Unbreakable is the somber account of author Minoru Tonai’s (1929-2023) experience as a Japanese American boy imprisoned with his family in an American incarceration camp after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.In a coauthor note, Jolene Gutierrez writes, “My friend Minor
George Clooney’s latest movie, Jay Kelly, brings two potent words to mind: “Richard Cory.” The latter was a 20th-century poem—and later a Simon &Garfunkel song—that helped poet E.A. Robinson secure a Pulitzer Prize.“Richard Cory” rocked notions of what celebrity power gave celebrities. Richard Cory
Colossians 3:23 might just be the most well-known Bible verse about a Christian view of work. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” the NIV translation says. Elaine Howard Ecklund, a sociology professor at Rice University, and Denise Danie
It’s three characters that have made Martin Short my all-time favorite comic actor: SNL’s Ed Grimley, the zany, triangle-playing man-child with gelled hair and pants pulled up to his thorax; Franck Eggelhoffer, the fussy, weirdly accented wedding planner in the Father of the Bride series of movies;
In 40 devotions, author Donna Barber vulnerably and honestly relates anecdotes about her walk with God and describes some of the wilderness happenings she and her family navigated with the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance. Recalling the biblical wilderness experiences of the Israelites, Jesus, and o
In this poignant, wistful children’s picture book based on her childhood experiences, author Julie Leung relates the story of a young girl and her dad who deliver take-out meals prepared in their Chinese restaurant. As the dad drives, the girl navigates, a foldout map and a notebook of addresses to
A few weeks ago, I attended a writer’s conference in which the stakes were high. Or at least, that was my focus as I thought about what I hoped to accomplish while I was there. On several levels, I was pitching myself and my work in the hopes of getting a new book published and hopefully finding a n
Author Barbara Schultze’s debut novel is remarkably authentic, peppered with surprises, and interspersed with subtle biblical signposts.It gently portrays how personal adversity, often initially negatively perceived and received, might just be an individual’s pathway to spiritual and emotional growt
Singer-songwriter Meredith Andrews offers a powerful recording, Live from Liberty University (with Liberty Worship Collective), that contains seven anthems centered on the cross. The Liberty alum sings cover songs, such as “What He’s Done” and Charity Gayle’s “Thank You for the Blood.” She adds two
Author Kristen Lee invites readers into her painful, yet eventually healing, spiritual journey by drawing on the metaphor of the Japanese art of kintsugi. She writes, “Kintsugi holds deep theological truths for us. It is an image through which we can bring Asian American theology to the greater chur
South of Somewhere: A NovelBy T.I. LoweReviewed by Ann ByleJuniper (Junie) Wilder retreats to her beloved grandmother’s beach-front home on Sullivan’s Island, S.C., after time in jail and rehab. Grief at losing her husband and then her grandmother spiraled into a drunk driving charge and the hardest
Young Midori is excited as she tugs at Jichan—her grandfather—and pulls him toward the peach orchard, asking, “Is it ready yet?” Jichan hands Midori a peach and asks her what she hears when she bites into it. Crunch! The peach is hard and inedible.Midori is impatient, wondering when the peaches will
Christian author Mitali Perkins is renowned for her middle school and young adult novels, such as Bamboo People and You Bring the Distant Near, as well as her children’s picture books—Holy Night and Little Star: A Story for Christmas, Bare Tree and Little Wind: A Story for Holy Week, and more.In thi
If you loved The Devil Wears Prada, you will probably relish the sequel, if only to be reunited with the Fab Four from the first movie: Miranda, Andy, Emily, and Nigel—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci.It’s great fun to catch up with their characters 20 years after we left
In this charming, rhyming picture book, author Hosanna Wong invites children to understand what God says about them and the names he calls them: “No matter where you choose to go, / the people you meet, or the things you do, / it’s important that you always know / the wonderful things God says about
To Olivia is a difficult grief story of a couple who has lost a beloved child. An additional layer to the story is just who this married pair happens to be: the famous author Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal, whose fragilities and failures make the story painful and true.The movie’s artful filmi
Written in free verse and based on her Hmong family’s escape from Laos in May 1975 when the country fell to a communist regime, author V. T. Bidania relates the narrative from the perspective of her oldest sister, Gao Sheng, who was 11 years old at the time. Bidania herself was a few months old as t
In his detailed, scholarly exploration of Jesus’ ascension into heaven, author and theologian Ross Hastings points out the need for such a study, given, what he claims, is “the relative infrequence of reference to ascension in the academy and the pulpit.” However, the dearth of attention focused on
Based on author Rachel Joy Welcher’s experiences, this gentle, compassionate picture book assures children (and adults) that God never leaves them so they don’t need to be anxious. As a child, Welcher was afraid of the dark and, when she woke up in the night, her fears overwhelmed her. When her pare
Note: The Banner has a subscription to republish articles from Religion News Service. This interview by Kathryn Post was published on March 27, 2026, on religionnews.com. It has been edited for length and Banner style.(RNS) — Seven years after first airing, the mega-hit biographical Jesus drama The