There’s an undeniable heaviness to retired teacher Gaila Kline-Hobson’s debut novel, The Chosen’s Calling (self-published; available on Amazon for $9.95 in paperback and $3.99 as an e-book). Her inspiration was one of life’s most unanswerable questions: Why do young people die? But rather than dwelling on tragedy, she instead imagines a world where death is a transition for youths to fulfill bigger destinies in the afterlife. Her spiritual fantasy novel centers on three teens from disparate backgrounds and belief systems as they train to become angel warriors and fight evil in the universe. Kline-Hobson uses their adventures to teach about different faiths and show that we are all more alike than different. She manages to bring light and even bits of levity to a subject most don’t want to even think about. It’s a deeply thoughtful and compassionate debut.
