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The Sycamore Stand Off by Stacey Weeks
Rooted The Sycamore Stand Off by Stacey Weeks is a contemporary Christian novel with a strong godly message. The story surrounds an ancient sycamore which is well-rooted and has withstood all that the elements have thrown it over the years. We can see parallels in our lives. We need to be deeply rooted in God […]
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Picture Book Round Up: Cora Cooks Pancit, Thoughtfull, Rice From Heaven, My Breakfast With Jesus
Four picture books encourage young listeners to notice the people around them, to serve with kindness, and to celebrate the diversity of God’s church. Some titles border on books-with-a-message, but all are worth looking into. Look for them at your local library (they were all at mine, even the overtly Christian titles). I learned about each of these from Wild Things and Castles in the Sky! Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore and illustrated by Kristi Valiant. Lee & Low, 2014. 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture books, all ages Recommended For: Ages 0-8, especially with their families Cora is frustrated that she only gets to do the little…
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These Streets by Luan Goldie
‘Real’ Life Not Sugar Coated These Streets by Luan Goldie is a fascinating look at contemporary life in east London. The reader is introduced to two families – a single mum with two teens and an elderly father nearby, and a single dad separated from his six year old daughter. All the characters are unique, […]
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*Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan, illustrated by Mercè López
A lively rhyming story about a generously overcrowded daladala on its way to the beach in a delightful read-aloud about siblings in Zanzibar. Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan, illustrated by Mercè López. Simon and Schuster, 2021. 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture books, Ages 4-8 Recommended For: Ages 4-8 If you don’t have travel plans to Zanzibar yet, Room for Everyone will give you a lively taste of the experience. Musa and his sister (“dada” in Swahili) board a daladala (shared minibus with benches used for public transportation) to go to the beach. Along the way, the driver keeps stopping to offer rides to more and more people laden with…
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Letters To Doberitz by Derek R Payne
No Winners, Only Losers In War Letters To Doberitz by Derek R Payne is a powerful tale about the experiences of the author’s grandparents and great grandparents during World War I. The author has captured life at home, on the battlefields and in Doberitz, a prisoner of war camp. He vividly paints the scenes using […]
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More Precious Than Gold by Renee Yancy
A Slice Of History More Precious Than Gold by Renee Yancy is a marvellous historical novel that surrounds the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. The novel is mainly set in New York City. It is a city of two halves – the haves and the have-nots. There are residents over-flowing with wealth and there are […]
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Cookies & Milk by Shawn Amos
Cookies & Milk is an enjoyable fictionalized account of the world’s first chocolate-chip cookie store and the launch of a “famous” business. Cookies & Milk by Shawn Amos. Little, Brown, 2022, 296 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 A cookie store??? With his parents going through a divorce, Ellis Bailey Johnson isn’t looking forward to a great summer. His mom is off on a journey of self-discovery while his dad is following the same old discovery track of launching a new business. This time, Dad just knows he has a sure thing: chocolate chip cookies! The ones he makes really are the best anybody ever…
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Crazy Horse and Custer: Born Enemies by S. D. Nelson
Crazy Horse and Custer: Born Enemies addresses the bloody and complex history of the U.S. Indian Wars with honesty and clarity. Crazy Horse and Custer: Born Enemies by S. D. Nelson. Abrams, 2021, 119 pages plus notes, index, and timeline. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 11-15 Two Men of Destiny George Armstrong Custer knew from boyhood that he was destined for greatness, and with good reason. Handsome, spirited, with boundless courage and even more boundless luck, he succeeded at everything he tried. His valor during America’s Civil War earned him admiring newspaper coverage and the rank of brigadier general at the age of 23—the youngest general…
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The Shelter and the Fence by Herman H. Finkelstein
The Shelter and the Fence relates the heartening history of how nearly 1000 Jewish refugees found welcome in America during World War II. The Shelter and the Fence: When 982 Holocaust Refugees Found Safe Haven in America by Norman H. Finkelstein. Chicago Review Press, 2021, 151 pages plus notes, index, and bibliography. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 9-12 “Causal Baggage” The US Transport ship Henry Gibbins, docking in New York Harbor on August 4, 1944, was half full of wounded servicemen returning home. The other cargo, callously labeled as “US Army Causal Baggage,” was just as human: 982 refugees from Italy. They were actually from all…
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Pets Are A Pleasure by Malcolm D Welshman
Hilarious Pets Are A Pleasure by Malcolm D Welshman is the wonderful fourth book in the Pets In A Pickle series but can be read as a stand-alone. Once more we follow the exploits of newly qualified vet Paul. We hear of his interactions with the animals within the practice and with their owners and […]
