Children of the Stars

Children of the Stars by Mario Escobar is an incredibly well-researched novel that pulls back the curtains on a lesser-told story of World War II involving Jews who escaped to Argentina. This novel, originally written and published in Spain, has just been released in English.

As the title suggest, this novel focuses on children--particularly Jacob and Moses Stein. Their story begins the day that Parisian Jews were rounded up to the Velodrome where these boys outsmart the Nazis and French Gendarmes. Knowing they want to find their parents who had already left Paris in hopes of finding their way to safety, Jacob and Moses embark on a trip throughout France. Following the trail of their parents, they encounter numerous kind individuals who assist them on their journey as well as numerous incidents where they out-maneuver individuals set on capturing them. Their journey takes them through the little known Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon, a French village where Protestant Christians actively hid many Jewish refugees and helped them to safety. Jacob and Moses' journey extends beyond France to reunite with their parents in Argentina.

Children of the Stars is told primarily from the viewpoint of Jacob Stein, the older brother. In addition to their harrowing journey, the story depicts his growth from a child to becoming a young adult. The responsibilities he took on of caring for his younger brother and seeking his parents, combined with the travesties of war, forced him to grow up quickly. While not hiding the atrocities of war, Children of the Stars does not include gratuitous adult situations.

Most of the time when I spy a World War II book, I'm going to read it although I often find the writing and coverage to be inconsistent and some topics to be overdone. Children of the Stars by Mario Escobar definitely does not fall into this category and needs to find a place on your to-be-read list. Appropriate for teens and could even be used as a read-aloud for middle-school students.

I was provided a complementary digital copy from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishers. I am not required to give a positive opinion and all opinions are my own.

Newest Maggie Hope Mystery!

I have previously read and enjoyed books in the Maggie Hope Mystery Series, so when the newest release in the series The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal became available I knew I wanted to read it right away and am glad I did.

The King's Justice find Maggie in London where a previous criminal whom she had helped to capture has just been sentenced to death. Maggie has officially stepped away from her previous spy roles and is instead employed to detonate bombs in London. Doing so, she becomes acquainted with a number of individuals called "Britalians" who are British citizens of Italian descent and a number of individuals who are conscientious objectors. I had not previously realized that the Britalians were treated poorly and many put in "camps" similar to how the British treated Germans who were living in Great Britian during the War and how the U.S. treated Japanese and German Americans. While not working as a spy, Maggie still had many contacts in the spy and police world and becomes pulled into a new investigation involving a new serial killer. MacNeal does a marvelous job of drawing several different threads together into one coherent story and drawing in background information from the previous books in the series. She also leaves a cliffhanger so that you know book 10 is coming!

While previous books in the series benefited from being read in order, but if you hopped it you could follow along, I would not recommend reading The King's Justice if you have not read the other books. There are many allusions and references to previous experiences Maggie had and not being familiar with those would diminish enjoyment of this book. I even found that enough time had passed since reading the previous books that a refresher of the most recent books would have been helpful. I would encourage individuals who have read previous Maggie Hope books to read this one as soon as possible. If you have not you become acquainted with Maggie Hope, I hope you will read these exciting and well-written spy novels as soon as possible.

I received a complementary copy of The King's Justice from NetGalley. I was not required to provide a positive option and all opinions are my own.

Running for Our Lives

When election time rolls around, do you ever think about running for office? Often individuals wonder if they couldn't do as good a job or better than the incumbent candidates or anyone else who is running. Running for Our Lives by Robb Ryerse is the story of how he decided to challenge his congressman in the primary. Ryerse peels back the curtains so everyone can see the challenges the ordinary person on the street faces in running for election.

In order to effectively tell his story and why he decided to take the plunge to run for Congress, Ryerse spends some time filling in his backstory of his previous experiences, education, employment, and family background. This information is important in understanding his motivation for running for office. Beyond this backstory, Ryerse spends the majority of the book describing his experiences running a campaign. Ryerse also elaborates on his beliefs and his political platform. As a progressive Republican, in a solidly red district, he did not march in lock step with the party platform but instead emphasized he would represent the people.

While being a somewhat politically aware individual, I learned so much from reading Running for Our Lives. While knowing that running for political office is expensive and that PACS provide a vast amount of political funding, reading his experiences and the actual cost of running for office was eye-opening. In particular the breakdown of how much Ryerse spent on his campaign versus how much his opponent spent and how much that was per vote was both shocking and sickening. It definitely made me a campaign finance reform advocate. In addition to running for Congress, Ryerse also is a bivocational minister. As such, throughout the book he references how his Christian beliefs are the basis of his political beliefs. Several sections of the book, especially an eloquent section on Philippians 2, almost read like a devotional and were very impactful in considering how I think about political issues and my vote.

Running for Our Lives is a marvelous book for anyone who is interested in politics and the process of running for office. As we head into another election year, this is a great book to add to your reading list.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Running for Our Lives from Westminster John Knox via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Changing Yourself to Change the World

The description for the new book, Practicing: Changing Yourself to Change the World by Kathy Escobar, caught my attention right away. In particular the tag lines that Christians want to "live a life of love, mercy, and justice," but "it's easy to feel overwhelmed" was a siren song that enticed me to pick up the book. Escobar details a variety of practices that are a blend of spiritual disciplines and actions in ten chapters. The practices include a variety of items that also focus focus on bringing people together across differences and divides in order to promote healing, reconciliation, and change the world by empowering those who have been denied or stripped of power due to sex, color, economic status, or gender.

Each chapter contains numerous stories and examples of how Escobar has lived out these practices in her own life and through the church she co-pastors. Escobar draws upon other writers for several spiritual traditions to demonstrate the practices. Many suggestions are provided which give hands-on, specific ways to incorporate the practices described. Each chapter also includes questions for personal reflection, group discussion, practice, and suggested readings titled "Dig Deeper" which include a variety of titles from both a faith-based and secular point of view.

I found Escobar's writing thought-provoking. Several practices, particularly statements about "with" rather than "to" or "for" regarding the practice of including, really resonated with me. Some other statements I'm still chewing on and I'm not quite sure I agree with. Regardless whether you agree with the entire book, anyone will come away from reading Practicing with new ideas and new practices to consider and will be stretched in their thinking. The discussion questions and other additional resources make this a perfect book to read and discuss with others.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Practicing from Westminster John Knox via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.