Book Review: What They Meant For Evil

What They Meant for Evil
How a Lost Girl of Sudan Found Healing, Peace, and Purpose in the Midst of Suffering

by Rebecca Deng

FaithWords

Christian

Pub Date 08 Sep 2020

I am reviewing a copy of What They Meant For Evil to FaithWords and Netgalley:

We have heard a lot about the lost boys of the Sudan, but what about the 89 girls who also escaped.

What They Meant For Evil is the story of one of the first unaccompanied refugee children of the Sudan to come to America. Rebecca came in 2000. She lost most of her family to South Sudan’s second civil
war.

Rebecca watched murder, destruction, in horror. She endured great hunger and thirst and abuse. But Rebecca would build a life for herself in America a life far away from the war in the Sudan, her experiences though drove her to reach out to other refugees!

I found that What They Meant For Evil was a powerful story of overcoming a childhood that was sadly colored by war, but she did not let the sorrow of her experience stop her from pursuing her dreams. I find this story is worthy of five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Life of the Party

Life of the Party
Poems

by Olivia Gatwood

Random House Publishing Group – Random House

Dial Press Trade Paperback

Poetry

Pub Date 20 Aug 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Life of the Party through Random House/Dial Press Paperback and Netgalley:

Olivia Gatwood attracted an online fan base of millions for her extraordinary spoken-word performances, Olivia Gatwood now puts her own coming-of-age tale together with an investigation into our culture’s romanticization of violence against women. Life of the Party is a collection of poetry and prose that delves into the boundaries between what is real
and what is imagined. This book deals with how a girl grows into a woman in a world that is often violent, and deals with the question what is the difference between perpetrator and victim.

I found that Life of A Party is worthy of four out of five stars!

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Book Review: According to Kate

According to Kate
The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate, Love of Doc Holliday

by Chris Enss

Rowman & Littlefield

Two Dot

Biographies & Memoirs , History

Pub Date 01 Oct 2019

I am reviewing a copy of According to Kate through Rowman & Littlefield and Netgalley:

Kate Elder was born Mary Katherine Horony on November 7 1850 in Hungary. Her Father Michael Horony was a German Physician and her Mother, Katharina Baldizar was a homemaker. Her Father was able to provide well for the family.

In the early 1860’s Political Unrest prompted Doctor Horony to move his family out of Hungary. By November 1862 they settles into a modest home in Davenport
Iowa where Doctor Horony resumes his practice. In March of 1865 Katarina died of typhoid fever, just over a month later Doctor Horony died of an unknown ailment very suddenly and unexpectedly.

The five youngest children went to go live with their oldest sister and her husband. In 1866 Kate and Wilhelmina would be sent to the Ursuline Convent and Boarding School In St Louis in 1866 after family friend Otto Smith was named administrator of the Doctors Estate.

Mary was a rebellious student who didn’t take well to the rules of the Convent.

Doc Holliday’s paramour Big Nose Kate could never get a publisher to give her the large amount of money that she demanded to tell the story of her life, however that didn’t stop her from collecting material she wanted to use in a biography. Over the fifty years Mary Kate Cummings, alias Big Nose Kate, traveled the West she saved letters from her family, musings she had written about her love interests, and life with the notorious John Henry Holliday. (Doc Holiday) This book uses rare, never before published material Big Nose Kate stock-piled in anticipation of writing the tale of her days on the Wild Frontier, the definitive book about the famous soiled dove will finally be told. Kate claims to have witnessed the Gunfight at the OK Corral and exchanged words with the likes of Wyatt Earp and Josephine Marcus. There’s no doubt she embellished her adventures, but that doesn’t take away from their historical importance. She was a controversial figure in a rough and rowdy territory. What she witnessed, the lifestyle she led, and the influential western people she met are fascinating and represent a time period that is very much romanticized.

I give According to Kate four out of five stars!

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Book Review: The Humiliations of Pipi McGee

The Humiliations of Pipi McGee
by Beth Vrabel

Perseus Books, Running Press

Running Press Kids

Children’s Fiction , Middle Grade

Pub Date 17 Sep 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Humiliations Of Pipi McGee through Perseus Books/Running Press and Netgalley:

If you you a middle grade girl, then I would recommend The Humiliations Of Pipi McGee. The book tells the story of Pipi McGee with humor and heart.

For the first eight years of Pipi’s educational life she has experienced a curriculum in humiliation but now she is looking for redemption and maybe even a dose of revenge.

In kindergarten it was her self portrait as bacon with breasts, in fourth grade she peed her pants in the library due to a zipper that was stuck, and she never talks about seventh grade.

Hearing the guidance counselor talk about how high school will be a clean slate for everyone, Pipi McGee fear her humiliations will follow her to the halls of Northbrook High School, she decides to spend her last year in middle school righting the wrongs she had experienced in the earlier years of her education and save others from being picked on the way she was. Pipi McGee is looking for redemption but age will take revenge too.

I give The Humiliations Of Pipi McGee five out of five stars!

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Book Review: George Whitefield

George Whitefield
The First Transatlantic Revivalist

by Nigel D Scotland

Lion Hudson Ltd

Lion Books

Biographies & Memoirs

Pub Date 01 Sep 2019

I am reviewing a copy of George Whitefield: The First Transatlantic Revivalist through Lion Books and Netgalley:

George Whitefield was the youngest of seven children, he was born at the Bell In in the city of Gloucester on December 1714. George had clerical blood in his veins. There is not a lot known about his earliest years but in 1726 he was enrolled in a school ran by the Cathedral.

George Whitefield shared the Christian Message to more people in history than anyone else, before or since, who spoke with an unaided voice.

Whitefield had been a preacher of revival almost from childhood it is then that he prophesied his own destiny.

George Whitefield had a profound impact on the social, religious and political life of both Britain and America. George Whitefield crossed the Atlantic thirteen times and merged as a Celebrity figure. The messages he shared captivated both rich and poor a like! Whitefield shared a new kind of revival that was both spiritually powerful and entertaining at the same time. Whitefield was also a man of contradictions. He loved the Anglican liturgy but would happily break canon law. He was a devoted Puritan yet he was also able to befriend those with more liberal morals. Above all, Whitefield was a driven man, and his overwhelming passion was to preach New Birth in Christ the theme he was to speak on over a thousand times. He place a high value on education , he opposed slavery, cared for orphan children and changed the course of both British and American history.

If you are looking to read about an early revivalist, who traveled often at a time when traveling was a long and dangerous journey I highly recommend George Whitefield: The First Transatlantic Revivalist!

Five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Truth Behind the Lie

The Truth Behind the Lie
A Novel

by Sara Lövestam

St. Martin’s Press

Minotaur Books

Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 27 Aug 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Truth Behind the Lie through St.Martin’s Press/Minotaur and Netgalley:

A six year old girl disappears but calling the police isn’t an option, her desperate Mother Pernilla turns to an unlikely source for help. She finds a cryptic ad online from a private investigator advertising help for those who can’t call the police so she turns to the advertiser in search of help.

This is where Kouplan comes in. He is a refugee from Iran who is in hiding. He had to flee Iran after news of his brothers involvement with a radical newspaper hated by the regime was discovered. Kouplan’s brother disappeared and hasn’t been seen in over four years. He makes a living as a P.I working under the radar until he is legally able to apply for Asylum.

Pernilla’s daughter vanished without a trace and Kouplan is an expert at both living and working off grid. Kouplan is the perfect Pi to help but something in Pernilla’s story is not adding up. He fears she may need more help than he can offer, and her daughters life hangs in the balance.

I give The Truth Behind the Lie five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Camp Club Girls: Alexis

Camp Club Girls: Alexis
by Erica Rodgers

Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Barbour Books

Children’s Fiction , Christian

Pub Date 01 Jun 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Camp Club Girls: Alexis through Barbour Publishing and Netgalley:

There are strange events happening at a nature park in Sacramento, which threatens its closure. Can the Camp Club Girls get to the bottom of the strange happenings that threatens its closure? Find out in Alexis the Sacramento Surprise.

I’m Alexis and the Arizona Escapade Alexis and Elizabeth find themselves soaking up more than just British history during the London Bridge festival located in Lake Havasu, Arizona, they find that the London Bridge at the festival is on the verge of collapse, can they solve the mystery before the London Bridges Collapses.

Is there someone with a selfish scheme in works in Lake Tahoe. When Bailey joins Alexis and her family at a ski resort in Lake Tahoe, there are odd and sometimes dangerous incidents taking place at a nearby animal refuge. Are these things being done by a wildlife animal hating group or something even more menacing? Find out in Alexis and the Lake Tahoe Tumult.

In Alexis and the St. Helens Screamer, Alexis and McKenzie meet up in Washington to shoot a documentary for a kids cable show, but a renewed local interest in Big Foot become a distraction. Can the Camp
Club Girls find out what is feeding the Big Foot Phenomena?

I give Camp Club Girls: Alexis five out of five stars!

Book Review: The Noble Guardian

The Noble Guardian
by Michelle Griep

Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Shiloh Run Press

Christian , Romance

Pub Date 01 Jun 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Noble Guardian through Barbour Publishing Inc/Shiloh Run Press and Netgalley:

After having lived with a family who hated her, now is finally time for Abigail Gilbert to experience love. Abby finds herself setting off on a journey across England to marry one of the most prestigious gentlemen in the land—until highwaymen upset her plans and threaten her life.

Samuel Thatcher a horse patrol captain arrives just in time to save Abby. She’s simply another victim in a job he has grown to despise. He has grown tired of the dark side of humanity, he has plans to buy land and retire.

Abby convinces him to escort her for the rest of the journey. He finally agrees after she offers him something she desperately needs to achieve his goal, which means money. If he delivers her safely he will have more than enough to buy property.

This begins an impossible trek for cynical lawmen and the proper lady. Each will be forever changed by the time they reach Abby’s betrothed that is if they don’t kill each other first or fall in love.

I give The Noble Guardian five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: A Perfect Silhouette

A Perfect Silhouette
by Judith Miller

Bethany House

Bethany House Publishers

Christian

Pub Date 06 Aug 2019

I am reviewing a copy of A Perfect Silhouette through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:

This book transports us to 1850 Manchester New Hampshire where we meet Mellie Blanchard who takes a job at a mill in order to help provide for her family. Looking for additional earnings she approached a daguerreotype shop owner asking that he hire her to make paper cuttings or silhouette portraits for those who are unable to pay for the expensive daguerreotypes.

After a particularly charming customer catches Mellie off guard with his broad smile and twinkling eyes catch her off guard, when the customer asks to escort her home, the seeds of a romance start to blossom! The pieces of her new life seemingly fall perfectly into place. When her new venture leads to an unexpected opportunity, she finds herself confronted with the reality that the truth is not always what it seems!

Will Mellie, who has secrets of her own, find happiness in the new life she has built for herself in the busy mill town?

I give A Perfect Silhouette, five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: A Song of Joy

A Song of Joy
by Lauraine Snelling

Bethany House

Bethany House Publishers

Christian

Pub Date 06 Aug 2019

I am reviewing a copy of A Song of Joy through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:

In this book we will be transported back to 1911 Minnesota. Nilda Carlson finds herself torn between society life in Blackduck and spending time with her family on the farm. She is employed by Mrs. Schoenleber who is giving her more and more responsibility and experience which includes recommending new opportunities for her philanthropy. Nilda who is still new to America herself focuses on the areas immigrant community. But she finds herself having to fight to get her ideas accepted by donors and locals alike.

One of her greatest joys at the time is her weekly piano lessons with handsome Schoolteacher Fritz. But just as Nilda is coming to the realization she has feelings for him, a young affluent, stylish woman moves to Blackburn monopolizing all of Fritz’s attention. Can Nilda hope to compete with such a Sophisticated beauty?

I give A Song of Joy five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!