5 stars When circumstances necessitate starting over, a mother and daughter purchase a falling-down house, which the mother believes is perfect because they can afford it. But soon they find themselves feeling isolated and defeated. Longing for their old neighborhood and friends, and overwhelmed ... more

5 stars When circumstances necessitate starting over, a mother and daughter purchase a falling-down house, which the mother believes is perfect because they can afford it. But soon they find themselves feeling isolated and defeated. Longing for their old neighborhood and friends, and overwhelmed by the repairs their new house needs, they finally realize they can't do everything alone—the only way to make things better is to ask for help. They both learn that when you reach out to the community, people answer with kindness. As the house gets rebuilt, so does their sense of hope and belonging. A single mother and daughter need to move from their old neighborhood to a new house that cost less. They move to Thirty-Third Street. The daughter renames this Dirty-Third Street because all the houses look old and run down. Mom tells her the house is perfect, because we can afford it. To the daughter, the house just gets worse when she must empty it of trash before she can actually move her things in. They work hard on the house, until even mom gets discouraged and can no longer see through eyes of faith. The daughter noticed a church, not far from the house, when they drove in. The next day, Sunday, they attend services at this neighborhood church. A call for prayer requests goes out and the daughter answers. She gives a short version of their current situation and asks for prayers that everything work out. Will the daughter’s prayer request receive prayers? Will those prayers be answered? This is an interesting story. What I mean is, The House on Dirty-Third Street is told without ever giving an actual name to mom or her daughter. Any child, or adult, can read this, picturing themselves as the characters and claim the story as their own. That is absolutely what a story should do