This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Karen A. Wyle Releases New Nature Picture Book
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Kudos to Emily Jane Hills Orford - Winner of the Tales2Inspire Reviewer of the Month Award
TITLE: Tales2Inspire ~ The Diamond Collection - Series V
SUBTITLE: Stories of Turning the Page
SERIES TITLE: Tales2Inspire ~ The Diamond Collection
AUTHOR: Anthology of authors of contest winning inspiring stories
AUTHOR'S WEBSITE: https://www.tales2inspire.com
GENRE: Inspirational, non-fiction personal stories
AGE / INTEREST LEVEL: 21 +
PAGE COUNT: 236
PUBLISHER: Independently Published
REVIEWED BY: Emily Jane Hills Orford
REVIEW LINK: https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/tales2inspire
X PERMISSION RECEIVED FROM REVIEWER TO REPOST THIS REVIEW
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
“Change is the current that drives our lives.” Janet Rice wrote these poignant words in her creative nonfiction story, Bygone Brooklyn. Change is also what makes our stories so empowering, so sensitive and compassionate, and so important. Life is all about stories; it’s what defines us as humans. Stories reveal our history, but stories also heal, nourish, and make us whole, make us complete, like the protective powers of the moonstone. Stories like a father hearing for the first time from an adult daughter he never knew existed; a woman who explores her connection to Holocaust survivors after attending a talk given at her grandson’s school; a child who blends in well with children of different races and doesn’t experience her own sense of alienation until her comfort zone, her home, changes; a teacher struggling with the pandemic-infused new teaching format and, stressed to the limits of endurance, seeks another path to follow. Powerful stories and there are many, many more that will open your hearts and minds to the depth of the human spirit and the strength to survive against all odds.
Lois W. Stern’s book, Tales2Inspire – The Diamond Collection - Series V, is a compendium of stories from the two Moonstone Collection anthologies. The stories collected cover a number of topics, from grief to love, from family tragedies to triumphs, and so much more. The binding theme of these stories is the ability of the author of each story to overcome the trials, the challenges, and to find another way forward, to accommodate the change that life presented. Like the heartwarming stories of Chicken Soup for the Soul and many others like Trisha Faye, these stories will have you laughing and crying and often cheering on the author, as we all can relate to these life-changing, challenging moments. Coupled with photographs, these stories are meant to be savored and enjoyed, one at a time.
Sunday, February 20, 2022
The Bridges We Will Build by Kacie LeCompte Renfro Book Review
What if read for people who have thoughts about Jesuit Volunteer Corps or other poverty schools
by Carolyn Wilhelm
A "what if" read for people who have thoughts about volunteering and living in another city for the Jesuit or other diverse domestic service programs. The book centers on the interwoven lives of a few women and how they came to be paid or unpaid workers at a diverse primary school. From different backgrounds, life experiences, ages, and religions, they form a tight bond beginning with loving the students. Refugee and immigrant lives are explained so well readers will truly understand what they go through, and some endure unimaginable hardships yet survive. A story from the BBC alerts one of the retired volunteers, Lydia, to the fact that one teaching assistant has something very personal in her background she would rather not reveal, and keeps the secret. She does not reveal the information to anyone until a gathering in the cafeteria and as a witness in court.
A riveting read yet heartwarming book that might inspire actual volunteer participation for the brave at heart.
Highly recommended for those considering working in a diverse environment and teachers who dearly love children, as well as those who would like to understand more about the lives of refugees.
Saturday, November 6, 2021
Carolyn Wilhelm Reviews Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Balls' Christmas Poetry
Title: Blooming Red
Subtitle: Christmas Poetry for the Rational
Series: Celebration Series of Chapbooks
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Magdalena Ball
Publisher: Indy
Publisher Website Address: https://howtodoitfrugally.com
Author Email Address: HoJoNews@aol.com
ISBN-10: 1449948243
ISBN-13: 978-1449948245
ASIN: B004GXB4AW
Price: $5.95 Paperback, $2.99 Kindle
Page Count: 60 pages
Formats: PB, Kindle
Reviewed by Carolyn Wilhelm
Profound and moving poetry reflecting the reality of Christmas, which may not be that of commercials and photos. Early rising when the children are young, aching for those times when they are grown and perhaps have moved away. Howard-Johnson writes of the "echoes of foil tearing, and crushing of frail tissue." She writes the baby in the nativity set is always the first to go missing.
Ball writes about how time is different for children, and "we touched each moment with tiny, trembling hands." She was a child six million years ago, according to one of her poems. She says, ". . . after hours at the mall, belief wears thin."
The poetry is so beautiful, and my review cannot begin to do justice to the writing. This is a book to read again and again. It is the right size to add to a holiday card and would make a perfect present.
More About the Reviewer
Carolyn Wilhelm reviews for Midwest Book Reviews and The New Book Review. She is a veteran educator who builds teaching aids for parents and teachers, many of them free and available on Pinterest. It is an especially valuable time during these long months of teaching via Zoom and working in isolated situations.
Saturday, October 9, 2021
Holli Kenley Reviews Dr. Bob Rich's Aniko
Metadata
Title AnikĆ³: The stranger who loved me
Author Dr. Bob Rich
Publisher Anina’s Book Company
ISBN 1-877053-16-3
Link https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/bobs-booklist#aniko
Reviewer Holli Kenley
A Generational Story of Love and Loyalty and the Losses Within Each
When I began reading AnkiĆ³: The Stranger Who Loved Me, I was eager to devour a biography. Knowing it was a generational story of a Jewish family set in Hungary during World War II, I prepared myself for an intense and intriguing read. Dr. Bob Rich delivers on every level. I could go on and on about the incredible depth of research into his mother’s life and how it was exquisitely and intricately woven into complex historical events of the time. I could share how much I learned from the unearthing of one family’s saga during the horrors of the Holocaust and of wartime atrocities, but after finishing AnikĆ³, I took away so much more.
Viewing this biography from the lens of a marriage and family therapist as well as someone who knows the heartache and heartbreak of a broken family, I was drawn into the lives of every character – not just AnikĆ³. For me, this was a story of a woman’s profound love – for her husbands, her children, her relatives, her work, and for herself. And yet, those strong bonds of passion carried with them demands for attention and time, revealing the damage resulting from prioritized and competing loyalties.
I found myself connecting with Robi (Bob) and his brother JĆ³zsef, especially as children and adolescents. Secure attachments to parental figures are imperative to healthy developmental growth. In the absence of unconditional love, acceptance, and belonging (especially from Anti), both boys struggled with emotional detachment and grief, as they weighed their love for their mother and from her against her loyalties to people and things which served her. As children and young adults, these “losses” are hard to identify and understand. Later in life, they are even harder to reconcile and accept.
I admire the raw openness with which Dr. Rich shares this generational story. As I concluded the book, my heart was warmed that Bob did not succumb to bitterness or resentment. And I was moved by the power of his resilience. In choosing a path of perseverance, Bob drew upon his strength, courage, and commitment to wellness in leading a life of authenticity, integrity, and purpose.
AnikĆ³ is, as I stated, so much more than a biography. It is a story of love and loyalty and the losses within each. And it is the story of one man surviving all of it.
Holli Kenley, MA is the author of several powerful books on surviving childhood trauma, includingDaughters Betrayed By Their Mothers: Moving From Brokenness To Wholeness.
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Elise Cooper Reviews Nicole Trope's "The Boy in the Photo"
Title: The Boy In The Photo
Author: Nicole Trope
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pub Date: June 22nd, 2021
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
ISBN: 9781538754344
Purchase on Amazon
Reviewed by Elise Cooper
The Boy In The Photo by Nicole Trope is a suspenseful read. This Australian author makes her US debut and does it with a bang. She takes readers on an emotional roller coaster involving love, hurt, heartbreak, and joy.
“The idea started with a story on the news about a woman who was fighting to get her children back from Lebanon. He ex-husband had taken them to visit his family and refused to come home. She ended up hiring an organization who specializes in grabbing your child away from the abducting spouse and returning them to you. The plan failed and she was left distraught. The courts in Lebanon were of no help because the country is not part of the Hague Convention on child abduction. I wondered how long it would be until she was able to see her children again and how they would turn out if they ever returned to Australia. They had been taken from one culture into another and were still very young. I tried to imagine how their father would have explained that they were never going to see their mother again and I realized that he must have only had his own interests at heart.”
There is clarification in the story between parental alienation versus parental abduction. “I wanted to show how parental alienation is a term used when one parent turns their child against the other parent. As in the book, it’s mostly a subtle form of abuse because the parent doing the alienating would not simply say, ‘I hate your mother she’s awful.’ What is done is a consistent breaking down of the child’s faith in the other parent. ‘Your mother could have called you today, but she didn’t want to. I would let you do this, but your mother wouldn’t. No one loves you like I do. Your mother is too busy with work to talk to you. You make your mother angry.’”
“While I showed in the story how parental abduction is when one parent steals a child from another parent. It’s kidnapping but I’m sure that in some cases the child may not even know it’s happening. It’s a form of abuse and control over the other person in the relationship. It’s a way to make a former partner pay for hurting you by using the child as a pawn. Men or women who are abusive and controlling often use their children as pawns when the relationship breaks down. The child is seen as something to own rather than a person with any rights. Greg took away what Megan loves most, Daniel, to cause her pain.”
The story is told in two parts: six years ago, and six years later. Megan Kade divorced her abusive husband, Greg Stanthorpe. Intending to get Megan back or to hurt her he kidnaps their son and goes off the grid.
“Greg manipulated Megan and Daniel. He took away Megan’s identity as a person. There is a scene in the book where she is afraid to order a glass of wine. Her brother asks her ‘what happened.’ She does not even really know. It starts out as a tiny compromise, and she felt it was not a big deal until eventually everything adds up. With Daniel, Greg kept him from attending school and was always told not to question. Having raised teenagers when they have questions besides going to their parent they ask friends, teachers, and go on the Internet. These were all denied to Daniel because Greg isolated him. Daniel had the same relationship with Greg as Megan did. They wanted to appease him, feared his anger, and did not want to do anything wrong.”
Six years later the boy, Daniel, appears at a New South Wales police station, reporting that his dad died in a fire. Daniel is distant, volatile, and in some ways resistant to Megan. He believes all the horror stories told to him by his father. The flashbacks of how both Megan and Daniel feel in the six-year gap emphasizes their grief and apprehension.
“Daniel was a sweet little boy, adored by his mother and just an ordinary six-year-old. At twelve he is confused, distant, aggressive, and filled with uncertainty at his place in the world. He struggles with trusting his mother after everything he has been told including that she no longer wanted him.”
Friday, August 27, 2021
I Miss the Rain in Africa by Nancy Wesson Discussion Questions
Title: I Miss
the Rain in Africa: Peace Corps as a Third Act
Discussion questions for book clubs and secondary teachers1. Why did Wesson end up in Uganda? Where was she supposed to go at first? Do you think she realized how Peace Corps Volunteers would be housed? What is the name of chapter one, and why?2. How did the most recent war led by Kony leave the citizens with almost insurmountable problems? What were his weapons? Where is he now? Can you imagine living through such an ordeal?3. Given the situation of most of the people in northern Uganda, how do you think the Peace Corps Volunteers felt about how effective they could be at first? How did Wesson's thoughts change near the end of the book as she reflected on her projects?4. Explain travel difficulties from the point of view of a Westerner in Uganda.5. Why was the southern part of Uganda so different from the north?6. Of the 46 volunteers, 34 remained after about a year. What do you think caused some people to leave? Was it understandable or not?7. How did the pillowcases project begin and develop? Did it surprise you that Wesson had to design her projects, such as the children's library? Were you expecting the Peace Corps would have had job descriptions and just sent people to locations to fit into predetermined roles?8. How was time different in Africa? How were schedules for travel different?9. Discuss the story Wesson shared about getting dental help, traveling in the mud and dark on the way to and from the bus station.10. Why was returning home also a challenge? How had things changed? How had the author changed?
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Carnival Lights by Chris Stark Book Club Discussion Questions
By: Chris Stark
Publisher: Modern History Press
Publisher Website: https://www.modernhistorypress.com/
Author Website: https://www.christinestark.com/
ISBN-10: 1615995781
ISBN-13: 978-1615995783
Price: Hardcover $37.95, Paperback $24.95, Kindle $6.95
Page Count: 268
Formats (HC, PB, Kindle)
"The grief of her people lived within her and was a way of knowing, with or without her conscious understanding."Stark, Chris. Carnival Lights (p. 221). Modern History Press. Kindle Edition.
10 Discussion Questions for Carnival Lights
“Get this,” the woman said, “a couple of farm girls showing me the city.”Stark, Chris. Carnival Lights (p. 118). Modern History Press. Kindle Edition.
5. Why do they decide or were told to leave several of the places they briefly stayed? What was the one place they wanted to stay? Why?
6. When in Minneapolis, Stark again sets up the reasons why the girls do not try to find help. Why would they not reach out to a social worker? Why do you think the church where they sat on the steps asked them to leave, probably knowing they were in trouble?
7. How does the author explain most of Sher's family acceptance and knowledge of her as contrasted with what her mother thought:
"Sher’s mother had admonished Sher for her broad shoulders, her narrow hips, and wearing her brother’s hand-me-downs, as if these oddities sprang from Sher alone, and did not come from the loins of her parents, from her family, from the Creator."
Stark, Chris. Carnival Lights (p. 195). Modern History Press. Kindle Edition.
8. Were you expecting Sher and Kris would meet different people and find different problems than they did? How were the things that happened to them in Minneapolis worse or better than what you thought?
9. Why do you think they didn't go home but remembered the good people and things that happened? Their memories helped them cope. Could they have gone home?
10. The foreshadowing of the ending strongly suggested something terrible would happen. Did you expect what happened or not? How did close calls to people who seemed to think about helping them add to the plot's tension? How was the ending both happy and sad?
Why do you think Stark wrote this book? What was the overall message?
Carolyn Wilhelm, Reviewer
BS Elementary Education, MS Gifted Education, MA K-12 Curriculum and Instruction
Wise Owl Factory LLC
Thursday, August 5, 2021
Nomadland Film and Book Discussion Questions Free Instant Download
TITLE: Nomadland
SUBTITLE: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century
AUTHOR: Jessica Bruder
AUTHOR'S WEBSITE: https://www.jessicabruder.com/bio
GENRE: Gerontology Social Sciences, Economic Conditions (Books), US Travel Guide
PAGES: 288
PUBLISHER: Norton
Link to Amazon
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century was written by Jessica Bruder. Made into an award-winning film, it shows a van-dwelling working nomad named Fern. Fern lost her husband and home when the company town shut down. She started traveling to find work. Written, edited, produced, and directed by ChloƩ Zhao, it stars Frances McDormand as Fern. I find it so interesting that McDormand also helped produce the film after living in a camper van and interviewing itinerant Americans. I rented it on YouTube, as I don't have Hulu.
Click this link for your free instant PDF download with the questions
The story is loosely based on true events regarding the company town of Empire, Nevada. United States Gypsum closed the mine and the town in 2011. People with children were allowed to stay through the end of the school year. Empire mining bought the company in 2016, reopening part of the operations and homes. I love stories based on real events.
Film Discussion Questions
The book was nonfiction. Did it seem like it would be nonfiction if the movie was watched first? Some people may have been surprised. The author, Jessica Bruder, certainly went to great lengths to interview nomads, stayed in the campground with them, and even worked with them. She realized she always had the choice to leave the lifestyle where they did not have such a choice.
Thank you for reading, Carolyn Wilhelm, Wise Owl Factory LLCWednesday, August 4, 2021
Dr. Bob Rich Reviews Laura Persons New Book of Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: | Loving Healing Press |
Author: | Laura Persons |
Illustrator |
Noah Hrbek |
ISBN-13: | PB 978-1-61599-547-9 / |
List Price: | PB $ 14.95 |
Trim: | 8.5 x 11 (26 pp) |
Audience: | 4-6 years |
Pub Date: | 12/01/2020 |
Genres: | JUVENILE FICTION/Social Issues/Death & Dying |
| JUVENILE FICTION/Concepts/Body* |
|
Synopsis
Lost But Found: A Boy's Story of Grief and Recoverydeals with one of the toughest issues a parent may ever have to face--explaining to a child that a loved one has died. Often, to protect them, children are left out of the grieving process. This book allows adults to travel with a young boy as he works to make sense of his loss--and, in turn, their own.
I wrote this book to allow children to ask questions, and talk about their fears and feelings. What I have found is that often children have better insights on these hard life questions than the adults in the room!
Reviewed by Dr. Bob Rich
I have tears in my eyes as I am writing this review.
This is as much thanks to the beautiful illustrations by Noah Hrbek as to the beautiful, simple words of a loving mother and grandmother. This little book is perfect for small children who have suffered the loss of a parent. Sadly, in our world, riddled by COVID, insane gun violence, and the increase in terrible weather events due to climate change, deaths in the family are far more common than they should be.
However, Lost but Found will also be excellent for little children who are not grieving, because it teaches empathy and compassion.
And it is even excellent for old grandfathers like me.
Do yourself a favour and buy a copy for a small child in your life.