Prompting Noah

by Jill Penrod

Artist. Vandal. Her best friend.When he loses his parents, wealthy school athlete Noah moves in with his aunt and uncle. His passion is art, and in his anger toward his distant, neglectful parents, he’s been practicing that art illegally by spray-painting images on the abandoned warehouses at the edge of town. He has no idea how to continue this under the watchful eye of his new guardians. Why do they care about his life and future when he barely cares about himself?

Maddie, his new neighbor, gets sucked into his passions in her attempts to save him, risking her relationships, her reputation, even her life for a guy who doesn’t always seem worth it. Shedding her invisible status and taking risks for someone else is new and uncomfortable, but once she starts, she can’t go back to who she was.

Unfortunately, as Maddie’s grandma says, illegal hobbies usually have a bad end. It’s a good thing God is a master at dramatic saves, bold mercy, and seeing the worth of those the world deems unredeemable.

Prompting Noah is part of the Snack Cake Chronicles, Christian young adult novels. Read them in any order, tales about growing up, growing in faith, and learning to love.

365 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 25, 2024

Reviews

[Kylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Jill Penrod has a talent for stripping her characters down to the marrow and getting to the depth and truth of life's hardest problems. Her characters are real. Her plot is multidimensional. Her storytelling is beautiful. And wow, the story is rough. Not everyone will have a life like Noah, although sadly it might become more common in our broken world. However, we are introduced to someone who has suffered through one of the darkest, most evil experiences out there, and he grows from it. He finds God in it. The Christians around him struggle too, they are so real. But God is bigger than all of the pain and heartache. He works even in the darkness. This story is powerful and beautiful and raw. I love when authors don't back down from hard topics and rough truths. I especially love how Jill has the Christians questioning. We are not perfect and even people in the Bible had questions.

I would suggest this book be saved for slightly more mature teens as there are some really hard topics and scenes. However, if a child is really struggling with certain issues that are covered in this book, it would be okay for them if they have someone to work through some parts with them. It's real, and real can get really messy. But it is also beautiful and an amazing picture of God's power and love.

[M. Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the dual points-of-view and the pacing of the story. The book begins when the main characters are 14 and it follows Noah and Madelyn through their teenage years. Noah's hobby of midnight graffiti added excitement and suspenseful scenes, and the dynamics of the major and minor characters had me flipping the pages! In her usual graceful style, the author manages to handle nitty-gritty real-life issues including infidelity in marriage and manipulation by a teacher and a coach. This book is well-written and is a great read for fans of Christian YA. I think readers who love Prompting Noah would also love Speak Your Mind by Allyson Kennedy as some of the themes are similar.

[D'anah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great insightful and touching read, for any age. We all need to belong, to be seen, understood, to share the deep parts of ourselves with trusted others. It helps us all grow into who we are meant to be. All wrapped up in a great and touching story. It stays with you long after you finish reading. Great things to ponder. Highly recommend it. A truly joyous ending.