“Perhaps I should have read something into the fact that when I first laid eyes on Sam some girl was yelling at him, and when I first met Kevin he nearly killed me...”

Jo’s summer is off to an interesting start. Now all the teenager needs is a job, future plans and a few goals for her life. No big deal right?

She’d also like to know why no one talks about the horrible accident she witnessed last summer at Cornerstone church. But as much as she wants to know the truth, someone else wants to keep it a secret. Can she handle creepy stalker guys, death threats and her crazy love life without losing control?

For Jo, unravelling the mystery and piecing her life back together will mean discovering if God really listens—and if he cares enough to answer.

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When I was first given the manuscript to read, I can’t say was altogether thrilled. The idea of “Christian” fiction brings to mind the ‘holy’ experience for some very reasonable, boring, and irregular teens - and the reader is left with an innate sense of guilt for not being the perfection that the main character has illustrated, but more like the antagonist of the story...

But when I began to read If Only You Knew, I was surprised that the main character was not Christian, but clumsy, sarcastic, and making frequent comments about the outer appearance of the opposite sex.

As I continued the book, I was both relieved and overjoyed to find that the Christians in the story were human, as well. In fact, some of them were downright dislikable, yet endearing, like so many other young Christians across the world.

I was also relieved to find that the story illustrated the anger one holds on both sides of faith… Sam was the unbelieving and bitter atheist, Nate the angry and impatient man of faith. Both sides pull and push each other, and everything that any Christians and unbelievers alike want to say is said, leaving a sense of complete satisfaction.

Furthermore, Jo didn’t turn around and become totally perfect as soon as she became a Christian. She was, in fact, more or less the same but for the unmistakable additions of faith, peace, and love.

The story also surprised me with the added element of thrill and surprise with a few shocking twists, a couple of greasy strangers, and a few million skeletons in the various closets of the characters.

The story also had a very jarring bonus: God was a very personable and attractive character in the story. While many books, stories, and poems may strive to correctly communicate God’s true image, Mags Storey makes him a perfect, loving, and approachable friend to misfits.

Sherry Simons, age 15