Back Porch Book Chat: A casual, virtual conversation about books. Join us as we chat with book lovers like ourselves about a topic we all love! Our guest today is Miranda Collingridge, a high school senior who is currently our social media intern. Miranda and Betsy know each other in “real life,” and today, we’re introducing her to the rest of Redeemed Reader. Interview conducted by Betsy. Getting to Know Miranda Before we begin, tell us what beverage you’d like as we sit in our rocking chairs on this winter day: Sweet tea? Lemonade? La Croix? Ice water? It’s not summer yet, so perhaps you’re thinking hot chocolate or chai…

There’s a strange sense of community in reaching out while everyone is staying home. Because this pandemic is of great concern to the whole world, there is an unusual international obligation, giving us opportunities to love our neighbors without actually spending time together. Instead of being excluded from others’ activities, we’re sharing the burden of disappointment and making memories while living through an historical event. There is anxiety and deprivation, to be sure, but there is joy and peace in sharing as well. Our viral enemy is faceless, and our human enemies are fighting the same battle we are. This is another chapter in the Story of depravity, common grace,…

Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots offers an accessible introduction to a controversial subject. Fact vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex. Nancy Paulson Books (PRH), 2020, 32 pages. Reading Level: picture book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 5-7 What’s the difference between a fact and an opinion? According to this picture book, “a fact is anything that can be proven tru or false.” “An opinion is something that you feel and you believe but you cannot prove.” The reader is led to this conclusion after answering some questions about the robots cavorting through these pages. Opinions are what make us unique, but we should all know the difference, and we…

The brief but complex life of a honeybee literally unfolds in these gorgeously illustrated pages. *Honeybee: the Busy Life of Apius Mellifera by Candis Fleming. Illustrated by Eric Rohman. Holiday House, 2020, 36 pages. Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 6-up Honeybee is the fascinating unfolding of a worker bee’s life, from her first emergence out of the hatchery to her death 35 days later. Though she is equipped with wings from the beginning, her first job is to clean out the cell she came from so the queen can lay another egg there. Next the lowly worker (all of whom are female) embarks on a series…

From hero to pariah: the life of Charles Lindbergh is a fascinating study. *The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming. Schwartz + Wade, 2020, 321 pages. Reading level: Teen, ages 15-18 Recommended for: ages 13-up No one was more famous in his time. American culture in the 1920s was swimming in frivolous pursuits and sensational news, and the “Lone Eagle’s” flight across the Atlantic, in a machine constructed of plywood and canvas, came like lightning flash of inspiration: the ultimate in heroism. Even so, if nothing else happened to Lindbergh he might have become a footnote in the history of flight. Instead he was hurled into the…