Category Archives: Spirituality

Review: Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen

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Twi Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen

Two Tribes
Emily Bowen Cohen
Heartdrum
Published August 15, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Two Tribes

In her poignant debut graphic novel inspired by her own life, Emily Bowen Cohen embraces the complexity, meaning, and deep love that comes from being part of two vibrant tribes. Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn’t want to talk about him, but Mia can’t help but feel like she’s missing a part of herself without him in her life.

Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma—without telling her mom—to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side. This graphic novel by Muscogee-Jewish writer and artist Emily Bowen Cohen is perfect for fans of American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. It is published by Heartdrum, an imprint that centers stories about contemporary Indigenous young people.

My Review

This is one of those books where I have to separate my feelings as a divorced parent from my thoughts about a kid reading this book. It was so easy to identify with Mia’s mom’s struggle with her relationship with her dad. Kids have a right to have relationship with both parents, but it can be really tricky to figure out how to do that safely. And to figure out the difference between safe for your kid and comfortable for you as the other parent. (Because there can be a huge difference.)

Mia’s mom definitely doesn’t do everything right (which she acknowledges). Her dad also has some mistakes to own up for. I liked how both parents are portrayed as imperfect and still learning. That’s pretty real, too.

Mia’s experiences also resonate as realistic. Her hunger to know both parts of her family history is palpable. As she’s able to fill in some of the gaps in her history and culture, she blossoms. It bolsters her confidence. I love that we can see the impact of both cultures on her life.

This book has been on my reading list for a while, but it wasn’t until I spotted it on the shelf at the library that I realized it was a graphic novel. I love seeing a story about Jewish and Muscogee heritage in graphic novel format. If you enjoy stories about family connections and culture, definitely pick this one up.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Mentions of Jewish holidays and traditions. Mia attends a powwow with her family. Mentions of Muscogee traditions and spiritual practices and beliefs. Mia’s cousin shares a Muscogee creation story with her. Mia studies Torah with the rabbi, learning about Jonah. Mia’s dad attends church.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my local public library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Brave Woman, Mighty God by Laura L. Smith

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Brave Woman, Mighty God
Laura L. Smith
Kregel Publishing
Published March 11, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Brave Woman, Mighty God

Find strength, hope, and resilience through God’s mighty empowerment.
You can use your gifts, say yes, be the change, stand up for what’s right, share what you have, break bad cycles, reach out for support, speak up, and so much more.
You can… because God empowers, equips, and cheers you on in everything you’re facing today, tomorrow, and every day.

In Brave Woman, Mighty God, Laura L. Smith reminds us of the steadfast love of God–of how He equips and empowers us. Through reflections on thirty resilient women in the Bible, such as Sarah, Ruth, Abigail, Elizabeth, and Priscilla–women in the middle of their own trials, falsely accused, in tumultuous relationships, in danger, burdened by responsibilities, balancing work and family–you can witness God’s faithfulness in the ways He empowered them to do mighty things. God gives this same strength, wisdom, and courage He gave these women of the Bible, to you. Fully empowered by Jesus you can step into abundantly more than you ever hoped or imagined. You can be brave and do mighty things!

“Every woman needs this book! The women in every chapter face impossible situations–but with the God who makes all things possible.”
–Amy Seiffert, author of Grace Looks Amazing on You, Starved, and Your Name is Daughter

“As we seek to develop courage and live as the daughters of God He has called us to be, we all need this message!” –Rebecca George, author of Do the Thing and host of the Radical Radiance podcast

My Review

A couple of years ago, I read a book with a similar theme aimed at girls twelve and up, but that one left me with some kind of icky feelings due to how it ignored problematic content in some of the stories. I have been a long-time reader of Laura L. Smith’s work, though, and if I was ever going to read a book about women’s stories and God’s love and value in women, I felt confident that she’d deliver a frank, loving, and nuanced book on these themes.

And… I was right!

I really appreciated the way that she acknowledged the harm done to women like Hagar and spoke about the judgments and assumptions we might make about the woman at the well or the woman facing a crowd who wanted to stone her. There are many things we can’t know about stories that took place so long ago, and reading those stories now without acknowledging our assumptions or potential biases can mean that we never encounter the true meaning of the teaching there.

As with Laura L. Smith’s other nonfiction, readers looking for encouragement in the Christian faith will find a lot of it here. No one roots for her readers and shares her own vulnerable moments like Laura.

Each chapter has a story from the author’s personal life, relating a challenge she or someone close to her has faced, and then a story about a woman from the Bible with some historical context. The connection between the two is the virtue both situations require. The chapters end with a brief scripture and a few discussion or journal questions to help process the ideas and foster continued faith practice.

I think this would make a lovely gift book or text for a women’s group study.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Vague references to sex. (References to Bible stories about people becoming pregnant or being accused of adultery.) References to sexual assault and human trafficking (in the stories of Hagar, Gomer, and the Woman at the Well.)

Spiritual Content
Each chapter focuses on a different woman mentioned in the Bible and tells her story, and it highlights a virtue she exemplifies.

Violent Content
See above.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Cherished Belonging by Gregory Boyle

Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times
Gregory Boyle
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Published November 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Cherished Belonging

At a time when society is more fractured than ever before, beloved Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle invites us to see the world through a new lens of connection and build the loving community that we long to live in—a perfect message for readers of Anne Lamott, Mary Oliver, and Richard Rohr. 

Over the past thirty years, Father Gregory Boyle has transformed thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the world. The program runs on two unwavering (1) Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and (2) we belong to each other (no exceptions).

Boyle believes that these two ideas allow all of us to cultivate a new way of seeing. Every community wants to be a safe place, where people are seen, and then are cherished. By remembering that we belong to each other, we find our way out of chaos and its dispiriting tribalism. Pooka, a former gang member who now oversees the program’s housing division, puts it “Here, love is our lens. It’s how we see things.”

In Cherished Belonging, Boyle calls back to Christianity’s origins as a subversive spiritual movement of equality, emancipation, and peace. Early Christianity was a way of life—not a set of beliefs. Boyle’s vision of community isn’t just a space for an individual to heal, but for people to join together and heal each other in a new collective living, a world dedicated to kindness as a constant and radical act of defiance. “The answer to every question is, indeed, compassion,” Boyle exhorts. He calls us to cherish and nurture the connections that are all around us and live with radical kindness.

My Review

Cherished Belonging is the fourth book by Gregory Boyle that I’ve read, and I’ve read his first three books as audiobooks multiple times each. I love his emphasis on loving others and the importance of learning from others and approaching every relationship ready to learn something. In this book, he focuses on two central ideas: that each of us is good and that we belong to one another. He posits that if we could truly grasp and remember those things, we’d solve the world’s problems.

I went back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook versions of this book. (I received the ebook version through NetGalley but purchased the audiobook version myself.) I liked being able to read the text more slowly, stopping to think about the ideas Boyle presents and then return to the beginning of a chapter and listen to the author read the audiobook version.

Viewing Others Compassionately

I struggled with some of the concepts in the book. He labels believing conspiracies or behaving in racist ways as evidence of mental illness. No one whole/well, he writes, would do those things.

I think I understand what he’s trying to say, but for me, this bumped against some of the ways people have used mental illness as a scapegoat for terrible things, which adds to the stigma of mental illness.

The way that he writes about mental illness makes it clear that there should be no stigma. This isn’t about blaming people for being unwell or anything. It’s about looking at people who act out of anger or hate and seeing that through a lens that acknowledges that they’ve been hurt or are not thinking clearly or seeing others clearly. They’ve forgotten that we belong to one another.

Nevertheless, if you have feelings about the way that language surrounding mental health issues is used, this is going to be, at best, a challenging read. I’m not sure what I would think if this was the first book by this author that I picked up.

On the other hand, I think Gregory Boyle raises many great questions and offers some profound insight into the cultural moment in which we stand. He specifically talks about how we tend to wear clothing with messaging and its impact on people around us. He pulls quotes and wisdom from many different spiritual disciplines, connecting truths from many different perspectives across time and faiths.

Conclusion

I don’t think I would describe this book as my favorite of the four I’ve read by this author. It might be the one that made me think the most, though. The most critical aspects of faith that I’m currently pursuing are loving others and understanding God’s love for us. The book offers some profound insights on both those topics, and I enjoyed reading it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Boyle (a white man) shares the stories of an inclusive group of homies who work at Homeboy Industries, including Black, Latine, and Asian people.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some use of swearing.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Boyle is a Jesuit priest and shares his worldview in the text. It’s an inclusive, loving, and affirming faith. He emphasizes a belief in the goodness of all, no exceptions, and that we belong to each other. He asserts that the wrongs in the world relate to people being unwell and/or forgetting those ideas.

Violent Content
References to gang violence, abuse, and domestic violence.

Drug Content
References to people using drugs or drinking alcohol (not shown on scene).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Urgency of Slowing Down by Laura L. Smith

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The Urgency of Slowing Down
Laura L. Smith
Our Daily Bread Publishing
Published December 3, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Urgency of Slowing Down

If Jesus took time away from the demands of life for stillness, rest, and prayer, shouldn’t His followers do the same?

Yet living in a whirlwind of constant motion is all too familiar. Our many responsibilities and relationships are important: we want to go to our child’s game and say yes to that assignment at work and help lead that group at church. But when we go, go, go at the world’s pace, the anxiety and burnout start to weigh on our souls. 

Laura Smith invites you to pause, exhale, and explore what the Bible says about slowing down. With scriptural insights and relatable personal stories, Laura offers practical habits for resisting the hectic and holding on to the slow. Packed with different ways Christians over the centuries have tapped into the abundant life of Jesus, 24 short chapters lay out spiritual and physical practices such as prayer, Sabbath, saying no, gratitude, decluttering, celebration, and worship.

If you’re tired of the crazy pace of your life but don’t know how to get off the merry-go-round, The Urgency of Slowing Down is for you. Take a few minutes each day to read a chapter so you can learn to slow down right where you are to look for God, listen for His voice, and fill your heart and mind with His presence.

My Review

One of the things I love about Laura L. Smith’s books is how practical and nonjudgmental they are. Her advice is very much in the lane of “do what works for you” rather than placing value on a particular scripted way of life.

For example, she talks about the spiritual practice of fasting but reminds readers to talk to a doctor or consider the needs of their body and mental health as well. She acknowledges that a food fast can be dangerous for some of us and encourages readers to be safe and well. She offers suggestions for other ways to fast, including giving up a non-food activity or habit, such as social media or electronics.

A lot of the tips are simple and practical, which is exactly what I need. A lot of them are things you could do in ten minutes, which is excellent.

Each chapter of the book focuses on a particular aspect of life, such as setting boundaries, practicing gratitude, and spending time in prayer. She’ll share a personal story about lessons she’s learned about each topic and a scripture that relates. Then the chapter closes with some thoughtful questions that really helped me dig deeper with these ideas.

I think this would be a great book to work through with a journal in January as a “New Year” project. It’s set up to do one individual chapter at a time, and I think that’s the most effective way to use it. I read through the whole thing and bookmarked chapters that resonated with me so I can revisit them later.

If you’re looking for a gentle book to guide you into a more restful Christian faith practice, this is a good one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The author is a white Christian woman. She talks a lot about her family and friends.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to the author’s marriage to a man named Brett. Just relationship stuff.

Spiritual Content
Lots of Jesus. Lots of Bible verses. Pretty much as advertised from the cover copy.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Through the Wormhole by Chris Solaas

Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Parenting, Spirituality, , , , , ,

Through the Wormhole (Life in Hyperspace #2)
Chris Solaas
Published August 28, 2023

Amazon | Goodreads

About Through the Wormhole: Humor, Hope, and Help from One Family with Autism to Another

The call for help seemed to come from the wall, and I knew there wasn’t a secret room there. That’s when I spied two bare feet sticking out of a hole in the wall. Holes in the wall. Setting fires in the house. Secret rooms and monsters in the closets. My wife and I never thought we’d have adventures like these raising our kids. After dealing with ADHD and its issues, we didn’t think autism would be anything we couldn’t handle. Boy were we wrong.

From our family to yours, here are humorous stories from our crazy past, mixed with ideas for handling some of the issues facing a family raising kids with autism. Inside you will find ideas for stimming aids, dietary help, and even links to companies who hire adults with autism. Humor, Hope, and Help for families like yours traveling Through the Wormhole.

My Review

This is the second nonfiction parenting support book that I’ve read by this author. One of the things I really appreciate about his books is his frank humility. It would be so easy to only report the parenting successes and goofball behavior that the kids get into, and instead, he often apologetically shares experiences where he wishes he’d responded differently. There’s something genuinely comforting about someone keeping it real like that– because we’ve all been the parent who lost their temper or said something sarcastic or overlooked something that turned out to be a safety issue.

The book alternates between sharing adventures in parenting a kid on the Autism spectrum and sharing tips and helpful resources, often with hyperlinks. He also shares things about his experience in the Christian church and community that may help parents navigate what isn’t always a neurodiverse kid-friendly atmosphere. Which, again, is the kind of gentle frankness that I really appreciate.

His parenting adventures are also really well-told. I got teary as he talked about saying goodbye to the family dog and laughed aloud at some of the unexpected conclusions his son drew about different situations.

The author’s hard-won parenting wisdom and encouragement to readers to pursue faith, self-education, and compassion for themselves and their kids make this a nice resource for Christian parents with a child on the Autism spectrum or anyone who wants to be better informed about supporting a family with neurodiverse kids.

I hope that parents who read this find it to be a welcoming, compassionate, and encouraging resource. I’ve also reviewed his other parenting book, which discusses his experiences discovering that he has ADHD and how he navigated parenting a child with the diagnosis.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
The author describes himself as having ADHD with a touch of OCD. At least one of his children has Autism Spectrum Disorder. The author uses the term Aspergers or “Aspy” several times in the text, which may bother some readers. I’m not experienced enough to evaluate the representation in the book.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
References to prayer, attending church, and other Christian spiritual practices and beliefs.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of mildly dangerous things, such as getting stuck on a roof or cleaning out the garage to get rid of spiders.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Life in Hyperspace by Chris Solaas

Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Parenting, Spirituality, , , , ,

Life in Hyperspace
Chris Solaas
CreateSpace
December 22, 2016

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Life in Hyperspace

Spraypainting the cat? What was he thinking??

With four-year college degrees under our belts and a dab of training in Child Psychology, my wife and I thought we were ready for anything when it came to this parenting gig. We had no idea we would be outnumbered and outgunned. From diet to riot, meds to charts, we’ve tried it all, to train up our ADHD kids in the way they should grow.

From the Home School of Hard Knocks, our four ADHD kids have taught us more about coping and planning ahead than any four-year college degree could have, especially when it comes to understanding what goes on in the mind of a five-year-old in a Buzz Lightyear costume flying on a treadmill. To Infinity, and Beyond.

This is the chronicle of two adult ADHD parents and their four ADHD kids living in a loving madhouse with four neurotic cats and a snow-white bi-eyed monster dog that eats trees. Inside, you will find more laughs and maybe some help and advice for what to do with the ADHD kids in your own home, from someone who’s Been There, Done That.

My Review

Sometimes it’s really nice to listen to other parents talk about the difficulties they’ve faced as parents. It helps us feel less alone. Bonus when the stories are funny.

In this book, the stories about kids, pets, and marriage range from hilarious (using Mom’s face cream to decorate a gingerbread house) to frightening (a car accident with a helicopter ride to the hospital). Over and over, kids do the things that make sense to them in the moment. And well, sometimes moms and dads do that, too. The stories in the book generally feature laughs at the author’s expense. They clearly show his love for his kids (even in the midst of frustrating experiences).

I laughed out loud multiple times reading this book. By chapter four or so, Solaas really hit his stride, and the recurring jokes (free to an unsuspecting home) got funnier and funnier.

Mostly, this is a book of shared experiences. Occasionally, usually toward the end of the chapter, the author will pause and offer a bit of hard-earned wisdom. Sometimes, that’s a simple exhortation to pray for your kids. Sometimes, it’s to share other resources or family values that the author finds personally helpful, including faith-based alternatives to trick-or-treating on Halloween and resources to help the reader craft a family Bible reading time.

Conclusion

Families looking for faith-based parenting books that celebrate neurodiversity and engaging with kids as they are will find LIFE IN HYPERSPACE offers shared experiences and much-needed comfort and joy.

Content Notes for Life in Hyperspace

Recommended for Ages 18 up.

Representation
The author, his wife, and all four of his kids have ADHD.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
The author briefly encourages readers to pay attention to the people their kids date and lists some criteria he asked his kids to consider as they dated or considered marrying someone.

Spiritual Content
The book is written with a Christian worldview and encourages readers to pray and seek counsel from the Bible and other Christian sources.

Violent Content
As the author describes some tense situations with kids, he is candid about feeling angry with them. He references (but doesn’t describe) spanking them– not in anger, though.

At one point, the author briefly relates having had a house fire, some accidents around the house, and later a car accident that caused some serious injuries. There are a couple stories involving animals injured accidentally by a car.

Drug Content
The author’s brother jokingly tells him to drink whiskey to cope with caring for a teething baby.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of LIFE IN HYPERSPACE in exchange for my honest review.