Angel of Hope

by Lurlene McDaniel

  Amber opened her arms and lifted them heavenward, as if to hold the wind, as if to hug the sky.

  You can read Heather Barlow’s story in Angel of Mercy, the companion to Angel of Hope.

  Heather Barlow has always been idealistic, and now that she has finished high school, she’s ready to make a difference in the world. After graduation she joins a mission group on a hospital Mercy Ship sailing to Africa. Once she has left the ship on the Kenyan coast and is stationed at a hospital in Uganda, however, Heather is unprepared to face the disease, famine, and misery she encounters.

  Ian McCollum is also among the medical staff in Uganda. Ian has left his native Scotland and combined his idealism with a career in medicine, helping those threatened by a world of seeming indifference. When Heather meets Ian her heart quickens and she feels happy to be alive. But as the weeks pass, Heather finds her idealism vanishing; the refugee camps and orphanages are overcrowded, and misery is everywhere. Only Ian can see beyond the horror and help Heather understand that the world can be changed if people try to help those in need one by one.

  Lurlene McDaniel began writing inspirational novels about teenagers facing life-altering situations when her son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. “I saw firsthand how chronic illness affects every aspect of a person’s life,” she has said. “I want kids to know that while people don’t get to choose what life gives to them, they do get to choose how they respond.”

  Lurlene McDaniel’s novels are hard-hitting and realistic, but also leave readers with inspiration and hope. Her books have received acclaim from readers, teachers, parents, and reviewers. Her recent novels Angels Watching Over Me and its companions, Lifted Up by Angels and Until Angels Close My Eyes, have all been national bestsellers, as have Don’t Die, My Love; I’ll Be Seeing You; and Till Death Do Us Part. Six Months to Live was included in a literary time capsule at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

  Lurlene McDaniel’s other popular Bantam books include Angel of Mercy, the companion to Angel of Hope; The Girl Death Left Behind; Starry, Starry Night: Three Holiday Stories; For Better, for Worse, Forever; Too Young to Die; Goodbye Doesn’t Mean Forever; Somewhere Between Life and Death; Time to Let Go; Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep; When Happily Ever After Ends; Baby Alicia Is Dying; and the One Last Wish novels: A Time to Die; Mourning Song; Mother, Help Me Live; Someone Dies, Someone Lives; Sixteen and Dying; Let Him Live; The Legacy: MakingWishes Come True; Please Don’t Die; She Died Too Young; All the Days of Her Life; A Season for Goodbye; and Reach for Tomorrow.

  Lurlene McDaniel lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

  If you are interested in learning more about the Mercy Ship ministry, please contact:

  Youth with a Mission

  MERCY SHIPS

  P.O. Box 2020

  Lindale, TX 75771-2020

  Published by

  Bantam Books

  an imprint of

  Random House Children’s Books

  a division of Random House, Inc.

  1540 Broadway

  New York, New York 10036

  Copyright © 2000 by Lurlene McDaniel

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

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  mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

  information storage and retrieval system, without the written

  permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

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  Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/teens

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools,

  visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Check out Lurlene McDaniel’s Web site!

  www.lurlenemcdaniel.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  McDaniel, Lurlene.

  Angel of hope / by Lurlene McDaniel.

  p. cm.

  Summary: After her older sister, Heather, enthusiastic

  about changing the world, returns from doing medical

  missionary work in Uganda, seventeen-year-old Amber, who

  feels confused about her future, decides to go to Africa on

  the next trip.

  www.randomhouse.com

  eISBN: 978-0-307-43310-7

  v3.0