Book Review: Gunner’s Run

“Pilot to gunners. Keep your eyes open. We’re almost to target. By now every German fighter in the area knows where to find us.”

I pressed the intercom button to respond to Lt. Conover. “Bring ‘em on. We’re ready.”

Nineteen year old Jim Yoder has his life under control until he ends up a fugitive in Hitler’s third Reich. As he journeys across Europe Jim encounters other fugitives, traitors and resistance fighters. Will he make it home to tell his father and the girl he loves that he trusts God?

I have read this book three times. Once on my own, and twice out loud. I started reading it to my dad while we were on vacation, but we didn’t finish till we got home. Then I had to start it again because my mom and brother wanted to know what happened before the part they heard! Everyone enjoyed it, and I highly recommend Gunner’s Run.

Audience: 10 and up

Make sure you come back on Wednesday for an interview with Rick Barry, author of Gunner’s Run.

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 25, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 25, 2012

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Book Review: Beauty

“Did I not tell your father that no harm should come to his daughter?” I opened my mouth, and then shut it again, and he continued sadly: “No, you need say nothing. I am a Beast, and a Beast has no honour. But you may trust my word: You are safe here, in my castle and anywhere on my lands.”

Though not normally a fan of fairy tales, this retelling of Beauty and the Beast is a real favorite of mine. When Beauty’s father looses his fortune and the family is forced to move to the country, Beauty adapts to their new life faster than her sisters. She considers herself happy in her new home until her father returns from a trip with a horrifying story.

To save her father from death at the hands of  the Beast, Beauty volunteers to leave her family and live at the Beast’s mysterious castle. There she meets him, and after her initial fear begins to fade…Well, I would love to tell you the whole story, but you should read it for yourself.

Audience: 10 through adult (very enjoyable read and not overly romantic)

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 18, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 18, 2012

http://leahegood.com/2012/05/18/book-review-beauty/

Help a Family Adopt

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1: 27

Today I am departing from the normal history on Monday routine to post about something even closer to my heart. Adoption. For today, one adoption in particular. I’m not normally a fundraiser kind of person, but this is something well worth spreading the news about.

A family we know is working on adopting a child from Ethiopia. Instead of writing my thoughts on adoption I’ll leave you the link to their blog, The Turner Times. In the archives is their first adoption story, and it is more powerful than anything I might write.

Right now the Turners are trying to raise money for the two trips they are required to take to Ethiopia in order to bring their new daughter home.  You can help them do that by clicking here.

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 14, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 14, 2012

http://leahegood.com/2012/05/14/help-a-family-adopt/

Book Review: Vinegar Boy

The memory of his promise turned bitter on his tongue. He had told the man he would be back; he had left the vinegar as a pledge. Jesus would need the vinegar.

Born with a birthmark dominating one side of his face, Vinegar Boy has grown up nameless and despised by Jews and Romans alike. His task his to bring drugged vinegar to men crucified at Golgotha. Only kind old Nicolaus cares for him, but Vinegar Boy will not become his son while he is still marred. When he hears that a man named Jesus is working miracles, he is filled with hope. That hope fades when he meets Jesus at Calvary. There may still be time for a miracle, but the boy cannot bring himself to ask a favor of a man in so much pain. Can he bring comfort to those mourning the loss of the man they love?

I read this two weeks ago while I was sick and couldn’t put it down. Vinegar Boy’s compassion in the face of his own dissapointment makes him a character well worth loving. You will route for him from the first page till the last and put the book down with a smile.

Audience: 10 and up

Amazon Page

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 11, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 11, 2012

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Stonewall Jackson’s Death

After a great victory at the battle of Chancellorsville, General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson was returning to camp with his men when they were assumed to be a band of Yankees and fired upon by their own men. Jackson was hit three times, taking two of the bullets in his left arm, which was later amputated. He died on May 10th of complications. As death approached, Jackson faced it in the same way he faced life, with courage and faith. On May 3rd, he told a visiting chaplain,

I am sure that my Heavenly Father designs this affliction for my good. I am perfectly satisfied, that either in this life, or in that which is to come, I shall discover that what is now regarded as a calamity, it is a blessing. If it were in my power to replace my arm, I would not dare to do it, unless I could know it was the will of my Heavenly Father.

To his wife he said,

I know you would gladly give your life for me, but I am perfectly resigned. Do not be sad. I hope I may yet recover. Pray for me, but always remember in your prayers to use the petition, “Thy will be done.”

Delirious in the last hours of his life, he began giving orders as if still on the battlefield, but left the orders unfinished and, after remaining silent for a while, uttered his final words.

Let us pass over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.

Read more at:
Southern Historical Society Papers
Wikipedia Article on Stonewall Jackson

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 8, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 8, 2012

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Book Review: Raiders from the Sea

Her father spoke straight into her heart. “Briana, if a test comes, remember how much we love you. And know that you’ll have the courage to win.”

When Briana–or Bree as she is usually called–is captured by viking raiders, she needs every bit of courage she has. Enslaved by an arrogant young man, Bree clings to her faith to see her through and seeks God’s help and guidance.

This book is the first of the Viking Quest series. When a friend first mentioned the series to me, I said I wasn’t interested in the vikings. Thankfully she knew me better and convinced me to read them. My only protest when I reached the end of Raiders from the Sea was that she hadn’t lent me book two! This has become my favorite series. I highly recommend this book and the four sequels.

Audience: All ages (independent reading, age 10 and up)

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 4, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on May 4, 2012

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William Linn: Chaplain of the House of Representatives

The idea for having a chaplain at the House of Representatives stemmed from Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion that the Continental Congress be opened with Prayer.

We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel . I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning…

William Linn, pictured to the left, was the first chaplain of the House of Representatives. A graduate of Princeton University (then called the College of New Jersey), he was elected to this post on May 1, 1789. Linn died in 1808.

Read more at The History of the Chaplaincy.

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on April 30, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on April 30, 2012

http://leahegood.com/2012/04/30/william-linn-chaplain-of-the-house-of-representatives/

Book Review: The Lost Clue


Mrs. Douglass, I am a poor man now. I cannot continue in my regiment, and so far no path in life has been opened to me; but I assure you of this–that I shall look upon the four thousand pounds you have lost as a debt binding upon me as long as I live, and that, if God prospers me in the future, every single penny of it shall be repaid. I will not wait, however, until I am able to restore the whole capital, for that I fear will be the work of a lifetime; but I will send you from time to time such money as I am able to save, and I will not allow myself a single indulgence of any kind whatever until the full amount is in your hands.

Though the financial ruin is not his fault, and is as much–if not more–his own ruin as that of the Douglass family, young Kenneth Fortesque feels duty bound to repay what they have lost. It was, after all, his father’s foolishness that lost money that was not his to loose. In the days and years ahead, he and Marjorie remain determined to bend their own wills to that of God’s. In Marjorie’s words,

Do you remember that God says He is like that eagle? And so He rakes up the comfortable home nest, and lets us feel the prickles of pain and sorrow, not because He is cruel, not because He wants to punish us, but because He wants us to rise to something brighter and better.

What brighter and better days await Kenneth Fortesque and Marjorie Douglass?

Audience: All ages (reading level is probably ages 11 and up)

NOTE: Written in 1907, this book not only has good values, it is also easy to read and very entertaining.

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by Leah Elizabeth Good on April 27, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Leah Elizabeth Good on April 27, 2012

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