Author Archives: Kasey

About Kasey

Reads things. Writes things. Fluent in sarcasm. Willful optimist. Cat companion, chocolate connoisseur, coffee drinker. There are some who call me Mom.

Standing in the Gap: Ministry Offers Hope out of Crumbling School System

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From Planting Churches to Cultivating Schools

More than 35 years ago, Steve Phillips and his wife Colleen moved across the globe to Chile to follow the call of ministry and leadership and plant Christian churches. Ministering to families through opening a school wasn’t something the family had really considered.

But as their own children reached school-age, Steve and Colleen began to worry about their own educational opportunities.

“In 1982, after having made Chile our home for five years, our two boys were beginning their school experience… At that time, only a handful of Christian schools existed, all private and expensive—out of our financial and geographical range,” says Steve Phillips of Christian World Mission, administrator over ten Christian schools in Chile. “Even though I have a degree in Christian Education, our original commitment was to plant churches. God had granted amazing growth in just a few years. But we began to … Continue reading →

Review: The Harder the Fall by Lauren Barnholdt

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The Harder the Fall (Girl Meets Ghost #2)
Lauren Barnholdt
Aladdin/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
Published September 3, 2013

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Twelve year-old Kendall has a small problem: she sees ghosts, and she can’t tell anyone. Especially Brandon, whose mother has not only been haunting Kendall, but who begins pulling some creepy stunts in an effort to keep Kendall away from her son. So, there’s that. Kendall is also haunted by a girl named Lyra with an attitude whose flaky mom and flirtatious brother have opened a nail salon. Kendall and her bestie endure horrible manicures more than once while Kendall attempts to gather info on Lyra’s death so she can find out how … Continue reading →

Review: The Four Seasons of Patrick by Susan Hughes

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The Four Seasons of Patrick
Susan Hughes
Red Deer Press
Published March 15, 2014

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Nine year-old Patrick faces troubling changes in his home. Since his mom’s death, Patrick, his brother Trevor and his dad have been on their own. But now Dad’s friend Linda and her pesky daughter Claire keep coming to visit. Worse still, Patrick learns that Dad is going to marry Linda, and she and Claire are moving into the house with Patrick.

Frustrated and unsure, Patrick retreats, spending time away from the family with his best friend. Together they build a treehouse, a safe place to hide away from Claire the pest. But before long, Patrick suspects that Claire isn’t … Continue reading →

Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye J Walton

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The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye WaltonThe Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Leslye J. Walton
Candlewick Press
Published March 27, 2014

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Ava Lavender comes from a long line of peculiarly gifted women who’ve been unlucky in love. She relates her family history beginning with her great-grandparents and their journey from France to the United States in the early 1900s. Ava’s grandmother is the surviving member of her small family by the time she marries. Desperate to escape the bitter memories of her lost loved ones, Emiliene and her husband head west, finally settling in a small Washington town. Emiliene bears one child, Ava’s mother, before her husband dies. Each member of Emiliene’s family bears … Continue reading →

Review: Legend by Marie Lu

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Legend by Marie Lu cover shows a gold seal with a star and three stripes on either side of it like wings above a circle with three bars across its center and an "R" in the middle.

Legend (Legend #1)
Marie Lu
G. P. Putnam’s Sons / Penguin Group
Published November 29, 2011

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About Legend

Fifteen year-old Day’s life as a fugitive becomes complicated when his younger brother is diagnosed with a deadly plague. Instead of petty pranks for cash, he must use his skills as a thief to secure the heavily guarded, highly expensive cure that will save his brother’s life.

When word of her brother’s … Continue reading →

Review: Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

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Shadow HandShadow Hand
Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Bethany House
Published March 4, 2014

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Prince Foxbrush of the Southlands is devastated when he learns that his bride-to-be has fled the castle on the very day they were to wed. Lady Daylily was last seen walking toward the Wood Between, descending into a dangerous gorge into which few enter and none return. Provoked by his cousin Lionheart, whom Daylily once loved, Foxbrush charges into the woods after his lost love, determined to rescue her from whatever peril may befall her.

But Daylily is no helpless princess in distress. She carries a powerful force inside her that may prove the worst enemy her people have ever faced, … Continue reading →