Written by Sophia Karnolt
Jason Davids has not slept in thirty-seven hours. He glances at his clock: 7:20 p.m.
You can do this, Jason, he says to himself. Just get up and go. Go tell them the truth. Tell everyone at Alyssa’s party that you found Andy’s body. Tell them that he looked dead. Tell them about the horror in Chantal’s eyes when she came rushing up the stairs. Make sure you tell them that it is all your fault.
One day after a tornado strikes Montgomery, Massachusetts, Andy Rosetti is in a coma with life-threatening injuries. Jason Davids and Chris Dunkin devise a plan to help Andy and unite the students at Montgomery Lake High School. However, no one–not even Chris–knows Jason’s secret about the day of the storm.
I would like to recommend “When Darkness Tries to Hide” by Stacy Padula to anyone who is struggling in life right now. This book really highlights that God can bring light to any situation and make it better. Connecting with him will help whatever you are going through. Someone who wants to begin to worship God or anyone who has thought about it should read this so they understand the light he brings and the good that comes out of it.
The positive messages I got from this book was that God is on your side, and he is not against you. Another message I got was that everything happens for a reason, and God does have a plan for you. If Andy never went in the hospital, Jason woud never have changed his path and started to connect with God.
Teens should read this book because I think a lot of teens nowadays, especially in our generation, experiment with drugs and use them. Many teens are addicted and many use them constantly. This book highlights what drug abuse does to you and makes it known that you can fix that and there is a way out. It also highlights the effect it has on other people as well and not just the person using the drugs.
Prior to reading this book, my opinion of the protagonist Jason Davids was that he wasn’t really a nice person, and he gave off a bad-boy attitude. It seemed as though he didn’t really care for others, instead he just cared about drugs. My opinion of him now is so much better, as he now is understanding God, talks to pastors, and understands that he needs a better path. He also now wants to be a better person, which makes me feel I will start to like him as a character now. Jason knows what was causing his darkness and he wants to find the light.
A main theme of this story is the battle between the dark and the light. When one is in darkness, he or she cannot see anything clearly. The last chapter of “When Darkness Tries to Hide” connects everything together. Jason realizes that the darkness in his life was something he didn’t expect. He realizes that some of the darkness in his life is from his girlfriend, Cathy. Jason now understands that God was the light for Chris and can be the light for himself as well. He knows that God is who fixed Chris and made him the person he is now. God brings the light.
Books by Stacy A. Padula 
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