Title: Alone Yet Not Alone
Author: Tracy Leininger Craven
Major Themes: Faith, Survival, French and Indian War
Synopsis: When Barbara and Regina are captured by Allegheny warriors during the French and Indian War, their faith and hope sustain them through struggles and years of slavery.
When I was a youngster, my parents bought a cassette tape player and several books on tapes for me to listen to. I was immediately enthralled, and spent hours wandering around our property or hanging around the house, listening to a dramatized version of The Pilgrim’s Progress, books Mom recorded for us, and a few stories from Mennonite publishers. But one of my all-time favorite books on tape was Alone Yet Not Alone, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say I listened to it more than 10 times in my growing-up years. My mother got sick of hearing the story because I listened to it so often, and I remember one day when my brothers were bored, begging me to tell them a story, and I started in on the first chapter of this book, telling it almost word for word through the first few paragraphs. They quickly lost interest, but I didn’t. It has—and remains—among my favorite stories from Colonial American history.
Publisher’s description:
A miraculous survival. An extraordinary faith.
Autumn 1755. Settled in the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, deep within America’s new frontier, the Leininger family celebrates the blessings of a beautiful homestead and bountiful harvest. Until tragedy strikes with the beginning of the French-Indian War, and the devastating raid known as the Penn’s Creek Massacre.
The lives of this simple, God-fearing family are forever altered when Barbara and Regina, two young sisters, are carried away by a band of Allegheny warriors. Driven by their faith in God and the powerful bonds of family, Barbara and Regina hold firmly to the belief that they are never alone, even in their darkest hour, and that they will be reunited again.
My thoughts:
Having always listened to Alone Yet Not Alone, I was somewhat surprised to see how short this book is when I finally got a print version of the story. It’s a quick read, but packs an astounding punch in its storyline. Another thing I was surprised about was how the story is not graphic—some horrific things happen here, but it is almost all offscreen. I realized that in listening to the story over and over as a child, I’d added a lot more details to scenes than are actually present in the book—that was a humorous realization!
The thing that is the most striking about this story is the family’s faith. Barbara and Regina come from a godly, Christ-honoring family, and even though they were captured by the Indians at a young age (Barbara was 12, Regina 9), they already had a firm grounding in the Word of God and trust in His sovereignty. As they endured countless difficulties in their captivity, they held to hope and trust in God—and that’s a challenge for me!
As a youngster, I think the thing I enjoyed most about this story was the adventure aspect. There is a considerable amount of danger in some of the things Barbara, especially, faced, and I loved imagining that I was with her, experiencing some of the same things she experienced. The ending, too, is one of my favorite endings ever—incredibly sweet and hope-filled.
It’s hard to know how to put Alone Yet Not Alone into words, because I’ve known and loved it for such a long time. But if you’re looking for solid, faith-based true stories of courage, heroism, and resilience in the face of desperate odds for your children, or are studying Colonial America, I’d highly recommend you check this book out. It’s a gem!
WARNING: Chapter 1: Thank heaven. Chapter 2: Hearing a gunshot, house on fire, later finding out people were killed, girls taken captive. Chapter 3: Mention of a baby who was killed. Chapter 4: Horse treated cruelly, girl almost burned to death. Chapter 6: Woman burned to death. Chapter 7: Harvest festival with dancing to the gods. Chapter 8: Lying. Chapter 10: Boy injured by a bear. Chapter 11: Someone almost drowns. Chapter 12: Heaven only knows.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 10 – 12, 12 – 15
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
I think that it’s an important book to read to your children. We don’t know what is ahead in their lives. And I think that it’s important to read true, or based on true stories of people and children who have gone through very hard things and survived and even thrived.
Yes! Plus, this one is a fairly short, quick read, which can also be helpful!