Department: Author: Jenny deGrootBig Breath In is George Keulen’s memoir about his breath-compromised life. Keulen was born with cystic fibrosis, a condition that was diagnosed when he was just 3 days old. CF is a genetic illness that affects most of the body’s organs but has the most damaging effe
Department: Author: Daniel JungI can imagine the pitch to Netflix executives for Murderville, a six-episode, part-scripted-part-improv murder mystery comedy, went something like this: “Think Saturday Night Live meets Law and Order meets Whose Line is it Anyway?”(Note: the show was adapted from the
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaIn Freewater, author Amina Luqman-Dawson introduces middle school readers to the existence of maroon communities, runaway slave communities in remote areas. In an author’s note, she writes, “Enslaved women, men, and children found a multitude of ways big
Department: Author: Mary Li MaNick wears blue glasses to school. He is worried that other kids might not like his look. On the way to school, a classmate who wears new braces comments that Nick’s glasses look cool. This makes Nick wonder if “maybe being different isn’t so bad.” He looks around and
Department: Author: Sam GutierrezIf you ask an 8-year-old today what they want to be when they grow up, they might answer, “a YouTube Star.” If you asked an 8-year-old the same question 35 years ago, they might have responded, “an astronaut!”In the 1980s and ’90s, the space program loomed large in
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaKate Bowler, renowned author of Everything Happens for a Reason and No Cure for Being Human, joins forces with Jessica Richie, executive director of the Everything Happens Initiative, to offer readers 40 devotions that explore the stress, anxiety, and hea
Department: Author: Jenny deGrootHow to Heal Our Divides is a timely handbook speaking a word of hope into a tumultuous time. The ‘divide’ has only been exacerbated in recent years by political polarities, the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice movements, issues of gender justice, and more. Sadly,
Department: Author: Paul DelgerCanadian Jon Buller graces the music world again with his first full-length record since 2009, “Come Awake.” The executive director of Hear the Music Ministries offers two original songs, “Blessed” and “Thankful,” plus other popular worship songs including, “Goodness
Department: Author: Jordan Petersen KampThe last time we heard from indie-rock megastars Arcade Fire, something felt off. After capturing the hearts and minds of a generation of indie-rock fans with art-student eccentricity, millennial malaise, and festival-sized ambition on records like 2004’s Fun
Department: Author: Agnes MastinNicola I. Campbell’s Stand Like a Cedar is a delightful literary piece for 2- to 5-year-olds. Set in traditional Coast Salish territory, this story opens the door for children of all ethnicities to glimpse a traditional Indigenous lifestyle. Campbell uses her storyte
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaYoung children are introduced to the nature of prayer in this children’s picture book, which spans the biblical narrative from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and their fall into sin; to the exodus of Israel from Egypt; to Samuel, Jonah, and Nehemiah;
Department: Author: Lorilee CrakerNow this—Top Gun: Maverick—is why people should see movies in theaters. Or at least they should see this particular movie in a theater, if at all possible. Why? Because you feel as if you are flying in an F-13 or an F-25, swooping through the air at top speed (even
Department: Author: Andrew ZwartJohn McWhorter’s new book, Woke Racism, has in mind a particular audience. While most nonfiction available at your local bookstore targets the general reader, this examination of racial attitudes explicitly spells out who his book is for: “I want to reach those on th
Department: Author: Lorilee CrakerWhen this book was chosen by my book club, comprised mostly of middle-aged women like myself, I thought I would learn how to get more sleep. But despite the title, it’s really not about sleep at all. Here, lack of sleep is one symptom among many experienced by Gene
Department: Author: Paul DelgerStars Go Dim’s Chris Cleveland offers listeners an encouraging dose of God’s faithfulness in his third studio album, Grace in the Wilderness. Cleveland co-wrote all 13 tracks, and the music features a good balance of soft and up-tempo pop. “This is Love” earned Clevel
Department: Author: Kristyn DeNooyerIn a world wrought with abuse—inside and outside of the church—can physical touch be redeemed? Is there room for healthy, platonic touch? What does the life of Jesus communicate about touch and human intimacy? Lore Ferguson Wilbert offers gentle and articulate re
Department: Author: Patrick HaywoodMany movies find their specific niche, a brand they can associate themselves with in a confined and concise way. For some, that is the arthouse indie route. Then there is the ‘marketable’ route, in which there is an arguably overstuffed amount of crowd-pleasing ac
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaIn 2016, author Dan McKernan, star of the Animal Planet series Saved by the Barn, took over his family’s 140-year-old farm in Chelsea, Mich. He transformed it into a sanctuary for farm animals that had experienced abuse and neglect. Now Barn Sanctuary, as
Department: Author: Sonya VanderVeen FeddemaIllustrator Catherine Odell’s stunning watercolor paintings and author Angela Burke Kunkel’s sparse, rhyming text combine to relate and celebrate the extraordinary journey of emperor penguins. In an author’s note, readers learn that “Emperor penguins are
Department: Author: Jordan Petersen KampThe distance between rapper Kendrick Lamar and his previous album is five years, as many Grammys, an Academy Award-nominated soundtrack for the gargantuan Marvel Cinematic Universe, college courses based on his work, several biographies, and, oh, a Pulitzer p