The Baby Experiment – Anne Dublin

Publisher:  Dundurn

Pages:  160

Source:  Won an advanced reading copy form LibraryThing

Genre:  Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Jews have long been blamed for everything from plague to anything bad that happened.  They have been persecuted for centuries.  We know from our recent history how Hitler made a point of trying to wipe them out.  But, did you know that in the early 1700’s they were just as persecuted and looked down on?  I didn’t.  Anne Dublin has crafted a story set during this time, in Hamburg, Germany.  It is here we meet a young girl by the name of Johanna Eisen.  She had seen a sign advertising for girls to work in an orphanage.  She lies about her name to get a job to help her mother. She lied about her name because she was sure that with a Jewish name she would not be hired.  Although her mother is against it, she lets Johanna go.  It is immediately clear that there is something wrong in this orphanage.  They are not allowed to speak to the babies and they are not allowed to hold them beyond changing their diaper or tending to their physical needs.  Soon the babies begin to die.

Johanna overhears a conversation between the concerned doctor and one of those in charge.  It is shortly thereafter she decides she must rescue one of the babies she has fallen in love with.  She makes the arrangements to escape and is caught by one of the other girls who wants to go with her.  From this point on the tension is taken up a notch.  Will she succeed in escaping?  What about her mother?  What about her friend Cecile?  What will happen when Cecile finds out Johanna is a Jew? 

Read the book to find out answers to all of these questions and more.  I would gladly recommend this book to my students and anyone who loves historical fiction.  I look forward to reading more by this author.

About the Author: 

Anne Dublin is an award winning author of historical fiction and biographies for young people.  Her books include Bobbie Rosenfeld: The Olympian Who Could Do Everything, winner of the IODE Violet Downey Book Award and the Canadian Jewish Book Award and The Orphan Rescue, finalist for the U.S. National Jewish Book Award.  She lives in Toronto.

Visit her website to see her other books:   http://www.annedublin.ca/

Implosion – Joel Rosenberg

Publisher:  Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Pages:  400

Source: I received a free copy of this book for review from Tyndale House Publishers.

Genre:  Christian Living

From Goodreads:

Bestselling author and international political expert Joel C. Rosenberg tackles the question: Is America an empire in decline or a nation poised for a historic Renaissance?America teeters on a precipice. In the midst of financial turmoil, political uncertainty, declining morality, the constant threat of natural disasters, and myriad other daunting challenges, many wonder what the future holds for this once-great nation. Will history's greatest democracy stage a miraculous comeback, returning to the forefront of the world's economic and spiritual stage? Can America's religious past be repeated today with a third Great Awakening? Or will the rise of China, Russia, and other nations, coupled with the US's internal struggles, send her into a decline from which there can be no return? "Implosion" helps readers understand the economic, social, and spiritual challenges facing the United States in the 21st century, through the lens of biblical prophecy

audience, I tend to think that he's right.

My thoughts:

Joel Rosenberg takes a look at current events with a Biblical eye.  He shows us that no matter how dismal the outlook, there is always reason for hope.  He has taken current events and put them into perspective through a prophetic end-times view.  He has four chapters in his book just devoted to what way we may implode as a nation; war/terror, financial ruin, natural disasters, and finally the rapture.  He showed that spirituality is on a roller-coaster.  When things are bad people turn to God and pray and then when things start to get better we kind of shove God to the side.  An example he gave of this in the book was the way the nation turned to God after the events of 9/11.  Just a couple of months later it was like, okay back to the norm.  We read and know the end-time prophecies but seem to sit back and take the attitude that we can’t do anything about it.  I believe God will continue to use us until HE is done with us.  We need to turn back to Christ and cling to him with all we have.  It is just my opinion that everyone should read this book.  It gives us a great look at where we are headed if we don’t wake up.

Coffee at Little Angels – Nadine Rose Larter

Publisher:  The Katalina Playroom

Pages:  171

Source:  free Kindle copy form author for review

Genre: Adult Contemporary

From Goodreads:

What do you do when you lose a childhood friend? What do you do when you know everyone is expecting you to come home? What do you do if you don't want to?

Phillip, Sarah, Kaitlyn, Caleb, Maxine, Grant, Melanie and Josh grew up in a small town where they spent their high school years together as an inseparable clique. But high school has ended, and they are all living their own “grown up” lives, each under the impression that their group has basically come to an end. When Phillip dies in a hit and run accident, Kaitlyn summons the others to all come back home, forcing a reunion that no one is particularly interested in partaking in.

Coffee at Little Angels follows how each character deals with the death of a childhood friend while at the same time dealing with their own ignored demons after years of separation. Events unfold as the group tries to rekindle the friendship they once shared to honor the memory of a friend they will never see again.”

 My Thoughts:

This was an interesting book. I first thought about the movie “Sweet Home Alabama”  where the main character has to go back to her home town to get her divorce papers signed so she can get remarried.  At the beginning we see her behaving like she doesn’t belong there at all.  As the movie progresses we see her becoming comfortable with who she is inside.  In the book we hear from each character, beginning with the deceased.  We learn what has happened to each of them as they have moved on with their lives, leaving their small town behind.  For most of them, reuniting is painful.  We learn that many of them feel duty bound to attend the funeral even though they don’t like each other very much.  The author truly has a gift of creating characters that are flawed.

In the beginning I really disliked Maxine.  She seemed so cold.  When she returned and we learned the reason for her hard shell, we got to see the real Maxine inside.  We realized she was soft and loving inside.  You could see the growth and change that came forth through deep painful, snips at each other to get to the person that had existed when they were young. 

I loved the way the book ended.  I didn’t expect it and that twist made it all come together.  Phil was the one constant throughout the entire book.  The one who thought he was never enough but we find out was more than enough.  Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Then you must read this book.