The Host

Name of Book: The Host

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Illustrator: none

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

ISBN: 9780316068048

Audience: 15 and up.  Young adult readers will enjoy the challenge of what is considered to be an adult novel.  Although intended for adults, the reading level, word usage, and content mostly attracts an adolescent audience.

Summary: Melanie is a 20-year-old human who has been living on the run. She is eventually captured and her body becomes a “host” by a soul known as Wanderer. She grows to love and care for Wanderer. Wanda, the nickname given to Wanderer, is naturally inclined to do good and is disgusted by violence. She feels guilty about the unrest her presence causes amongst Melanie’s loved ones, and throughout the book she puts others before herself and eventually puts Melanie first – again.

Literary elements at work in the story: Science Fiction/Fantasy.  The Host is engaging and well written. The characters are likeable and the symbolism offers clear descriptions about life as a human.  It is an excellent fantasy novel for those who normally do not like to read science fiction.

Theme: What is it to be human? The blessings of human existence, the value of the soul and faith in the world.

Perspective: The Host has a first-person perspective – from the point of view of an alien soul named “Wanderer.”

Theology: This story allows the reader to revisit creativity and watch it continue. With the contrast of beautiful, overlapping human emotions and the atrocities we are capable of, The Host describes humanity very well. “This place was truly the highest and the lowest of all worlds,” Wanderer reflects. It has “the most beautiful senses, the most exquisite emotions . . . the most malevolent desires, the darkest deeds. Perhaps it was meant to be so. Perhaps without the lows, the highs could not be reached.” Such descriptions of human life can bring critical thinking and contemplation to persons of faith. Just like us, Wanderer, or “Wanda” comes to realize all that makes up harmonious life. While conscious of all the blessings in the world, readers can relate, as we too are aware of the war, pain, disease, and horror that come with human existence. When we experience illumination there is also darkness, all that is good is challenged by evil, and joys are often met with sorrows.

Apocalyptic undertones are mentioned through the characters of Jeb and Maggie. These dedicated “survivors” choose to live separately from the rest of civilization as they wait for disaster. As youth and adults sometimes feel anxious about the “end times,” a discussion about these characters and the disaster they expect can be compared and contrasted to the prophesies of tribulation that can be found throughout the Bible,

Scripture: In the Book of Hebrews Paul wrote the congregation in Jerusalem just before the prophecies in Matthew 24 were fulfilled with the Temple being defiled and the city overthrown. He had known pain and suffering, and he tried to prepare the people for what was coming. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you …”(Hebrews 12:11,12,15)

The blessings of present life are often taken for granted. It is unfortunate that so many are blind to what comes after existence in the physical world. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (Revelation 3:17-19; NIV)

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What real-life example(s) can you share about the contrast between light and dark, good and evil, joy and sorrow? What Biblical example(s) do you know of?
2. Why should you not be anxious or fearful of “end of time” predictions?
3. Why are we so blessed when others must suffer?

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Gina Craft.

Into the Wild

Name of Book:  Into the Wild

Author:  Jon Krakauer

Illustrator:  None

Publisher:  Anchor

ISBN: 978-0307387172

Audience:  Although this is written for adults, I think this book could be used effectively with high school age adolescents through young adults.

Summary:  In 1992 Christopher McCandless graduated from Emory University, gave his $25,000 savings account to charity, burned all his money and identification, gave away the vast majority of his possessions, and eventually abandoned his car. Why? To begin an almost 2 year journey, hitchhiking around America, to “find himself”. Eventually he arrives at his destination, the wilderness of Alaska, where he finds an abandoned transit bus turned hunting “lodge”. McCandless lives here until he eventually dies of starvation, due to accidentally poisoning himself with berries. The book is written using Christopher’s diaries, letters, and notes found with the body, as well as from interviews with family members and friends McCandless made during his trek to self-discovery.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The book takes place during 1990-1992, and follows the two year ordeal of the main character, Christopher McCandless. This book could be categorized in several different ways. First, I think it can be called a partial biography since it deals mainly with the two year time period that Christopher spent wandering and hitchhiking trying to make it to the Alaska wilderness. There are occasional flashbacks to McCandless’ childhood and adolescence, but these are merely to flesh out a point or explain part of his rationale for this trek. Second, in my opinion, this book could be considered  an autobiography or memoir of the main character Christopher McCandless since it is written mainly from his own diaries, letters and notes. Finally, it is also, in a sense, a memoir of the author, Jon Krakauer. Throughout the book he draws parallels between his life – his own rebelliousness, his own struggles with his parents, his loss of faith in mankind, God and society, and his extreme efforts to find his “place” – and the life of Christopher McCandless. The point of view alternates between the author and McCandless which makes the story a little less fluid, and occasionally a little difficult to follow. The other characters in the book seem to help McCandless “find” a part of himself that he is looking for. The book is written in a very realistic and gritty style that allows you to feel the physical hardships and highpoints he endures. It is a beautifully written book that at the same time allows to you feel Christopher’s desperate desire to know who he is and to achieve his goal, and his elation and peace when he finally achieves his goal and “finds what he is looking for”.

(How) does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  Economics seem to play a role in the events that unfold in the book. Christopher is disenchanted with the life his parents lead and expect him to lead, a life of privilege and overconsumption. Part of his quest for self is a quest for a simpler more authentic way of life. However, McCandless takes his quest for economic justice and a simpler life to an extreme.

Theological conversation partners: As Christians we believe that we are in a constant relationship with God. We believe that God is present and active in our life at all times. We also believe that it is in that relationship with God that truly discover who we are and grow into the person God intends for us to be. We also believe that we are called into action to strive for social justice and equality for all. McCandless states that he’s not sure that God exists but there is something more out there. Instead of looking for answers within the context of God as that higher power he runs away from God. Also, in his attempt to find social justice for the poor and disenfranchised he runs away from society instead of working to find a way to bring about change.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Why do you think people turn away from God?
2. How can faith and a relationship with God help someone to “find themselves”?
3. What does it mean to work for social justice?
4.  How can we do this in this day and age?
5.  How does our faith help us to work for social justice?

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Shasta Brown.

Tuck Everlasting

Title: Tuck Everlasting

Author:   Natalie Babbitt

Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc

ISBN:  9-780590-988865

Audience: Written for ages 9 -12, but this review suggests the book’s applicability to both young and mature audiences.

Summary:   The story starts with a young girl, Winnie, fed up with her family and wanting to run away.  She meets another family, the Tucks, in the woods near her home who whisk her away because she has discovered something that only they know about, a hidden spring a the center of the wood. During this abduction, they tell her that she must never drink from nor even tell anyone about the spring and their story.  Many years ago the Tucks came to settle there and each one, mother Mae, father Tuck, and their two sons Miles and Jesse, drank from the spring.  After living there for a few years they began to notice something odd about their lives.  They weren’t getting any older and each one survived what should have been fatal accidents (falling from a tree, hit by stray gunshot).  Winnie wasn’t sure what to make of the story but she discovered she liked these strange people, and they promised they’d return her to her home once they were sure she understood why this must be kept secret.  Meanwhile Winnie’s family  were frantically searching for her with the help of another stranger, identified only as the man in the yellow suit, who had a peculiar interest in finding her kidnappers, which he eventually did.  When he attempted to force Winnie back home, she resisted. Mae Tuck came to her defense with a shotgun, and in the ensuing tussle, delivered a fatal blow to the stranger’s head just as the town constable arrived on the scene.  Winnie was returned to her family and Mae was taken into custody for murder and sentenced to hang.  Only Winnie and the Tucks understood the horrible implications of this sentence.  Mae could not die, no matter how long she hung from the gallows.  Winnie sought out the Tucks again and together they devised a plan to break Mae out of jail. In a suspenseful climatic scene, they execute a masterful escape and that was the last Winnie ever saw of the Tuck family.  The story ends many years later when the Tucks return to the area to learn the fate of their little accomplice.

Literary Elements:   An allegory on the meaning of life’s impermanence, the story hovers between reality and fantasy set in the rural midwest sometime in the mid 19th century. Improbable as the plot may seem, the characters are palpably real.  Winnie is curious, restless, and compassionate. The Tucks have a melancholy wisdom born of their resignation to an endless life.  The villain in the yellow suit also knows the secret of the spring and has a sinister scheme for appropriating it to enrich himself. Winnie’s well-meaning but clueless parents and the fat old constable are made vividly familiar through narrative and dialogue.  Even a soft brown toad has a significant role. The narrative is superbly crafted with intense sensory imagery, most exquisite in a scene on the pond next to the Tuck household where father explains to Winnie the significance of what has happened to his family.  “The sky was a ragged blaze of red and pink and orange, and its double trembled on the surface of the pond like color spilled from a paintbox,” a photographic simile that a child could understand.

Theology:  Tuck uses the pond to teach Winnie something that very few people, young or old, can comprehend. “Life. Moving, growing, changing, never the same two minutes together. This water, you look out at it every morning and it looks the same but it ain’t. All night long it’s been moving, coming in through the stream back there to the west, slipping out through the stream down east there…”  He explains how the water evaporates and forms clouds and rains and fills the pond again. Then he drifts the boat into the branches of a partially submerged fallen tree. “That’s what us Tucks are, Winnie.  Stuck so’s we can’t move on…And everywhere around us, things is moving and growing and changing. You, for instance. A child now, but some day a woman, and after that moving on to make room for new children.” Having already considered drinking from the spring, Winnie protested, “I don’t want to die,” but Tuck patiently puts it into perspective. Everybody thinks they want to live forever, but if they could they’d surely change their minds.  Forever is forever.  What this means becomes chillingly clear when Mae is sentenced to what would become endless brutal suffering. Profound truths and questions about the meaning of life and death lurk in the pages of this unusual story.

Faith Questions:

The author provides thoughtful literature circle questions at the end of the story, although none of them are theological. Here are a few suggestions:

1. How is the encounter between Winnie and the Tuck boy like the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis?
2. In what ways is Mae like Jesus?  In what ways is she not like Jesus?
3. Does the man in the yellow suit remind you of anyone or anything in the Bible? Why?
4. Why do you think God didn’t create people so they would live forever?

Review prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Susan Wills

The Memory Box

Title: The Memory Box

Author: Mary Bahr

Illustrator: David Cunningham

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co.

ISBN: 0-8075-5053-1

Audience:  Written for ages 6-9.  However, this review suggests the book’s applicability to both young and mature audiences.

Summary: This is a bitter-sweet episode in a young boy’s summer vacation with a beloved grandparent who is succumbing to Alzheimer’s diesase.  Zach has spent every summer he can remember with his grandparents on a serene mountain lake, but this summer Zach notices something different about Gramps – he’s distant, distracted, forgetful, talking to himself and getting lost on familiar woodland trails.  Rather than try to avoid or explain away Gramp’s behavior, the old couple do something remarkable and courageous: they tell Zach the truth in a supremely loving and compassionate way.  One peaceful evening they begin creating a “memory box,” a family tradition in which an old person and a young person fill a box with family stories, pictures and mementos and store it in a place of honor. Initially Zach is uncomfortable with this activity dampening the idyllic vacation freedom he had become accustomed to.  But as the days passed, telling and writing stories, gathering photos and souvenirs, a new and deeper bond between these three friends develops as the elderly couple welcome Zach into their approaching difficulty.  Zach returns home with a profound and important mission: to continue adding to the memory box and bring it back next summer, when it will be needed.

Literary elements: The Memory Box is realistic fiction set in a cabin by a woodland lake. The language and illustrations descend quietly like the afternoon sun in late summer when days get shorter and darkness comes earlier, evoking Carl Jung’s metaphor of aging as “the afternoon of life.” As the old couple approach the autumn of their years, Zach is also transitioning from youth into an awareness of life’s limitations.  Both paths converge in the realm of memory; their shared past becomes the healing balm of  advancing grief and loss. The author crafts believable characters through dialogue and plot movement, enhanced with beautiful watercolor images in fluid autumnal colors. The verbal and pictorial theme of fishing conveys the emotional state of  stillness and expectation. “For the rest of the summer, we remembered, Gramps and Gram and me. We especially remembered when we were fishing.” Zach’s discomfort literally dissolves in the calm waters of memory and carries him through a crisis moment when Gramps gets lost in the forest.

The seasonal and diurnal imagery overlay this short story with elements of another genre, the hero’s journey, in which all three characters play roles.  As Zach is confronted with the loss of innocence, Gramps is facing the ultimate journey into the dark night of the soul. He touches that vulnerable space inside all of us that holds on to life, power, control and independence. To cope with the inevitable, he reaches for one remaining hope, that his life has meaning for his beloved grandson, in a touching symbolic act. “Did Gram tell you about this useless old man? An how he needs to find a home for special things like this,” he says while handing Zach his fishing knife. Henri Nouwen provides a parable on usefulness in his book Aging, The Fulfillment of Life: a tree that grows big and old does so because it was not cut down and used for beds and tables and chairs. It’s usefulness is not in becoming other things, but in being itself, a tree so great that others can rest in its shade.  As long as there is meaning to our being, therein lies our usefulness. In the hero’s journey there is always a character who plays the role of helper. Gram is the gentle guiding presence behind this drama, positioning the two travelers on the path of memory and lighting their way with truth.   This story has profound lessons for both young and old on the continuum of life.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economics: Although the pictures portray white middle-class Americans, virtually no race or gender stereotypes are reinforced.  Filial love and companionship challenged by the threat of death and loss are universal themes to which all cultures can relate. The only excluding factor might be might be economic – the privilege of leisure time in a vacation home.  But the setting is not extravagant.  Fishing is a humble pastime available to practically everyone.

Theological Conversation Partners:  Henri Nouwen and Walter Gaffney, Aging, The Fulfillment of Life, Doubleday, 1974

Nouwen and Gaffney write in simple language about deep truths accessible to both young and mature readers. “This book is about aging.  It is a book for all of us, since we all age and so fulfill the cycle of our lives.”

Theology:  Faith and hope intervene in a family facing the anxiety of loss and approaching death.

Faith Questions:

1. What was Zach’s initial reaction to the memory box?  Why do you think he felt this way?
2. Zach said, “This was the best and worst summer ever.”  Discuss what was “best” and “worst” about it.
3. Think about a time when you first realized something unpleasant was about to happen over which you had no control. How did you cope with the feelings and the outcome?
4. Discuss Henri Nouwen’s observation “The elderly are our prophets, they remind us that what we see so clearly in them is a process in which we all share.” How is Zach sharing in this process with his grandparents and how has this transformed him?
5. The story doesn’t mention God.  Where can you sense the presence of God in these people’s lives, and what does it tell you about God?

Review prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Susan Wills.

 

The Bully and Me: Stories that Break the Cycle of Torment

Name of Book:  The Bully and Me:  Stories That Break the Cycle of Torment

Author:  Helen Carmichael Porter

Publisher:  Northstone (an imprint of Woodlake Books, Inc.)

Audience:  Adults, teens

Summary:  The Bully and Me explores the many faces of bullying from the point of view of both the bully and the victim.  The bullying takes many forms: teasing, physical intimidation, taunts, gossip, e-mail, and shunning.  Little real violence is expressed, although some “off-stage” violence is reported in the stories (a bully learns that her victim attempted suicide, a victim engages in cutting, a group tackles a victim, a nose is bloodied, etc.)  The book explores the idea that victim and bully are opposite sides of the same coin.  Often the bully has been the victim.  Victims triumph by attempting to change the situation.  Not all victims succeed.  This book is NOT a self-help book.  It will, however, stimulate conversation between teens and the adults who care about them.  It will open the eyes of adults who may not be aware of the variety of forms bullying takes.  The book is accompanied by a CD containing three of the stories as the author would perform them before a live audience.

Literary Elements at work in the story:  The book is composed of ten stories told from the first-person point of view.  This lends a particular vividness and immediacy to the stories.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic/ability:  The teens telling the stories are boys and girls, middle school (junior high) age and high school age, rich and poor and from a variety of ethnicities—all to emphasize that bullies and victims can be anyone.

Scripture:  Genesis 1:27, Matthew 11:28-30, Zechariah 7:9, Colossians 3:12, Hebrews 10:34, 1 Peter 3:8

Theology:  Compassion, caring for others, acceptance of differences

Faith Talk Questions:  Each story ends with a commentary by the author and excellent follow-up questions and activities.  An additional question that could be added to each list:

1. Each person was created in the image of God.  Where do you see the image of God in the victim?  In the bully?  In the people in your group?  In yourself (for many people, this may be the most difficult)?

Review by Union-PSCE alumna Mary Anne Welch

A Wreath for Emmitt Till

Name of Book:   A Wreath for Emmett Till

Author:   Marilyn Nelson

Illustrator: Philippe Lardy

Publisher:   Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Audience:  Youth 14-18 and adults

Summary:  This book is a collection of sonnets that the author put together to speak about the tragic lynching of Emmett Till, a young African American who was visiting relatives in Mississippi in the summer of 1955. The boy was accused of whistling at a white woman, dragged from his home and murdered.  Those that committed the crime were found not guilty.  The final sonnet is composed of the first lines of the preceding sonnets.  Notes are included in the back of the book to further explain each sonnet. There is also a reference to a PBS website which offers additional resources that can be used to explore the life and death of Emmett Till.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The primary literary element at work in this book is the author’s use of fourteen sonnets to tell the story of the Emmett Till. Different layers of his life are captured in each sonnet. Illusions to other poets such as Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, and Shakespeare can also be found in the author’s words.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability:  These sonnets were composed about a boy who lived at a time in history when African Americans were viewed as an inferior race. Schools, businesses, and even restrooms were segregated.  Although Emmett Till’s story happened at a particular time in history, it still resonates with the reader in light of the broken world in which we all live.

Scripture:  Romans 12:1-2, Micah 6:8, Ephesians 4:14-15, Romans 15:5-6

Theology:  Christians are called to live their lives as the transformed and redeemed children of God that they are.  Our actions towards others should be grounded in justice, kindness, and humility.  When we choose to “speak what we see”, we are speaking the truth in love and growing up into the image of Christ.   Living in harmony with one another glorifies God.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What do you think Emmett’s mother meant when she shared this Mississippi anecdote with him:  “Some white folks have blind souls.”?
2. How can hate “slaughter” innocence?  Can you think of examples of this occurring in our world today?
3. Why do you think the author compares writing “an obituary of a life lived well and wisely” to the victimhood of Emmett Till?
4. How does the story of Emmett Till mirror that of Christ?
5. The author describes grace as something which “melts the ice shards of hate and makes hearts whole.”  What does this mean in light of humankinds’ sinfulness?
6. What does it mean to “speak what we see”? How can we as Christians do that in our neighborhoods and communities?
7. Why do you think that people such as those who lynched Emmett Till would be afraid?

Review prepared by Marcia Rauch, MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2006

How to (un)Cage a Girl

Name of Book:   How to (Un)Cage a Girl

Author:  Francesca Lia Block

Publisher:  Joanna Cotler Books/HarperTeen (2008)

Audience:  16 – adult females.  Personally, I would have placed this book in the adult poetry section rather than YA, since it pushes beyond the personal experiences of YA readers.  That being said, it would be useful with intergenerational groups of women. I would limit discussion to small group settings.

Summary:   This is a collection of poems, written primarily in free verse, that are meant to be read sequentially.  The majority of her poems reflect events or periods in “her” life starting at age thirteen.  Several poems, however, are written to or about some of the young women whom she has mentored and/or befriended during her career.  The poems are often beautifully but brutally honest, which is perhaps because they are the reflections on the past from the perspective of an adult woman.  This gives a different quality and depth to the poems that is sometimes absent from poetry written during adolescence.  Her first section of poems, on early adolescence, are difficult in the sense that they reflect sexual experiences, illness, and death of a parent in a fairly relentless sequence of painful recollections.  The poems written to reflect her adulthood carry themes which move beyond an adolescent’s personal experience (such as having children and divorce).

Literary elements at work in the story:  This is a semi-autobiographical collection of poetic works primarily in free-verse.  It is written as a sequential work in three parts: 1) years at the asylum, 2) in the lair of the toxic blonde, and 3) love poems for girls.  The language is colloquial but creative and often intense. The absence of punctuation (except for question marks) and the all lower case typeface give a stream of consciousness feel to the poems and allow for the reader to punctuate the work as it suits them (i.e., starting and stopping a phrase or verse in different places that produces different meaning).  The mood of the poems moves generally from dark to light as the poet works through much of the pain of early adolescence and finds a kind of peace and healing as an adult woman.  Illustrations are absent, but would probably be more limiting than instructive in interpreting these poems, which ask the reader to come into her broken world and imagine it for themselves.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/abilities:    The strongest perspective seems to come from her love/hate relationship with the people and culture of Los Angeles.  Her “girl” sees herself as “other” in this city of beauty and glamour (see, particularly Part II, “Lair of the Toxic Blonde”).  She stands for the non-traditional girl who rebels against the stereotypes of feminine beauty (at least in L.A.).   Race and economics play much lesser roles in her poems.

Scripture:   I would use this book of poetry to work with the theme of women in the Bible and let the group choose the passages they would like to discuss.  I would offer the book of Ruth and the book of Esther as possible starting points, but certainly would not limit it to those two. Other possibilities that may be less well known and cover a range of characteristics are Jephthah’s daughter (Judges 11-13), The woman of the Song of Solomon, the daughter of Herodias (Mark 6: 14-29), Mary & Martha (Luke 10: 38-42), Deborah & Jael (Judges 4), Hagar (Genesis 16, 21, & 25) and  the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7: 24-30).

Theology:  Women’s stories are not absent from the Bible but they do sometimes require some imagination to fill in the gaps.  Women are presented in so many ways, both positive and negative: we see both the connivance of Jezebel and the obedience of Mary.  We see women of advanced years (Sarah) and young girls (Jephthah’s daughter); women in various positions in society and with various expectations of their roles in that society (Vashti, Esther, Ruth). By using this poetic work that follows a woman’s life through adolescence to middle adulthood, an intergenerational group of women could discuss how they believe they fit into society and the church, and how they view themselves as both daughters of God and members of the larger culture.  Women as women, with the whole spectrum of human emotions (desires, anger, grief, bitterness, love, etc.) are as much a part of the Biblical story as men.   By allowing the group to survey the breadth of stories of women in the Bible they may gain a better appreciation for their contribution to the meta-narrative that comprises our canon.  Also, by identifying women of the Bible who themselves were “un-caged” when God’s promises were claimed and when Jesus’ message was proclaimed allows us to place them squarely within God’s story and allows us to see ourselves as part of the on-going narrative as well.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Which woman (or women) from the Bible stories you selected do you most identify with at this stage in your life?  Can you remember a time in your life when you most strongly related to another biblical woman?
2. Do you see any correlation between Block’s poems and the Biblical stories?  For you, does Block’s “girl” relate to more than one woman from the Bible as she grows older?
3. What does it mean to be a woman in today’s (U.S.) culture?  How is this portrayed in the poems?
4. What does it mean to be a daughter of God in today’s culture?  In the Biblical culture? Is there a difference between how you answered this question and the previous one?  Why do you think that is so?
5. What is the strongest message from Block’s poems for you?  Is there one in particular that resonates with you?  Is there one particular passage from the Biblical stories that resonates with you in the same way?

Review prepared by Nadine Ellsworth-Moran, MDiv/MACE, Entering Cohort Fall 2004

14 Cows for America

Name of Book:  14 Cows For America

Authors:  Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah and Carmen Agra Deedy

Illustrator:  Thomas Gonzalez

Publisher:  Peachtree Publishers

Audience:  Ages 14-18 and Adults (While I do believe that this book is also appropriate for younger children because of its theme of compassion, I chose youth and adults because they would have some type of memories of the events of September 11, 2001 which may help them to gain a deeper meaning from the text.)

Summary:  Kimeli,  who was born and raised in a remote village in Kenya,  has returned from America to visit his people. He is studying to be a doctor and was in New York City on September 11, 2001 to witness the terrorist attack.  He shares this story with the Maasai people of his home.  These people were once fearsome warriors but now live peacefully as nomadic cattle herders.  Cows mean life to these people and are treated as sacred.  Kimeli offers to give his only cow to America. The elders respond by offering a total of 14 cows to give as an offering of comfort and peace.  A diplomat from the US Embassy in Nairobi comes to accept the gift.  These healing cows are being cared for by the Maasai people and are a symbol of hope.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The plot of this story is its primary literary element. A group of people thousands of miles away from America gracefully reach out to a people they do not know to offer peace and comfort in the wake of tragedy.  The illustrator gives power to the words of the story through beautiful and detailed illustrations which make the plot come to life for the reader.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability:  This story does an incredible job of illustrating how two distinctly different cultures can be brought together due to tragic circumstances. We so often as Americans see ourselves as “mighty and powerful ones” whose strengths and abilities cannot be matched. September 11^th showed us that is not the case.  Compassionate people from a culture completely different from that in which we live come alongside Americans with a gift of hope and comfort. The concluding words of this story say it best:   “Because there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.”

Scripture:  Lamentations 3:22-23, Colossians 3:12-14, Romans 5:5

Theology:  God’s love is steadfast and God’s mercy for God’s children will never come to an end.  As God’s chosen people, we are called to show the same love and compassion to others as God has shown to us.  Hope does not fail us because of the love God has given to us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What do the illustrations tell us about the relationship between Kimeli and his people?
2. Why is the cow life to the Maasai people?
3. How does the author’s choice of the words “it has burned a hole in his heart” illustrate Kimeli’s reaction to September 11^th?
4. What is the importance of the cow in the story?
5. What do you think the diplomat from the embassy is expecting when he comes to meet with the Maasai elders?
6. What is the message in the final illustration and the concluding words of the story: “Because there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.”?
7. In the dedication in the back of the book, Kimeli (W.K.N) speaks of children as being the “peace of the world”.  What do you think that means?
8. How can we be the “compassionate diplomats” that Kimeli speaks of in his dedication at the end of the book?

Review prepared by Marcia Rauch, MACE, Entering Cohort Fall 2006

Ysabel

Name of Book: Ysabel

Author:  Guy Gavriel Kay

Illustrator :  Larry Rostant (cover art)

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Audience:   Adolescents – Adults

Summary:     Fifteen year old Canadian, Ned Marriner, “blunders into a corner of a very old story” of Celtic and Roman histories and mythologies.  In an ancient place, where the borders between the living and the long-dead are thin, Ned and his family are drawn into a haunted tale, as mythic figures from conflicts of long ago erupt into the present, changing – and claiming – lives.

Literary elements at work in the story:  A contemporary fantasy novel set in Aix-en-Provence, France.  A large cast of protagonists (Ned, his new friend Kate, Ned’s parents, Ned’s aunt and uncle, and his father’s three assistants) are consistently believable.  Kay continues his writing style of laying a fantasy science fiction story over a real historic period.…this time the story of the Roman usurpation of Celtic lands from 2,500 years ago in what would become France.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability:  This is an intriguing tale of different cultures separated by thousands of years.  One, the culture of a contemporary teenage Canadian boy traveling with his dad on assignment to the south of France juxtaposed against the superstitious world of Celts and Romans from a time before the birth of Christ.  Lots of “good guys”; male, female, young, old.

Theology:  This book can be used to help adolescents understand the concept of salvation by grace in discussing such topics as undeserved gifts and right relationships.  It also shows people – young and old – answering the call to love, help and forgive one another.

Further, a connection can be made between this story and the Bible…an ancient writing with characters of long ago that “erupt” into the present, changing – and claiming – lives in a way that is unique to our faith.  This could perhaps be a very interesting topic of conversation with young adults.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What gift did Ned discover that he had in this story?  What unexpected gifts have you discovered in yourself?  How can you use these gifts to glorify God?
2. Why were Ned’s mother and aunt in conflict during the story?  How was their broken relationship mended?  Have you ever experienced a serious disagreement with someone you cared for?  What happened to resolve the situation?

1. Why did Ned get involved even though he was warned to say out of it for his own safety’s sake?  In what ways do you see the characters in this story learning to rely on and trust one another?
2. In the final scene with Ysabel, Ned is given another gift…that of understanding his role in the age-old story.  Do you think he earned this gift or was it sheer grace that allowed him this resolution?  Are there times in your life when you received an undeserved gift?  How do you think God was involved in that?

Review prepared by Kelly Hames, MACE, Entering Cohort Fall 2008.

The River and the Rain – The Lord’s Prayer

Name of Book:   The River and the Rain – The Lord’s Prayer

Author:  Bijou Le Tord

Illustrator:  Bijou Le Tord

Publisher:  Doubleday

Audience:  Although this book is published for “all ages” and is one of Doubleday’s Books for Young Readers, I actually would not use this book with young children.  I would give it a “PG-13” rating due to: 1) the difficulty that I believe young children would have in connecting the words to some of the pictures, 2) the fact that it is a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, and 3) one illustration depicting a dead animal would possibly be disturbing to younger children (and I’m not sure how appropriate it is for this text in general).  I would use this book with teens and adults.

Summary:   This book is a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer that emphasizes stewardship of creation and awareness of environmental abuses inflicted by people.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The genre is poetic prayer and the overriding theme is the environment and our relationship with God and creation. The setting is the Amazon rain forest (as depicted in the illustrations).   The perspective is interesting as it incorporates both the familiar and the foreign.   Since it is a prayer it is, at once, first person (we are also praying) and communal as the body of worshippers, and, in this book there is an additional dimension because it appears to also be more specifically the perspective of someone indigenous to the rain forest.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/abilities:

By employing the perspective of the indigenous forest people, it is the native Indians, who are portrayed as stewards of the land and wildlife.  The culture is tribal with the logger representing the “outside world” who brings destruction.

Scripture:      Genesis 1: 26-30, Genesis 9:  9-10, 13, 16-17, Matthew 6: 9-15 (various translations would be helpful), Deut. 20: 19 (These passages were selected to follow the emphasis on the environment that this books espouses.)

Theology:     We reflect God’s love and concern for all creation when we love and care for one another and for the plants and animals that are in our world.  God provides all that we need for eternal life – the things we enjoy daily (like food, water, and shelter) are not the ultimate gifts but are a means for us to participate in the stewardship of the earth – through them we can, for example, show hospitality to one another and compassion for living things.  This book would be particularly good to use in a study of environmental theology.

God’s love cannot be limited or stopped.  Although we continue to do things that are wicked in the eyes of God, we can pray for God’s assistance and strength to help us in our disobedience.  We are also accountable to one another in the things we do and say.  As Christians we are to help one another learn and follow the ways of God.

While we await the coming of the Kingdom of God, we can embody the Kingdom in the here and now by living into the commandments of God and the teachings of Christ as we know them from scripture and by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.  The Kingdom is not confined to the future, but can be experienced in Christ even now.  The Kingdom is both as far as heaven and as close as our back yard.

Faith Talk Questions:

A.  Questions on illustrations:

1. Where is God in these illustrations?
2. Why do you think the illustrator depicted “tempted/temptation” the way she did?
3. How would you “paint” temptation?  Does it look the same to everyone?
4. Do the illustrations represent the words that go with them?
5. Do these illustrations make you think differently about the Lord’s Prayer?

B.  Questions on Text:

1. Does the wording of this version of the Lord’s Prayer help you understand it differently than they way you learned it growing up?  In what way?
2. Which word(s) stands out most to you?
3. How do you understand the words trespasses/debts/wicked ways?  Which one do you think most fits this prayer?
4. Why do we pray for God to “let us not be tempted?”
5. Have you ever thought about what this prayer means to other cultures?
6. If you were paraphrasing the Lord’s Prayer for your school, how would it sound?  What words would you use in your version of the prayer?

Review prepared by Nadine Ellsworth-Moran,  MDiv/MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2004