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The Race That Knows Joseph
a scene near the home in which Hayley is tutoring children in FranceThe Race that Knows Joseph -Or, Meeting Kindred Spirits Abroad and Other Book Thoughts “Have you read Lucy Maud Montgomery?” It was my first day in France and my travel-numbed brain took a moment to place even that familiar name. “Oh yes!” I exclaimed, after a moment of foggy thought. Beth, my new friend from Ireland, turned from the medieval street we were walking up. “Ohhhhh, what’s your favorite book? Have you read the Emily series?” Soon we were discussing our favorites and Emily versus Anne. She’s read The Storygirl. I haven’t finished it. She loves Blue…
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Run the race
Run the race: Finding Strength in the Bonds of Brotherhood Run the race is a film that portrays brotherhood amidst individual life situations. Zach, a football superstar bent on using this sport as a ticket to a scholarship at a university. His younger brother Dave was a devout Christian in spite of having an illness. Both worked at a local grocer owned by their godmother Annie. She cared for them after their mom’s passing to cancer. Zach enjoyed his fame but kept a deep hurt against his dad who left them. At their mom’s grave, their dad asked for forgiveness. Dave readily granted while Zach called him a drunk coward. Zach’s ego…
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Bible Review: the Stampede of “Creative” Bibles
A coloring Bible may make a lovely gift for the right recipient, but is it the best choice for reading and studying? The appearance of “coloring Bibles” like NIV Beautiful Word and NLT Inspire was a natural followup to the popularity of adult coloring books. Where the grownups go, kids eventually follow, as we discovered last year with the NIV Wonders of Creation coloring Bible for kids. Some new editions this year feature both coloring and journaling for the preteen and tweener set. It’s fine to capitalizing on a trend (it’s the American way!) and coloring Bibles can make nice gifts, but before you buy (or ask), here are a…
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You Say It First by Susan Mallery
Where Dreams Come True You Say It First by Susan Mallery is a delightful fun filled contemporary novel that focuses on love and weddings. Love is a complicated affair. There are some awkward family dynamics. “She’d been taught that love… had to be earned.” Love should be unconditional in a family but sometimes we try […]
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The Stepper: God’s Relentless Pursuit by Jerrad Hardin
Champions Of Love The Stepper: God’s Relentless Pursuit by Jerrad Hardin – wow what a beautiful, beautiful book about love and life and a God who relentlessly pursues us. The Stepper is a work that will really soothe your soul as you read about the beautiful relationship that the author had with his grandfather. Jerrad […]
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Can’t Help Falling In Love by Jae Blessing
Charming Can’t Help Falling In Love by Jae Blessing is a sweet Christian short story that will warm your heart and leave you smiling. It is the first tale in The Jubilee Series. The town of Jubilee is built on the desires of the people to be faithful to and to honour God. The town […]
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Cross Of A Different Kind: Cancer And Christian Spirituality by Anthony Maranise
Earth Has No Sorrow That Heaven Can’t Heal Cross of A Different Kind: Cancer And Christian Spirituality by Anthony Maranise is a comprehensive book focusing on cancer and the Christian walk. At the time of writing the author is cancer free for twenty years having had childhood cancer aged just five years old. The book […]
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Eventown by Corey Ann Haydn
Eventown is a place of forgetting, but how much forgetting does that take before you forget yourself? Eventown by Corey Ann Haydn. HarperCollins, 2019, 326 pages Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Naomi and Elodee Lively are identical twins—on the outside. Inside they’re very different: Naomi loves order, regularity, and gymnastics, while Elodee is a wildly experimental cook and loudmouth. All their friends in their drab hometown of Juniper have agreed the family needs “a fresh start”—after what? We don’t know, but something has happened to their family that changed everything for them, and neither Naomi or Elodee, or their mom or dad, knows how to…
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The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu
Identical twins struggle to re-define themselves in The Lost Girl, a fantasy for middle-grade readers. The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu. HarperCollins (Walden Pond), 2019, 355 pages. Reading Level: middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 “The two sisters were alike in every way, except for all the ways they were different.” Iris was the factual, practical one; Lark the dreamer. Lark was also the precarious preemie who almost didn’t make it out of the hospital–twice. Iris has always felt a responsibility to take care of her more fragile twin, and that’s why the news that they won’t be in the same class for fifth grade is devastating to…
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Someday We Will Fly by Rachel DeWoskin
Someday We Will Fly explores a little-known chapter of the Holocaust: the Jewish refuge of Shanghai. Someday We Will Fly by Rachel DeWoskin. Viking, 2019, 368 pages Reading Level: Teen, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 15-up May 18, 1930: Lillia Kaczka, her family were supposed to leave Warsaw together. But Mama was delayed. The family waited until they could wait no longer. The train was leaving, and if they missed the train they would miss the boat and if they missed the boat their chances of surviving as Jews in Poland were drastically reduced. So they went: 15-year-old Lillia, her baby sister Naomi, and their Papa, hoping Mama would somehow…
