Lynn Dove's 'Wounded Trilogy' finally complete!

YA author Lynn Dove has just released the third and final book in her 'Wounded Trilogy' called Love the Wounded. The first two books in the series (Shoot the Wounded and Heal the Wounded) met with considerable success, having been recommended as helpful resources for teens and nominated for various awards. Both previous books also made it onto amazon's best sellers lists in YA fiction. For Lynn Dove fans, the wait for book three is finally over! Visit Lynn's blog here.

For those who are not familiar with Lynn and her writing, let me bring you up to speed. Here are my reviews of her two previous books.

Shoot the Wounded
As a contemporary Christian novel for youth, SHOOT THE WOUNDED delivers the gospel with enough angst that it is sure to meet with the approval of today's teen. It delves into relevant topics such as teen pregnancy and family violence, mixed with the usual boy-girl relationships and coming of age themes common to YA fiction. In this book we see that being a Christian isn't easy, and it certainly doesn't mean you are perfect. SHOOT THE WOUNDED is the first in a trilogy by Canadian author Lynn Dove and sets the stage for its equaling engrossing sequel, HEAL THE WOUNDED. This is a set that should be in every school, church and public library. 

Heal the Wounded
HEAL THE WOUNDED is the second in a trilogy by Canadian author Lynn Dove. The entire series is aimed toward the YA market, but it is worth reading no matter what your age. In HEAL THE WOUNDED , we are introduced to several teenagers who are facing some tough problems. First, Jake, a Christian from a loving family, has to deal with the fact that his mother has been diagnosed with cancer. He is still reeling from the death of a close friend and wonders where God is in all of this. His girlfriend Leigh is also struggling. Her insecurity and an untimely fire force the two apart. Meanwhile, another teen, who happens to be the brother of the deceased friend, has turned his anger and confusion inward and begins `cutting' himself to ease the emotional pain. I don't want to spoil the story by explaining what happens, but the author draws us into the emotional whirlwind that is the life of a teenager with skill and conviction. Her characterization seems very true to real life as she deals with some tough issues. In fact, the series has apparently been listed as a helpful resource for anti-bullying. My only negative comment, which in no way reflects on the author or the book, is that I think I may have gotten more out of this second book if I had read the prequel, SHOOT THE WOUNDED, first. Dove does a good job of explaining the back story, however, which includes teenage pregnancy, gossip, stereotyping and other issues about making choices. In the end, this is a solid book that is entertaining yet manages to pack a wallop in terms of its message to teens. I highly recommend this, and the rest of the series, to young readers everywhere.

Love the Wounded
 And now ... you can buy the third in the series. Although I have not read it, here is more about the book:
"Love the Wounded" by Lynn Dove is the final and dramatic conclusion to her brilliant Wounded Trilogy series that has followed the lives of teenagers Jake, Leigh, Mike, Dylan and Tim as they come to terms with a series of tragedies and events that have made each of them question why God allows "bad things to happen to good people". Leigh does not know who to choose...her heart tells her she will always love Jake, but he has changed so much since the death of their friend, Ronnie, and with his mother going through breast cancer, he has totally closed himself off from her emotionally. Now she is dating Dylan and try as she might to accept him for who he is, she can't stop thinking about Jake! Dylan has never gotten over the loss of his father and little sister, killed by a drunk driver when he was just a young boy. After a horrific accident that has put both Tim and his little brother, Evan in the hospital, everyone knows that not only is he being bullied at school; he cuts himself to cope with it all. But meeting Cassidy has given him the courage to stand up to the bullies and at the same time give her what she so desperately needs...a life-giving bone marrow transplant. Jake's mother keeps telling him that "God works all things out for good" but with all the things going on in his life and with his friends, he's just not sure anymore. It is only after Mike is paralyzed in a car accident that Jake was partially responsible for that all the families and friends will be brought back together, not by coincidence, but by God's design and then Jake will finally believe that God truly does "Love the Wounded".
"A life of working with youth has inspired Lynn Dove, a Cochrane mother to turn her experiences into a book trilogy...(the Wounded Trilogy) series that parallels the struggles of students...(and) covers the angst of some of the real serious issues that teenagers face today, particularly with bullying and gossip. " -Rocky View Weekly- 


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