Once We Were Strangers

Once We Were Strangers *****
by Shawn Smucker

Overview: Shawn Smucker wanted to understand the plight of refugees. So, he befriended one. This is the story of two men and their families who seek to build a cross-cultural friendship.

Positive elements: well-written, quick read.

Negative elements: none

Conclusion: I enjoyed getting to see a sneak peak at one Syrian family's story of how they escaped a war torn country and are trying to make a new home in the United States. It's hard for me to imagine leaving everything you know and coming to a new place. Smucker talks of all the challenges of daily life for refugees. And the sweetest part of the story is the friendship that grew between these two radically different families.

The book doesn't really address or try to solve anything politically about refugees. The book's message is that we should walk towards the refugees in our neighborhoods...try to get to know them and hear their stories. And we may be surprised by the rich friendships we find.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Grandma's Attic

Grandma's Attic *****
by Arleta Richardson

Grandma’s Attic was a fun book. It is about when the grandma tells a bunch of funny stories to her granddaughter about when she was a little girl. Ages 8 and up would like this book.

By Sophie Staples, 8

White Picket Fences

White Picket Fences *****
by Amy Julia Becker

Overview: Becker explores the issue of privilege in this book. She talks about her upbringing in the south as a wealthy, well- educated, white woman. Later moving North, she begins to realize how much her views on race are shaped by her upbringing.

You can't help where you are born. So what do you do with privilege? She keeps exploring this issue as she becomes a parent. And especially thinks of privilege in a new way when her daughter is born with Down Syndrome. Her daughter is born NOT into privilege. From her birth, she is at a disadvantage. People makes judgement calls on her just by how she looks.

The book doesn't come to any real conclusions. Becker ends the book with a challenge to keep trying to love those around us. In getting to know and understand people who are different than us, we can begin to love them. And love conquers all.

Positive elements: well-written, nice story flow

Negative: It was a bit long. I think she could have made her point in a lot fewer chapters.

Conclusion: My main take-away from this book was to make sure I'm having my kids read books about people from all cultures. She pointed out how many of our classics and even Newberry Metal books are about white people. So, that's an easy, practical thing I can do give my kids a peek of a different way of life. She mentions a few books, but I do wish she had included a larger list. Perhaps there just aren't that many books...that's a sad reality.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

The Girls' Guide to Conquering Middle School

The Girls' Guide To Conquering Middle School *****
By Erica & Jonathan Catherman

Overview: This book is basically a guide to different topics in middle school. For example, there is one chapter about handwriting and one about gossip. They have a joke or quick pop quiz on the bottom of the page sometimes. Then they have a picture with a thumbs up and a thumbs down showing what you should do and what you shouldn't do. There are also some pages that refer a little more to public school. Like there's one that talks about riding the bus and another one about locker rooms.

Negative Elements: I does kind of talk about some of those things that start to happen in middle school like dating, boyfriends, swearing. Some of those kinds of things.

Positive Elements: It has some of those funny questions or pop quizzes at the bottom of some of the pages to make the page a little more fun. The pictures in them make it also a little more fun.

Conclusion: Depending on where you are in middle school, there might be pages that are more helpful than others. This book is pretty cool. I know about most of it, since my parents are great about helping me out with things in middle school, but some middle school girls might not. I think your middle school daughter should read this book. I gave it four stars.

Here's one of the pages from it:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpFWbxJV4AAbsmP.jpg




By: Summer Staples, 12


I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

La La La

                                                                                                                                                *****

                                                                                       La La La: A Story of Hope

                                                            By Kate DiCamillo

                                                             Illustrated by Jamie Kim

                 

Overview: This book is a picture book, with basically with the girl saying, "La La La," and "La." Then she sleeps and it says, "zzz..." So besides those few couple words, it is just pictures. It illustrates that she's singing and no one is answering. Find out if anyone answers.

Negative Elements: None

                                                                          

 Positive Elements: It's a sweet story.

 Conclusion: I think you should read this sweet and 

                       colorful book. I gave this book five stars.                                                                                                                                                

By: Summer Staples, 12 

Raymie Nightingale

                                      *****
Raymie Nightingale
By Kate DiCamillo


Overview: Raymie Nightingale is a great story about a great friendship. Three girls start of in a baton twirling class trying to compete in Little Miss Central Florida Tire, a baton twirling competition. Raymie's father had run away with a dental hygienist, and she wanted to get her picture in the paper so her father would come back, but instead she begins to reveal a friendship with Beverly and Louisiana, the girls in her baton twirling class, they work together to accomplish many goals.


Negative Elements: An old lady dies that was Raymie's friend. The break into an animal shelter and take a dog while looking for Louisiana's cat, Archie.
Positive Elements: Raymie saves Louisiana from drowning in a pond. They have a very sweet friendship. It has a very sweet ending,too.
Conclusion: This was a very sweet and awesome book. I loved it! I really like Kate DiCamillo's books. I think this book deserves five stars.



By: Summer Staples, 12

The Courage of Sarah Noble

The Courage of Sarah Noble *****

by Alice Dalgliesh

The Courage of Sarah Noble is a book about a girl who went on a journey with her father to build a house. They met Indians. Soon they became friends. Sarah loved to play with the Indian children when the house was finished. Sarah’s dad had to go back to get the rest of the family. Sarah had to stay with the Indians in their house in until her father came back. She was very excited. They all lived in the house they built. Sarah’s mother and siblings were happy to see her and so was Sarah. I think 8 to 10 yr. olds will enjoy this book.

by Sophie, age 8

The City of Ember

The City of Ember 
*****by Jeanne Duprau 

The City of Ember is a book about Lina and Doon. They know that Ember is breaking down. So, they start looking for clues. They find a note that Lina’s little sister had in her mouth. When Lina puts together the pieces she has of the note, she shows Doon. She shows her friend Clary the note, and Clary says that the note is the instructions for the way out of Ember. While Lina is excited, Doon has been down in the pipeworks looking too for the way out of Ember. Lina showed him the note. He found a door that says it’s caved in, but it’s not. It’s the secret hideout for the mayor. He has been hiding food and lightbulbs. Because the city is underground, the citizens of Ember don’t know this. Lina and Doon find out that the huge river in the pipeworks is the way out of Ember. But the guards, who know about the room where the mayor has his hideout, put up signs and are looking for Lina and Doon. Will Lina and Doon be able to get to the pipeworks without being caught? Will they have the courage to go down the huge river? You have to read the book to find out.

I think ages 10 and up will like this book.

by Sabrina S

Master Your Money

Master Your Money *****
by Ron Blue

The sub-title of this book is "A step-by-step plan for experiencing financial contentment." That subtitle does a great job of summing up the book. The book does walk you through how to biblically handle finances in many different aspects.

The book is full of charts and worksheets to help you assess where you currently are financially and then to create a personal financial plan.

The book speaks on debt, taxes, investing, stewardship, common financial mistakes to avoid, and more.

This is a great resource to work through from front to back and then to return to as a reference.

This book was originally published thirty years ago. In this new edition, the author and his son add comments at the end of each chapter in a section called "Thirty Years of Reflection." It's interesting to read those perspectives from different generations.

I received this book for free from the publisher for an honest review.

Hidden Among the Stars

Hidden Among the Stars *****
by Melanie Dobson

Overview: The book divides itself between two time periods: 1938-39 in Austria and present day in the United States.
Present Day...Callie has just turned 30 and finds her life has become very small and comfortable as she owns a tiny bookstore with her married sister. For her birthday, she received an old book with some strange writing in it. She begins to research who this book once belonged to. She finds herself being pulled out of her comfort zone and into an tragic Holocaust story.
1938...Annika is a girl in Austria at the time of Hitler's invasion. Austria and her life will never be the same again. She must find her way without her father and fight again evil in her own sphere.
Negative elements: A Jewish woman is raped, but thankfully the scene isn't graphic.
Positive elements: Well-written, well-paced story. Speaks of the power of friendship and self-sacrifice.
Conclusion: This is the first book I've read by Melanie Dobson. I was pleasantly surprised by the story. The book has some twists that I didn't see coming at first. Callie's love story was predicable but at least it wasn't sappy. I also appreciated how carefully Dobson handled the Holocaust's atrocities. She mentions somethings that happened but isn't graphic.

This was an easy to read and interesting historical fiction romance appropriate for teens and adults.

I received this book for free from the publisher. The opinions in this review are mine.

The Daily Question for You and Your Child

The Daily Question for You and Your Child *****

Overview: This small, hard-covered book has a question to ask your child every day of the year. Each page has lines to record your child's answer. The pages are divided up into three sections so the book can be used for three years. It is a fun idea to be able to see on one page how your child's answers to questions changed over the years.

Positive elements: The book is pretty and well laid out. The questions are fun.

Negative elements: The book is called a "spiritual journey" but only a few of the questions have a spiritual nature to them. Also, we realized that some of the questions have lengthy answers and you don't have room to record them. You just have to enjoy the conversation.  (And realistically, it will be rather a miracle if I can remember to keep using this book over the next three years and not lose it.)

Conclusion: We are having fun pulling this out at dinner or when we're all hanging out in the kitchen. We are trying to write small and squeeze more than one kid's answers on each page. My five girls think it's fun to give their opinion on some question and have it written down. I would recommend this book for kids who are grade school aged.

I received this book for free, and this is my honest review of it.

The Crescent Stone

The Crescent Stone *****
by Matt Mikalatos

 Overview: A teenage girl is dying. A man from another world invites her to come and fight his fantasy land's enemies for one year. In exchange, she will be completely healed. She enters into this agreement unaware of the full extent of it. In this new land, she finds that it isn't always easy to distinguish who your enemies really are.

Positive elements: The book is well-written. I loved that I didn't have any idea of how it was going to end. It's also perfectly clean.

Negative elements: The book's only downside was that it was a bit preachy. The author wanted kids to think about race and how it has played out in our country's past and how we need to view people of other races today as well. It's a good message, but the "teaching" was a bit unnatural in the story and dragged down the flow of the book.

Conclusion: I would recommend this fantasy book to any age. The characters are teenagers but adults could enjoy the easy-reading story as well. I always have a hard time with current fantasy books because I tend to compare them all to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and they all fail in that comparison.

I received this book for free from Tyndale and offer this review of my own opinions.

One Beautiful Dream

One Beautiful Dream *****
by Jennifer Fulwiler
Overview: What does it look like to balance motherhood and the things you are passionate about? Can it be done? It is even healthy to try? Should a mom's other interests be "put on hold" until her children are older or grown? These are some of the questions Fulwiler explores in this well-written, funny book.

She struggles through these questions as she embarks on her motherhood journey. She shares stories about their choice to practice Natural Family Planning, and the remarks she gets from doctors and strangers alike about her quickly growing family. 

She shares about struggles keeping up at home and debating hiring a babysitter only to have the first one be a critical, old woman who finally quit.

Fulwiler also takes you along on her journey to write and publish her first book.

Positive elements: Well-written, enjoyable to read.

Negative elements: none

Conclusion: I would recommend this book to any mom, religious or not. In the book, she speaks some of her conversion to the Catholic faith. However, the book doesn't talk much about religion so much as good morals and themes such as prioritizing family and finding contentment.

I think most moms at some level feel this tug-o-war between their personal passions and family. It would make a great book club discussion since each woman's life and calling is unique.

And lastly, the book really is funny. Her vivid writing put me with her in the store with all her little kids misbehaving and strangers criticizing. I had to laugh with her because it was all so terrible, and I'd felt it all before, too.

Included in Christ

Included in Christ: Living a New Story from Ephesians *****
by Heather Holleman

Overview: This is an eight-week Bible study on the book of Ephesians. Each week is broken up into five daily studies. Through the course of the study, Holleman focuses on six main words/ideas in Ephesians: chosen, seated, strengthened, renewed, filled, and proclaiming. 

Hollman is a professor and teaches classes on writing. In this study, she encourages people to write out their "Shadow Narrative." That's the internal "story" you tell yourself that's negative and comes out of past hurts, failures, etc. Then, she instructs on how to put down on paper your "Savior Story," which is what new work God has done or is currently doing in your life.

Positive elements: I enjoyed how each chapter has different kinds of questions to help the reader engage with the text of the Bible. The fifth day of each week is set aside for writing and reflecting.

Negative elements: none

Conclusion: If you love to write, you will enjoy this study. If you prefer to process your life and what you're learning in other ways, you probably won't like it. 

Honestly, I wasn't sure what I thought of the writing assignments at first, but I appreciate this quote from her explaining how this kind of writing can be helpful, but it's not what saves us. It's just a tool.

"Right thinking, positivity, and storytelling cannot forgive sin and lead you to eternity with God in heaven. Writing can heal some of the symptoms of our sin--our unhappiness, our disconnection from others, and our search for beauty in the midst of pain--but stories won't allow us to do what only the Holy Spirit can do. It is He who makes us alive in Christ and frees us from our enslavement to sin."

So, I appreciate how she is putting Jesus and the study of His word first. She is simply using the writing process to help us think through all we are learning.  Writing is a powerful tool...although I must admit there are days when I'd rather skip the hard work of sifting out my thoughts and getting them on paper.
 
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

The Road to Magnolia Glen

The Road to Magnolia Glen *****
by Pam Hillman

Overview: Three English sisters come to Natchez, Mississippi, in 1972, under the assumption that the oldest will marry through an arranged marriage. When they arrive, they realize that their relations have sold them into slavery at a brothel, not set-up a marriage. A local Irish man and his friends and family help to hide them and give them a safe but temporary place to go. Some how they must regain their freedom and begin new lives for themselves in America.

Positive elements: well-written story and clean. There are a couple kisses and some rather longing looks that are a bit cheesy...but otherwise a clean love story.

Negative elements: My only critism of the story is that it is pretty simplistic. It is one of those stories where you know from about page 1 what will happen and who will fall in love.

Conclusion: If you like easy going, historical love stories, this book is for you. I rarely read these because I don't like a book where I know how it is going to end. But every so often I try out a new contemporary author to see what kind of journey he or she can take me on.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. 

The Whipping Boy

The Whipping Boy *****
by Sid Fleischman

I liked the book because the adventure. The book is about a prince and his whipping boy who ran away. They get kidnapped by two men. And the prince and the whipping boy become friends in the end. 

I think kids 8 and up would like this book.

By Sophie Staples, 8

 

Family Under the Bridge

Family Under the Bridge *****

by Natalie Savage Carlson 

An old man and three children with their mother are looking for a house. The old man finds the children in a corner hiding from the police. I like the story because the old man learns to do some thing for somebody else. 

I think kids 8 and up would like this book

by Sophie Staples, 8