"I am drawn to the concept of the Heldin family and your main character, Hilda, as she moves through life and faces different questions and experiences."
-Amy Gingerich, Editorial Director, "The Herald Press"

In the early 1900s, fourteen-year-old Hilda Heldin offers God a promise-she will give her heart to Jesus if He heals her ailing mother. But God does not make bargains.

Not long after Hilda's mother dies, her father, a Mennonite preacher and Minnesota farmer prays for a new wife. Worried that his three children need a mother, he pens a letter to Ukrainian schoolteacher Leah Loewen, a spinster he knows. Before long, they are married-even as Hilda and her younger sister still struggle with their grief. Hilda must meet the challenges of her Mennonite faith and life on the prairie, she finds the strength to endure weather catastrophes, world wars, birth, and death-all while maturing into adulthood and discovering her true identity.

"Heldin" tells an unforgettable tale of a brave woman's compelling, coming-of-age journey as she tries to come to terms with the faith that governs her life.

"I am drawn to the concept of the Heldin family and your main character, Hilda, as she moves through life and faces different questions and experiences."
-Amy Gingerich, Editorial Director, "The Herald Press"

In the early 1900s, fourteen-year-old Hilda Heldin offers God a promise-she will give her heart to Jesus if He heals her ailing mother. But God does not make bargains.

Not long after Hilda's mother dies, her father, a Mennonite preacher and Minnesota farmer prays for a new wife. Worried that his three children need a mother, he pens a letter to Ukrainian schoolteacher Leah Loewen, a spinster he knows. Before long, they are married-even as Hilda and her younger sister still struggle with their grief. Hilda must meet the challenges of her Mennonite faith and life on the prairie, she finds the strength to endure weather catastrophes, world wars, birth, and death-all while maturing into adulthood and discovering her true identity.

"Heldin" tells an unforgettable tale of a brave woman's compelling, coming-of-age journey as she tries to come to terms with the faith that governs her life.