When high school freshman Ana Dominguez moves from San Jose to Half Moon Bay, California, with her overprotective lawyer father and stay-at-home overly-socially aware mother, she thinks she'll never find a place to fit in. Ana, a Christian, wears her faith for all to see --- on her t-shirts and through her not-so-non-judgmental words. When she spies a fellow math student "cheating" on an exam, Ana has no qualms about calling her out in front of the entire class. So her nickname, "God Girl," takes on a new and more ominous overtone. Too bad for Ana that she was mistaken: the cheerleader in question, Riley, turns out to be number one in the class and a math whiz to boot. No wonder these two Christians start out and remain on shaky ground throughout much of the school year.
Realizing she may have blundered, Ana is mortified. Then, when life can't get any harder in the social realm, Ana and Riley are placed in detention with two other girls: Christine (whose mom died earlier in the year) and Zoe (whose hippie parents live far out in more ways than one). Their teacher, Ms. Moore, instructs them to write an essay about an experience that changed their life forever. Unknowingly, each of the four writes about a specific incident when God miraculously saved her from death. As they read their essays aloud, the girls are amazed at each other's "miracle" stories.
Zoe realizes that God has saved them each for a reason and begins her personal campaign to rally the four together as a sort of mission team. Unfortunately, the other three are harder to get on board. Desperate for a good friend, Ana is more open, and once she and Zoe pull together, Ana then tries to make contact with Christine. Comically enough, Christine and Ana do intersect in the girls' bathroom as Christine is dying her hair in the sink to avoid going home where her dad's "bimbo" girlfriend is waiting. Slowly, Christine enters Zoe and Ana's world and the three find common ground.
Never one to give up, Zoe looks for every opportunity to draw in Riley. Eventually, it is Ana who breaks through Riley's defenses after a tragedy befalls Riley's little brother Michael. At last, after many church outings, hooking up (or trying to) with various boys, serving on school club fundraisers, volunteering at a nearby nursing home and overcoming obstacles at home, the four dub themselves "The Miracle Girls." Once their group is officially "born," a fresh camaraderie ensues and the girls begin looking to the future and what God might have in store for them as a team, not simply as four individuals living life for their own pleasures.
Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt have found a perfect blend of mixing in teen angst and emotional drama with a lighthearted comedic tone. Young adults will enjoy the journey and appreciate the similarities between these four fictional characters and their own lives, and those of their peers.
--- Reviewed by Michele Howe
