Colleen Chao wrote this insightful book about heaven after being diagnosed with incurable cancer and wrestling with questions she had about life after death. She’s not afraid to meet Jesus, but her perspective shifted when faced with the prospect of leaving her earthly body and home behind forever.I
In the rom-com Solo Mio, Matt Taylor (Kevin James of The King of Queens fame) plans a special wedding for himself and his fiancée Heather (Julie Ann Emery) in Rome, Italy. The problem: Heather never appears for the ceremony but leaves her dressing room for parts unknown. When Matt goes looking for h
Journalist Ross Halperin’s profound critique, fast-paced storytelling, and detailed reporting narrate the story of American sociologist Kurt Ver Beek and Honduran teacher Carlos Hernandez against the violent history, politics, systemic injustice, and poverty of Honduras, infamous as “one of the most
T.I. Lowe isn’t shy about addressing difficult topics in her engaging novels, with her latest no exception. South of Somewhere is a story of second chances, addiction, recovery, and renewed hope, all told in Lowe’s signature southern voice.Juniper (Junie) Wilder retreats to her beloved grandmother’s
Chichi and Didi Love Their Names is based on Nigerian American sisters Peace Amadi’s and Ndidi Amadi’s lives. It relates a story common to newcomer, refugee, and immigrant children as they assimilate into unfamiliar communities.Chichi and Didi are looking forward to attending their first day at a ne
The novella Small Things Like These gave Irish author Claire Keegan international name recognition. So, a 2022 award-winning film, based on her short story “Foster,” is now getting noticed, too.It should. The Quiet Girl is a spellbinding, heart-aching tale of 9-year-old Cáit who is lifted out of neg
Many children’s picture books have been written about the enslavement of Africans in the context of the history of the United States. Numerous accounts speak of the brutality meted out on slaves by their owners, the escape of enslaved people to the North, and the role the Underground Railroad played
Don’t forget Ukraine.Four years ago today, on Feb. 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine, causing an estimated 15,000 civilian deaths over that time and maiming and traumatizing untold other human beings.This invasion was and is more than abstract to me. My dad was born in Zagradovka, a Mennonite
In the fall of 1944, 22-year-old Ada, her 18-year-old sister Lina, and their father struggle to survive in Holland under the occupation of the Nazis and the intensifying food crisis caused by nutritional resources being redirected away from the nation’s citizens and sent to Germany or used to sustai
“The Lord’s Prayer” documentary discusses this well-known prayer, with various scholars weighing in on the different sections of the prayer Jesus gave to the disciples and recorded for all believers.Part of the film’s synopsis states, “Through captivating visuals, exceptional scholarship, and powerf
Renowned illustrator E. B. Lewis has illustrated over 70 books for children and won numerous awards, including a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and five Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors. Sparrow is another stellar addition to his life’s work and an apt complement to author Mary Tebo’s spa
Perhaps it sounds weird to say I was captivated by this grief memoir, but I am deeply appreciative of Amber Smith’s perspective. Smith does not sugarcoat things as she shares her journey with heartache; she shares her experiences with the reader: real and honest, devastating and raw. Her tender acco
The Gift of Freedom was inspired by author Glenette Tilley Turner’s interview with Alice Brickler, the last living relative of Harriet Tubman to have had personal interactions with the renowned Underground Railroad conductor. When Brickler shared the story of Harriet’s 1854 Christmas Day rescue of h
Train Dreams. Something about this fictional story beckoned. Was that because it was set in the 20th-century logging era? Or was it that Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, and William H. Macy were in it? I could hardly tell. But soon my husband, Dave, and I were watching a tender and artful movie with a
In this book of Lenten devotions beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding on the Saturday of Easter week, readers have the unique daily opportunity to listen to and engage in Gregorian chant by scanning a QR code along with meditating on a written devotion pertaining to the featured chant.In introd
In the past decade or so, there has been a good, healthy shift in the way we do mission work. North Americans going on mission trips used to go with a view to rescue and save the people they were serving. Now, many groups and individuals have a posture of listening and learning. In People Are the We
When author Jasmine Holmes was growing up, she had two Christian heroes: Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author of The Hiding Place who helped many Jews hide from the Nazis, and Mary Slessor, Scottish missionary to Nigeria. In her introduction, Holmes writes, “Their strong and fearless faith shaped my own fr
Canada native Dan Bremnes provides a deep, personal look into his life with the 15-track record, Hero &The Villain. “I was trying to put into words what I was wrestling with,” said Bremnes in a release. “The feeling that there were two sides of my own character that were at war. It felt like I was l
In the introduction to her insightful, unique collection of 40 devotions that are appropriate for the Lenten journey, author Mary DeMuth explains why surrendering to God is an essential spiritual practice: “Spiritual growth happens after reflecting, considering the sacrifice of Jesus, and preparing
Dorothy Littell Greco defines misogyny this way in her new book: “the persistent, insidious belief that men’s ideas, wants, needs, and experiences are more important than women’s and that political, religious, and social systems, as well as intimate relationships, should uphold this principle.”She a