The Frightened Runaways

Elizabeth Gail Wind Rider #8

by Hilda Stahl

Could Libby risk helping the Brakie twins when it might get her into trouble with her foster parents, the Johnsons, and when it meant reviving a terrible memory out of Libby's past?.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Christian, Middle Grade

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Hilda Stahl was an American author of middle grade and young adult novels, many of them in series. Most of her books are classified as Christian fiction.

Biography from one of her books: "Hilda Stahl was born and raised in the Nebraska sandhills. As a Young teen she attended Bible college, where she met her husband, Norman. They raised their seven children in Michigan, where she lived until her death in 1993. When Hilda was a young mother with three children, she saw an ad in a magazine for a correspondence course in writing. She took the test, passed it, and soon fell in love with writing. She wrote whenever she had free time, and eventually began to sell her work. The first Elizabeth Gail book, The Mystery at the Johnson Farm, was made into a movie in 1989. It was a real dream come true for Hilda. She wanted her books and their message of God's love and power to reach and help people all over the world.
— biography from Elizabeth Gail and the Mystery at the Johnson Farm

Reviews

[Kynzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a children's book. Just because it is about children does not make it acceptable for kids to read. A couple books were fine but this series as a whole is not for kids.
Though most things are shown in a bad light, there is lots of talk of divorce, crushes, drugs, child abuse and other non child appropriate topics. This book was especially bad and I don't care to go into the details.
This is said to be a Christian book and I appreciate the prayer and mentions of Bible verses and faith talk ect. But it is not enlightening, uplifting or lovely. Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
This book especially but also the series as a whole are not pure, of good report, just or lovely. They are inappropriate, full of horrible things such as foster children's past trama experiences and more that are not entertaining or nice to hear about in the least.
I liked the first few books but they have progressively gotten worse so that the negative content is no longer worth the small amount of entertainment gained.
They are written as if for children, pretty easy to read, about kids and their interests but are full of simply awful things. This book was by far the worst.
I don't reccomend.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to devour the EG books when I was growing up, so it was fun to revisit her as an adult. My main problem with the series has always been an overemphasis on young teen crushes/boyfriends. For an abandoned and abused girl like EG it seems like an unhealthy emphasis to jump from boy to boy throughout the series. Her foster/adoptive parents, Chuck and Vera, are just about the ideal parents to have, while the siblings are realistically imperfect. In this particular book, there is some heavier stuff with past molestation. And while I appreciated the practical Christian living, there seemed to be too much prayer with immediate answers. God doesn't always answer immediately, and it's good for kids to know that.

[Mini Van Mama Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book 5 stars and I will give all of them 5 stars.

I will agree with others that the writing is dated (written in the 80s I believe). I decided to re-read all of the Elizabeth Gail books this year. I'm in my 40s and as soon as I open the cover, I'm transformed back to my pre-teen/teen self who was mesmerized by the story unfolding. I was adopted as an infant and never faced the challenges of a foster child, but inwardly I always kind of felt like an unwanted kid purely because I was adopted. I believe that God ordered my steps and placed me in the family where I needed to be, but I sure did wish I lived on the Johnson farm with Elizabeth Gail and her family.

[Jenna]

I take my last review back THIS was probably the lamest, worst written book that I've ever read!