Beth Brinkmann isn’t a little girl anymore, but not quite a young woman. Raised in a good home by loving parents in a comfortable little southern town where everyone knows everyone else, she realizes she has a good life. But there are growing pains. Some are small, like trying to adapt to waves of new kids at a different junior high. Others are deeply moving, such as watching the mother of a close friend suffer from Multiple Sclerosis.
Beth, however, has her father Max's moxie. She overcomes her fear of dogs, finds the courage to serve as mascot of the Mimosa High School football team, and learns to make friends of all ages (including an unlikely one who encourages her budding talent as an artist). And as the bond between father and daughter deepens, Beth is even able to provide Max Brinkmann with some much-needed insight into the difficult relationship he continues to have with his own elderly father, Josef.
Beautifully-written and heartfelt, The Dance Between is a welcome and poignant return to Mimosa, Mississippi, and a coming-of-age story that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. Sing along with Beth as she learns what true compassion is in the face of great difficulty, and dance with her on every step of her timeless journey.
Beth, however, has her father Max's moxie. She overcomes her fear of dogs, finds the courage to serve as mascot of the Mimosa High School football team, and learns to make friends of all ages (including an unlikely one who encourages her budding talent as an artist). And as the bond between father and daughter deepens, Beth is even able to provide Max Brinkmann with some much-needed insight into the difficult relationship he continues to have with his own elderly father, Josef.
Beautifully-written and heartfelt, The Dance Between is a welcome and poignant return to Mimosa, Mississippi, and a coming-of-age story that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. Sing along with Beth as she learns what true compassion is in the face of great difficulty, and dance with her on every step of her timeless journey.
It’s 1937 in Mimosa, Mississippi, and fourteen-year-old Max Brinkmann is a happy kid in the lively railroad town: he and his buddies keep their eyes on the cute girls at school, he and his little brothers make and fly kites, and he dreams of running track and playing baseball at Mimosa High School.
But when Max’s father, Josef (a devout Roman Catholic), announces that the small Catholic school in Mimosa is closing, Max’s world is turned upside down. Not only is Josef moving
the family to a farm in the middle of nowhere—to remove Max and his six younger siblings from the “temptations of the city”—the only option for a Catholic education is enrollment at nearby St. Agnes Academy. An all-girls school.
Max is overwhelmed by classes of young women and more nuns than he’s ever seen, not to mention a new home without electricity and indoor plumbing. Even worse, his hard-hearted, Rosary-a-day father seems intent on making his oldest son as miserable as possible. Max’s friends? Forget them. Hobbies and dreams and goals? Not hardly. Even one speck of something close to fun? Sorry, Max, go chop the wood.
Forsaking Mimosa is a timeless story of a disillusioned boy who grows into a man in a most unlikely environment. Along the way he comes to know the redeeming power of “home” as he faces tragedy, falls in love, and makes important discoveries about himself, his faith, and ultimately his enigmatic father.
But when Max’s father, Josef (a devout Roman Catholic), announces that the small Catholic school in Mimosa is closing, Max’s world is turned upside down. Not only is Josef moving
the family to a farm in the middle of nowhere—to remove Max and his six younger siblings from the “temptations of the city”—the only option for a Catholic education is enrollment at nearby St. Agnes Academy. An all-girls school.
Max is overwhelmed by classes of young women and more nuns than he’s ever seen, not to mention a new home without electricity and indoor plumbing. Even worse, his hard-hearted, Rosary-a-day father seems intent on making his oldest son as miserable as possible. Max’s friends? Forget them. Hobbies and dreams and goals? Not hardly. Even one speck of something close to fun? Sorry, Max, go chop the wood.
Forsaking Mimosa is a timeless story of a disillusioned boy who grows into a man in a most unlikely environment. Along the way he comes to know the redeeming power of “home” as he faces tragedy, falls in love, and makes important discoveries about himself, his faith, and ultimately his enigmatic father.