Reviewed by Susan Olasky and World Journalism Institute students

John Brown to James Brown: The Little Farm Where Liberty Budded, Blossomed, and Boogied

Ed Maliskas

John Brown to James Brown traces the history of a piece of property in western Maryland from the 1850s (when John Brown stayed there preparing for his raid on Harpers Ferry) to the 1950s and ’60s (when R&B bands and singers performed there). Maliskas, a pastor with a B.A. in history, did extensive research and conducted many interviews with people who went to hear the bands and dance at the farm. The book will particularly appeal to those with an interest in African-American and music history. —Anna Smith

Taming the Beast: Can we Bridle the Culture of Corruption?

Robert Osburn Jr.

This book integrates imaginative narratives, a humorous storytelling method, down-to-earth characters, and Biblical principles aimed to help readers “bridle the culture of corruption.” Each chapter contains an illustration of the character—an animal, person, or thing—that points to the causes and degrading effects of corruption. Each chapter includes an outline of the main points and questions for discussion. The author spent 30 years training international students to engage, with a Christian worldview, the deepest needs of their societies. —Jessica Setiawan

Mountains of Manhattan

Jenny Lind Schmitt

Helen, a young woman with a mysterious past, enjoys her life as secretary to the head of an international organization opposing communism. She meets an elderly Swiss seamstress with her own secrets. Well-drawn characters and evocative portrayals of mid-century New York and pre-WWII Switzerland help the stories unfold. We learn that suffering refined the character of the old seamstress. Helen learns she’s not the center of the universe, and life is more than fulfilling earthly desires.

Been There: Life Lessons from Parents of Addicted Children

Editors of Next Chapter Press

In Been There, anonymous parents tell of their children’s addiction struggles. Although each account has specific heartaches, together they show remarkable similarities: patterns of lying and stealing, dashed hopes and setbacks, shame that keeps many parents feeling isolated. This will be a useful book for families grappling with addiction, but it could also be helpful for the friends and extended family members of those who suffer.

(Susan Burchett)

AFTERWORD

Susan Burchett’s The Animals of Eden includes wise stories laced with humor, featuring anthropomorphized animals. They provide both natural history and entrées into the Bible. In Abel the Aardvark, a little aardvark ignores his mother’s instruction about how best to get termites out of a mound. He sets out to do it his own way. Mother aardvark isn’t happy—and proceeds to tell him the story of Cain and Abel: how Abel’s sacrifice pleased God because “he knew it was important to first find out what pleases God.” Each story (Bartimaeus the Bat, Cornelius the Chameleon, etc.) comes as a stand-alone book or in a volume containing five stories. —S.O.

Lost Dreams, edited by Dawn Bell (DBell Publishing), is a collection of short essays in which a variety of authors tell their stories of loss. The quality of writing varies from story to story, but the book could be helpful for those dealing with loss.—Seth Humeniuk