The Starling Girl

Gem Starling is a 17-year-old girl raised in a fundamentalist Christian community in Kentucky who is trying to figure out her place in the world. On one level, she aspires to be a dutiful Christian, while she is also looked up to by her younger siblings as the eldest daughter in the family. She finds joy in her church dance troupe, but her love of dance, along with her own burgeoning desires, become difficult to reconcile with her faith. Community traditions such as courting also weigh on Jem's shoulders. Amidst this confusion, she finds refuge in the encouragement of Owen, her youth pastor who has just returned from doing missionary work abroad.