With A Name Like Love

Title: With a Name Like Love
Author: Tess Hilmo
Genre: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Mystery
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 250
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’m glad I was finally able to read WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE. It’s a very heart-warming story about love, family, and friendship. I really grew to love the characters. I loved Ollie and most of her family. I also really loved Jimmy and felt for him with the circumstances he and his mother were in. It was fun to watch the two develop a friendship, figure things out, and come up with a way to fix what was going on.

The story doesn’t focus on racism, which you might expect taking place in Arkansas in the 1950s. Racism was there a little bit, but most of all, the story showed all forms of bigotry and hate, especially associated with things or people that were different from the way people thought they should be. It showed how bigotry and hate clouded them from seeing or even wanting to see the truth.

What I loved most of all about the book was the message of love. I really enjoyed the religious undertones as well and I also loved that the religious message wasn’t in-your-face preachy. It was just used to help propel the story forward and illustrate that love can conquer anything if you let it into your heart.