Review: Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan

Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan

Three Summers: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Summer Crushes, and Growing Up on the Eve of War
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan
Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Published April 9, 2024

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About Three Summers

An epic middle-grade memoir about sisterhood and coming-of-age in the three years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide.

Three Summers is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia. They navigate the joys and pitfalls of adolescence on their family’s little island in the middle of the Una … Continue reading

Review: Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc cover shows a forest of leaves with a cabin poking through. A disembodied ear, hand, and a crutch sit on top of the leaves.

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space
Amanda Leduc
Coach House Books
Published March 3, 2020

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About Disfigured

In fairy tales, happy endings are the norm—as long as you’re beautiful and walk on two legs. After all, the ogre never gets the princess. And since fairy tales are the foundational myths of our culture, how can a girl with a disability ever think she’ll have a happy ending?

By examining … Continue reading

Review: Marked Man by John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro

Marked Man by John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro

Marked Man
John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro
Roaring Brook Press
Published March 19, 2024

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About Marked Man

1971. Brooklyn, New York. Undercover cop Frank Serpico is knocking on a drug dealer’s door. His partners are there to back him up, but when the door opens, he’s staring down the barrel of a gun―and his partners are nowhere to be found.

For more than a century, the New York Police Department had been plagued by corruption, with cops openly taking bribes from gamblers and drug dealers. Not Serpico. He refused to take dirty money and fought to shed … Continue reading

Review: Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff

Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Humans
Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD
Avid Reader Press
Published March 2, 2021

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About Hunt, Gather, Parent

When Dr. Michaeleen Doucleff becomes a mother, she examines the studies behind modern parenting guidance and finds the evidence frustratingly limited and the conclusions often ineffective. Curious to learn about more effective parenting approaches, she visits a Maya village in the Yucatán Peninsula. There she encounters moms and dads who parent in a totally different way than we do—and raise extraordinarily kind, generous, and helpful children without yelling, nagging, or issuing timeouts. What else, Doucleff wonders, are … Continue reading

Review: Sick!: The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs by Heather L. Montgomery and Lindsey Leigh

Sick!: The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs by Heather L. Montgomery

Sick!: The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs
Heather L. Montgomery
Illustrated by Lindsey Leigh
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published February 20, 2024

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About Sick!

When a super sickness lands on the land, when a parasite becomes more than a pest, when an infection ignites an epidemic, what’s a body to do? Your body is an animal body, so why not ask the animals?

Follow the scientists, around the world and into their labs, who are studying animals and the germs that attack them. From fungus-ridden frogs with fevers to bacteria-resistant buzzards and everything in-between, animals have A … Continue reading

Review: Holy Care for the Whole Self by Laura L. Smith

Holy Care for the Whole Self by Laura L. Smith

Holy Care for the Whole Self
Laura L. Smith
Our Daily Bread Publishing
February 6, 2024

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About Holy Care for the Whole Self: Biblical Wisdom for Mental and Spiritual Well-Being

Learn how to have a healthy mind and spirit with a biblical approach. Whether you’re carrying emotional wounds from childhood or suffering from daily anxiety, depression, or intrusive thoughts, none of these are God’s intention for you. He lovingly knit you together in your mother’s womb and calls you to a life of abundance. He offers healing and freedom from these feelings of despair, and Laura L. … Continue reading