Mudbound

A sobering look at the past with little hope for uplift

Coco

Coco offers a better and deeper message for children than the shopworn “be true to yourself”

A Christmas transformation

A heartwarming yarn about the origin of Dickens’ Christmas Carol reminds us of the rebirth we all need

New or recent releases

Mary’s (and Isaiah’s, and Gabriel’s) song

Immanuel looks at the birth of Christ from different perspectives

Persevering saints

Repressing Christians in China may be harder than government officials think

Complicated plots

2017 Young Adult National Book Award winner and finalists

Recent nonfiction books

A walk on the dark side

A look at Sally Quinn’s ‘religion’

A middle-school story

Predictable but engrossing Wonder shows a boy who’s trying to fit in