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This Week’s Teen Book:
Baptism
by Shelia P. Moses
When
you
turn
twelve
in
Occoneechee
Neck
in
Jackson,
North
Carolina,
everything
changes.
You
get
to
do
stuff
you
couldn't
do
when
you
were
eleven.
And
it
means
it's
time
to
get
baptized.
Twin
brothers
Leon
and
Luke
Curry
turned
twelve
last
month.
Ma
has
given
them
one
week
in
which
to
do
right
—
to
cleanse
themselves
of
their
sinning
ways
and
get
themselves
ready
for
the
baptism.
Next
Sunday
they
will
go
down
to
the
"mornin'
bench"
at
church,
sit
in
front
of
Reverend
Webb,
and
be
saved.
It
will
be
a
glorious
day.
But
that's
only
if
Twin
Leon
and
Twin
Luke
can
keep
themselves
out
of
trouble.
Which
is
easier
said
than
done
when
you've
lost
your
daddy
and
have
a
new
stepfather;
when
you
have
a
bullying
big
brother
who
plays
tricks
on
you;
and
when
it's
summertime
and
all
you
want
to
do
is
go
fishing
instead
of
working
in
the
fields.
How
Twin
Leon
and
Twin
Luke
stick
together
to
face
the
odds
as
only
twelve-year-old
boys
can
do,
managing
to
save
themselves
while
also
unexpectedly
saving
their
entire
family
in
a
week's
time,
is
the
heart
of
this
moving,
often
funny,
and
often
poignant
novel.
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