by Angie Thomas
Whoa! This was an excellent book and I highly recommend it–for Americans especially. It is extremely well written and has a page-turning story line with engaging characters. Deals sensitively, intelligently, and with nuance on issues of racism and police brutality in America. This is an important book! Technically it is young adult fiction, but unfortunately I wouldn’t give it to my young teens. Not necessarily because of the profanity (which is on pretty much every page), but because a couple of scenes are more sexually explicit than I want my teenager exposed to. But adults? Please read this book.
Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century
by Tanya Crossman
This book is the result of hundreds of conversations with third-culture kids. It’s eye-opening and enlightening for any of us who are raising them, teaching them, or loving them.
Stronger Than Death: How Annalena Tonelli Defied Terror and Tuberculosis in the Horn of Africa
by Rachel Pieh Jones
This is a well-researched, well-written biography of Annalena Tonelli, an Italian Catholic who gave up everything to help the poor and sick in the Horn of Africa. It’s a thought-provoking, disturbing but compelling book, especially for anyone who is involved in cross-cultural humanitarian work. Read it with a friend, because it provokes a lot of important questions without necessarily providing answers.
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
by Caroline Fraser
I spent a good portion of my childhood pretending I was Laura Ingalls, so I had to read this book. It is a fascinating account of what pioneer life really was like–and therefore shattered my life-long fantasy of wishing I was born in the 19th century. Despite it’s dream-smashing quality, it was a worthwhile read. And after I finished it, I went back and read (most of) Laura’s books again–and still enjoyed them!
by Katja Rowell
A must-read on food issues for anyone raising adopted children.
Suffering is Never for Nothing
by Elisabeth Elliot
A new book by Elisabeth Elliot?!? I’m there! This is a transcription of a series of talks that Elisabeth gave on suffering. As always, it is full of grace, wisdom, and humor, reinforcing my opinion that I chose a worthy hero.
by Nicole Chung
This is a memoir written by a Korean-American adoptee who was raised in a white family. I highly recommend this book for adoptive parents, and I will certainly encourage Grace to read it in the next year or two. Though parts of it were so painful to read as an adoptive mom, it ultimately was a story of beauty from ashes.
King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terrorism and Heroism in Colonial Africa
by Adam Hochschild
It’s hard to recommend a book that is full of so much of the depravity of man, but it’s also necessary–especially for anyone who has any interest in Africa. This book is the account of the history of what is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, and how King Leopold of Belgium decided that he had the right to own it and rape its resources for his own personal profit (though he never even stepped foot on the continent). I read history like this and am not surprised when some Africans are intent on purging Americans and Europeans from their countries.
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