The Fantastic Four: First Steps is hardly the first time Marvel’s foremost family has been on the big screen. However, this movie marks their Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. And yet it’s set in a Jetsons-like parallel dimension with no Tony Stark, Spider-Man, or other Avengers they can call for hel
Jennifer A. Nielsen, acclaimed author of numerous middle school novels set in Europe during World War II—A Night Divided, Lines of Courage, Words on Fire, and more—explores a different setting in the same time period in this fictional story.On Aug. 21, 1939, British nationals 12-year-old Atlas Wade
Author Isaac Samuel Villegas is an ordained minister in the Mennonite Church USA and a community activist for immigrant justice in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C., and elsewhere. He was born in California to a Costa Rican mother and a Colombian father.Villegas experienced what it meant to live in a ra
For many people, vision can be the primary way of interacting with the world and others. But sight vision is different from revelatory vision. God sometimes opens our experiential vision to see things in a profoundly new way. As a leader serving at-risk youth, the author of Worth Seeing considers it
When Goat eavesdrops on a barnyard conversation between two chickens who are admiring a bull who has won a prize, he hears them say, “He’s the G.O.A.T. The Greatest Of All Time.” Goat is thrilled, thinking they are talking about him.Instantly, Goat imagines himself as the greatest animal in a parade
What happens when an aging sea captain ought not stay alone anymore? What can an adult daughter do? Grace (Catherine Walker) faces this predicament and hires Annie (Bríd Brennan), a gentle soul to care for mammoth Howard (James Cosmo).Howard speaks not one word to her until Annie has set a fine meal
Tamara Rosier, an ADHD coach living in Grand Rapids, Mich., has written an essential guide for living in a family with neurological differences, a challenge facing countless families of all shapes and sizes.It’s because ADD and ADHD do not just influence the person whose brain is wired differently,
No Other Land is a documentary that was created through the unusual and tenuous friendship between a Palestinian and an Israeli. It received the 2025 Oscar Academy Award for Best Documentary.Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, lives in Masafer Yatta, a community in the occupied West Bank. Yuval Abra
This nonfiction picture book effectively combines sparse text, vibrant and detailed artwork, and in-depth endnotes to create a welcome mat for young children to explore and learn about amazing parks from around the world. They will learn that parks offer numerous contrasts: big and small, quiet and
In this whimsically illustrated and delightfully narrated chapter book for children ages 5 to 11, Lily and the Lemur engage with the Lamb King, who invites them to play in a marvelous playground replete with strange creatures and enchanting happenings. In 12 episodes, Lily and the Lemur get to know
After searching for over a week in 1985, underwater explorer Robert Ballard followed a trail of debris and eventually located some twisted and jumbled steel resting on the ocean floor. Waiting until he identified a large steam boiler, Ballard was confident when he announced to the world that he had
Jason Gray’s singing career spans 19 years with Centricity Music, and the Minnesota native’s songs have featured various hits over those years. Gray reworks 12 favorite songs in his latest recording, Greatest Hits (Acoustic). “Though the album is acoustic, we wanted it to feel full—rhythm, low end,
This winsome picture book by renowned Christian author Glenys Nellist is based on 2 Thessalonians 3:16: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”Rhyming verses and charming illustrations of animals and nature meld in this gentle in
Siblings Luke (John Krasinski) and Charlotte Purdue (Natalie Portman) haven’t spoken since the death of their father, who was something of an unorthodox archeologist. And since we’re introduced to Luke as he’s running through Bangkok after stealing a piece of art, the rock obviously didn’t roll far
In 1774, 26-year-old Juliet Catesby and her younger sister Loveday assist their father in managing Royal Vale, the plantation founded by their ancestors more than a century before along the James River in Virginia.Recently widowed, Juliet’s father is concerned about his two daughters’ lack of marria
Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl has touched millions of people in myriad countries as it poignantly recalls her life in hiding in occupied Holland under the Nazis’ reign of terror. Passionate, justice-seeking, and imaginative, the Anne who readers meet in the diary is a girl who longs for lov
Born in 1891 in Stuttgart, Germany, to a Jewish family, Jella Lepman grew up in a cultured atmosphere, receiving an excellent education in French, English, and music. Though she hoped to pursue a career as a concert pianist, her father forbade it. Expected to obey his orders, Jella pursued her other
Plot twists. Parallel universes. The weight of moral choices in the world of science. The rare mash-up of crime drama plus science fiction makes Fringe a worthy binge.FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) begins to collect the missing puzzle pieces of her childhood the day she enlists Peter Bishop (Jo
Robin Jones Gunn is a prolific and award-winning author of Christian fiction and, obviously, a seasoned traveler. Her newest, Tea with Elephants, is the first in her Suitcase Sisters series and features Fern and Lily, long-time best friends.The pair met at summer camp several decades ago when the dr
Matlock Anchors a TV Preview for FallA cozy courtroom procedural with loads of humor and charm, and starring Kathy Bates? I’m all in. Add intergenerational dynamics and an underpinning quest for goodness and justice, and you have a show well worth watching. Millions of viewers and critics agree—Matl