A TIME OF REBELLION

by Olive Church

Jenny, an out-of-state second-year student at Graceland College, realizes how far apart her two worlds of home and school are when she spends Christmas vacation with her widowed mother and teen-age sister. As she contrasts the familiar patterns of family life with the exhilarating atmosphere of the college campus, she decides she can never accept the mores of the people with whom she grew up. Her mother is hurt when Jenny appears to rebel against the role she is expected to fulfill in her hometown after she finishes college. And her sister resents Jenny’s attempt to rescue her from unwise romantic involvements.

Friends from high school days and friends at college look to Jenny as a confidante; and by listening to their problems, she begins to discover what it is she really expects from life. Masculine admirers—from carpenters to college professors—vie for her attention and add amorous highlights throughout the story.

Still uncertain about which career she should pursue after graduation, she agrees to join a dorm mate on a trip to the mountains of New Mexico. Here, in a primitive cabin, they spend the summer months writing, painting, and thinking about the future. Jenny experiences the breakthrough she has been seeking in her spiritual life—an awareness of Deity and divine direction in selecting a profession.