

This is a wonderful historical fiction story of the beginnings of the "Second Great Awakening" in the Ky and Tn area. Ms. Meadows brings to life this hidden treasure of christian history with a little romance thrown in. It was exciting to read of events that really happened during this time of revival - "out of the mouth of babes".

"Momtina"

​

​

 

[ColorBlind is] a book every pastor’s and missionary’s kid should read.”

Miz Audrey, former missionary to Africa

​

“Her characters are engagingly color blind, but  Melanie Meadow’s eye for detail and ear for accents perfectly capture the local color of the South Carolina  Up Country of the 1960s.”

Dr. Ellen K., professor of communication

​

“Join Mildred Juniper in this delightful coming-of-age tale, in which 60’s-era prejudices threaten the innocence of children and the memories of adults. ColorBlind is a peek into a young girl’s family, friendships, and adventures as she moves to a new community with her preacher father to open a new church. The sights and sounds of rural South Carolina ring true in this compelling Christian story.”
Ellen T.,  high-school librarian

​

“In her novel, Colorblind, Melanie Meadow introduces several wonderfully quirky characters while weaving various plot threads into a beautifully wrought story. Meadow has taken ageless theological profundities and boiled them down to the essential: God is love.

When her dad announces that God is calling him to leave their happy life in Prosperity, Ga., to establish a church in rural Piedmont Ridge, S.C., what can young Mildred Juniper Rhodes do?

‘I was still thinking that Daddy taking us to The God-Awful Place was completely against the Good Lord’s will, but I didn’t let on.

‘I’m good with it, Daddy.’

‘God forgive me—I lied.’

To make matters worse, upon the family’s arrival in The God-Awful Place, Mildred discovers the parsonage is a rusted-out trailer, the church building is a ratty bingo hall—and the congregation is racially mixed, creating a situation that doesn’t sit well with many of the locals.

One of the first citizens Mildred meets is Dot, an elderly widow, soured on the world, yet determined to keep her dairy farm running. Dot works alone—from daylight to dark—mucking out the barn, mending pasture fences, milking her cows and working to keep them healthy so she can sell fresh milk to area stores. After each milk run, she retreats to her farm, away from the world. Then young Mildred streaks like a wondrous comet into Dot’s universe—and nothing is ever the same.

The 12-year-old girl and the elderly woman are unlikely allies, but God heals hearts in unusual ways. And where two are gathered in His name—even if it’s only a little girl and a life-weary woman—there He is also. And that’s a powerful force.

Who would believe the racial divide that has split the small southern town for decades could be patched together so beautifully by the simple actions of a child? Who could imagine, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that blacks and whites could worship together, eat together, work as one?

Old stereotypes and inbred hatred cannot stand against truth and love, as represented by Mildred Juniper Rhodes. This promise is revealed in Isaiah 11:6—The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together—and a little child shall lead them.  

Dennie Burke, co-author of ‘A Matter of Conscience’

​

“Early in the book, protagonist Mildred Juniper Rhodes wearily paws through the assorted boxes of her family’s move from Georgia to South Carolina and finds *her* bedspread to curl up in for the night. The sense of history and of character in this novel reminds me of finding one of those old quilted bedspreads in a closet and wondering at who put the stitches in and designed the pattern and what random old dresses and fabrics the squares were cut from. And you might just want a quilt to curl up in as the considerable suspense in the plot unfolds! Melanie Meadow deals with deep and important themes that continue to abide with us today–racism, “other”ing, isolation, community/family, abuse, redemption, rejection, betrayal, church and town “politics,” and faith. In this sense, it is a gutsy endeavor but one that comes off feeling like a homespun story that simply had to be told. The time setting of the novel lends us the sense that we are watching not just the shaping of characters but of a Southern town in a transitional moment. The simplicity and candor and lack of political correctness that a child’s eye view provides on these topics assists our interaction with them, inviting us to relive our own experiences and grow in awareness right alongside her. This is counterbalanced by the perspective of, for instance, the wizened Dot Harris, long a curious fixture in the town. I appreciate that even though Christian faith is a touchstone in the book, the author does not just wrap up *every* aspect of the plot and of interpersonal tensions neatly… as can be a temptation in the faith genre. There are enough frayed squares in the quilt that have begun to tear away as to make the resolutions feel more authentic. I’m a friend of the author, but I won’t be keeping this book to myself as I sometimes do with friend’s books. It is a relatable book and a fine first novel that should be able to find a wide audience among friends and neighbors.”

Deborah S., closet theologian

​