What the book is about
Krista Clark’s life flipped upside down overnight. The home she’s grown up in is no more as money has forced her family into a smaller space, her friend Victor sends what feels to her like mixed signals, and she’s hit with an outstanding balance for school compromising her chance of returning for the fall semester. What’s a girl to do?!
At the beginning of the book, we meet Krista who has just moved back home to Michigan for the summer. She’s counting down the days until she’s back in Chicago for school with her only friend–Victor. As readers, we learn that Michigan wasn’t exactly kind to Krista. She graduated high school at 16 and moved on with her life at an art school in Chicago. For Krista, this was her chance to have a fresh start. It was away from the life she once knew, the people she no longer connected to, and a chance to find out what she truly wanted out of life.
Then, one day as she’s sitting at home, a letter from her school comes. Krista has an outstanding balance of $4,259.63 to pay before school starts or she won’t be able to return as a student for the fall semester. She panics. In the meantime, she talks about it with her mom and sisters. She doesn’t go into much of it with her dad– who she often refers to as Craig, his first name, in the book. To take her mind off of it a bit, her eldest sister Valentina– a free spirit, and college drop-out– takes her and her younger sister, Kathryn–who is just starting high school and worried about popularity–out for burgers and shakes. Kathryn ditches them to start the process of cementing her place with the crowd, while Krista doesn’t understand the need for popularity. She never has.
After they eat, Krista finds herself back home to a calmer Craig discussing how the balance will be broken down. He’s agreed to cover half, while she takes care of the rest.
Will Krista own up to the challenge? Or will she give up her dreams of walking along Chicago’s well-known Michigan Avenue with the wealthy and well-dressed?
Review
Growing in the Gray gives a relatable look at the question: Will your faith be marked by action, or will it be marked by only dreaming about it?
While the book mentions God, and we see Krista go back and forth in her faith, this isn’t a religious read. Krista shares her faith, her doubts, and the battle in between, ultimately showing that Growing in the Gray is a book about faith. Throughout each chapter, the reader sees Krista’s point of view. She’s introspective and calculated– knowing what needs to be done if she wants her life in Chicago as bad as she claims to.
Her reliance on God looks like that of today’s average Christian.
One of the ways we observe this with Krista is in the early chapters. She takes a break from the home she’s come to know–the home her family moved in to afford her schooling–and walks over to a neighborhood pond. She sits there observing the ducks as she does through her memories of Chicago: what it was like to visit the school for the first time and meeting Victor. We see her process of determining which group she would fit in–ultimately deciding that was not for her. We see the beginnings of her relationship with Victor and her relationship with Chicago. This relationship with a big city is marked by her finding pockets of the city to be alone in and reflect on.
While this book is not heavily religious, it shows the life of a Christian girl figuring it out for the first time. Krista graduated high school at 16 and spent her life going into 18 in a new place. It’s a true look at a modern walk of faith. It gives the process of what faith looks like in navigating family, school, work, friendships, and even possible relationships. It draws the reader in with Krista’s point of view and ability to reflect on her life as it was, as it is, and where she wants her life to go.
No part of this book feels like a distant faith walk. It is something to grab hold of in the moment; making it easy for readers to see themselves in Krista’s character.
Growing in the Gray is the modern Christian’s literary example of what it looks like to be of faith, walk in it, but follow paths that many Christians don’t often have the chance to.
You can purchase Christian Cook’s Growing in the Gray at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, and BookShop.org.
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Writer Bio:
Shonette Reed is the founder and editor of Resolute Magazine. The South Central Los Angeles native enjoys cooking, exploring, expansive conversations, and reading a good book when she's not working or planning for work.