The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People
By Matthew J. Tuininga
Reviewed by Aaron Vriesman
History is a complicated mess of noble intentions and selfish ambition. In The Wars of the Lord, Calvin Seminary professor Matthew Tuininga outlines what happened between 1620 and 1676 as Puritans settled in New England and interacted with various Native American peoples. The book is a vast historical landscape of people and events where intentions of following the Bible mix with terrible flaws and catastrophic results.
Tuininga focuses on the facts with minimal commentary. The book is divided into three sections: the Puritans arriving in New England and settling, the missionary efforts by the Puritans to convert Native American people to Christianity, and the eventual all-out war between the settlers and the Indigenous groups who already lived in New England.
This book is essential reading both for fans of American history and for students of Christian history. (Oxford University Press)
The Traveler’s Path
By Douglas Brouwer
Reviewed by Robert J. Keeley
Douglas Brouwer caught the travel bug early. For Brouwer, though, travel was much more than simply checking off locations on a bucket list. He understands that travel can broaden one’s experiences and help people reflect on their lives.
Part memoir, part travel diary, and part reflection on faith and the impact of journey on our lives, The Traveler’s Path invites us to join Brouwer, a Presbyterian pastor, on many of his journeys, including touring the Holy Land, walking the Camino de Santiago, pastoring in Switzerland and again in his ancestral home of the Netherlands, and eventually settling back home in Michigan.
Rich in anecdotes and honest reflection, The Traveler’s Path is an enjoyable book that may encourage you to think more deeply the next time you head out the door. (Reformed Journal Books)
Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age
By Richard Beck
Reviewed by Sam Gutierrez
Five hundred years ago, Richard Beck argues, the world was enchanted. Before the Protestant Reformation and the beginning of the Enlightenment, “God existed, and the devil was real. The world teemed with angels and demons.” Slowly, in the centuries since, the world has become secular, skeptical, and scientific.
The good news is that many of us are becoming skeptical of our skepticism and doubtful of our doubts. This is the first step toward discovering a renewed sense of wonder as we perceive God’s holiness shimmering through the created order.
Always aware that “enchantment” sometimes takes the shape of New Age spirituality or an individualized spiritual smorgasbord, Beck reminds us that “God’s love is our North Star. The cross is always our compass.” (Broadleaf Books)
Louder Than the Lies: Asian American Identity, Solidarity, and Self-Love
By Ellie Yang Camp
Reviewed by Daniel Jung
Ellie Yang Camp’s book helps Asian Americans continue to define and redefine their identity as they see fit.
Born to Taiwanese immigrant parents in Northern California’s Bay Area, Camp weaves personal narratives with historical commentary. She invites Asian American readers into an imaginative space to reflect on the status of their identity.
Louder Than the Lies adds nuance and insight to the identity conversation, in part by thinking about the term “Asian American” itself. She writes, “We needed something to bind us together in order to advocate for our common political needs as a racial group. Thus the term Asian American was born. To have the boldness to define and advocate for ourselves, rather than to be labeled by those in power, was and is still a radical act of liberation.” (Heydey Books)
Cory and the Seventh Story
By Brian McLaren and Gareth Higgins
Reviewed by Mary Li Ma
When conflicts happen in communities, what can be done to restore peace? This children’s book tells how Cory the raccoon and his best friends try to restore peace to their village by using the power of storytelling.
It all starts when Badger steals Fox’s bike and Fox responds by mobilizing a group of animals to threaten Badger. Even though the bike is later returned, animals become hostile toward each other.
Cory and his best friend, Owl, realize their village is in deep trouble. They meet a traveling horse who is also a wise poet with well-chosen words. “Maybe you are the ones to change the story of your village,” the horse says. They then create a story that does not turn neighbors against each other—a story of compassion, peace, and love. (Convergent)
When Alexander Graced the Table
By Alexander Smalls and Denene Millner, illustrated by Frank Morrison
Reviewed by Amie Spriensma
A native of South Carolina, Alexander Smalls is a successful cookbook author, chef, and restaurant owner. This children’s book is based on a true story from Smalls’ boyhood and reminds readers that successful older people often begin honing their skills and talents as inexperienced young people.
Multigenerational family togetherness features prominently as Smalls and Millner use word pictures to describe why Sunday dinners were Smalls’ favorite events as a child. The book touches on important family dynamics, including the guidance and encouragement of a mother and the helpfulness of a grandfather.
The illustrations are beautifully rendered and invite the reader right into the story. The book can stir meaningful conversations between children and adults as they discuss favorite foods, family events, hobbies, gifts, and blessing others. (Simon &Schuster)
All the Colors of the Dark
By Chris Whitaker
Reviewed by Cynthia Beach
A compelling writing style and a compelling premise make Chris Whitaker’s newest thriller, All the Colors of the Dark, a satisfying mental adventure.
Whitaker’s first paragraph whisks us into the point of view of a kid named Patch, who believes, as he overlooks the St. Francois Mountains in Missouri, that there’s a brighter world awaiting. How nice. But Patch is also dying, we quickly learn.
Then we read the backstory, which grows out of a loving and true alliance of Saint and Patch, two outcasts. Saint won’t quit Patch, and Patch won’t quit Grace, the girl who takes care of him after a catastrophe.
I read Whitaker slowly because his wordsmithing is fine and intense. All the Colors of the Dark spans 588 pages held together through the decades with a bit of transcendence often showing. (Crown Publishing)
Between the Sound and Sea
By Amanda Cox
Reviewed by Sonya VanderVeen Feddema
When Joey learns of a short-term employment opportunity to restore a decommissioned lighthouse on fictional Bleakpoint Island off the North Carolina coast, she decides to apply. When she wins the contract and begins work on the lighthouse, she learns about the legends and ghost tales surrounding the island’s history.
The notes Joey finds hidden in the lighthouse’s walls reveal stories of a lighthouse keeper and his daughter who lived on the island during World War II, when German U-boats torpedoed hundreds of Allied freighters along the Eastern Seaboard.
Author Amanda Cox explores themes of living with regrets, choosing to forgive others and oneself, and discovering the hope of God’s redeeming work in people’s lives. (Revell)
When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary
By Alice Hoffman
Reviewed by Sonya VanderVeen Feddema
Author Alice Hoffman employs historical research and the imaginative language of fairy tales and myths to explore Anne Frank’s life from the time the Nazis invaded Holland until she and her family were forced into hiding.
Published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, this novel for children ages 11 and older presents an age-appropriate window into the evils and terrors of war. When We Flew Away laments all that Frank and millions of others lost and explores the role of hope, bravery, and love in extremely dire circumstances. This novel is an excellent contribution to the vast number of books written about World War II and leaves readers with the challenge to remember Frank and the millions of others who lost their lives in the Nazi death camps. (Scholastic Press)
The Soldier’s Friend: Walt Whitman’s Extraordinary Service in the American Civil War
By Gary Golio, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Reviewed by Sonya VanderVeen Feddema
In December 1862, Walt Whitman left his home in Brooklyn, New York, and went in search of his injured brother, a Union soldier fighting in the South in the Civil War. Nothing could have prepared Whitman for the devastation of human life and property he witnessed by the time he found his brother in a hospital camp in Virginia.
Exquisitely illustrated by renowned artist E.B. Lewis, The Soldier’s Friend is a testimony to the impact that sacrificial love and compassion can have during tumultuous times. Though recommended for children ages 7 to 10, the book is better suited to ages 10 and older because of its depiction of the destruction caused by war. (Calkins Creek)
Tea with Elephants
By Robin Jones Gunn
Reviewed by Ann Byle
Robin Jones Gunn’s Tea with Elephants is the first in her Suitcase Sisters series and features longtime best friends Fern and Lily.
The friends are taking advantage of a free trip to Kenya, where they go on safari, experience a new culture, and spend lots of time thinking through where they’ve been and where they want to go. The vistas and mysteries of Kenya are on full display thanks to Gunn’s beautiful descriptions, and the animals the travelers meet are almost like characters in the book.
Lily and Fern, who love God and each other first, listen to each other second, and advise each other third, help each other process their lives and see what the future could hold. This is a beautiful novel of friendship, as well as a lovely homage to Kenya. (Revell)
Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives
By Mitali Perkins
Reviewed by Ann Byle
Mitali Perkins asks the age-old question: How can we take time to create art when there is so much injustice in the world?
Perkins weaves her own story and the stories of other creatives throughout the book for a personal and life-giving tool to help think about our own creative process.
She then notes what often stops us from making our art—a brutal market and our internal voices—before offering ten practices to help creatives stay on the making journey.
Creatives will find much to consider as they work toward justice with their making while also finding concrete and useful tools to incorporate into their creative work and lives. While the book isn’t overtly faith-based, creators of faith will see the divine Creator in all of the messages here. Justice and shalom come straight from God. (Broadleaf)