NetGalley Book Reviews: June

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June Reviews (Title, Author, Publication Date):

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer, 29 Oct 2019

How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World

#TheRuthlessEliminationOfHurry #NetGalley

Something with a foreword by John Ortberg catches my eye as I enjoyed his "If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat" (2001).

Part one: The  problem

Part two: The solution

Intermission: Wait, what are the spiritual disciplines again?

Part three: Four practices for unhurrying your life

Epilogue: A quiet life

A short workbook with exercises to get you started on each of the four practices is available at johnmarkcomer.com/howtounhurry

The Notes at the end are fairly humorous.

Description (from NetGalley)

“Who am I becoming?”

 

That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words:

 

“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.”

 

It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil.

 

Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.

Lead Like It Matters to God, Richard Stearns, 30 Mar 2021

Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Driven World

#LeadLikeItMatterstoGod #NetGalley

Chapters:

1. Leadership Changes the World

2. The Plans I Have for You (autobiography)

3. Surrender

4. Sacrifice

5. Trust

6. Excellence

7. Love

8. Humility

9. Integrity

10. Vision

22. Courage

12. Generosity

13. Forgiveness

14. Self-Awareness

15. Balance

16. Humor

17. Encouragement

18. Perseverance

19. Listening

20. Taking God to Work

Each chapter begins with a scripture, a leadership principle, and a quote or two. Notes with sources are included at the end of the book.

Description (from NetGalley)

Richard Stearns is a leader who has been tested as a CEO in both secular companies and also as the head of one of the world’s largest Christian ministries. After stints as CEO of Parker Brothers and then Lenox, Stearns accepted the invitation to leave his corporate career to become the president of World Vision US, where he became the longest serving president in their seventy-year history. During his tenure there he implemented corporate best practices, lowering overheads while tripling revenues. His leadership in calling the American church to respond to some of the greatest crises of our time, notably the HIV and AIDS pandemic, and the global refugee crisis, challenged Christians to embrace a bold vision for compassion, mercy, and justice. 

In Lead Like It Matters to God, Stearns shares the leadership principles he has learned over the course of his remarkable career. As a leader who has navigated both secular and sacred spaces, Stearns claims that the values Christian leaders embrace in their workplaces are actually more important than the results they achieve—that God is more concerned about a leader's character than a leader's success. With wisdom, wit, and biblical teaching, Stearns shares captivating stories of his life journey and unpacks seventeen crucial values that can transform leaders and their organizations. When leaders embody values such as integrity, courage, excellence, forgiveness, humility, surrender, balance, generosity, perseverance, love, and encouragement, they not only improve their witness for Christ, they also shape institutions, influence culture, improve team performance, and create healthy workplaces where people can flourish. Through this book, Stearns will inspire a new generation of Christian leaders to boldly take their values into their workplaces to tangibly demonstrate the character of Christ, the love of Christ, and the truth of Christ as they live out their faith in full view of others.

Love Like You Mean It, Bob Lepine, 07 Jul 2020

The Heart of a Marriage that Honors God

#LoveLikeYouMeanIt #NetGalley

Chapters:

1. Everything Minus Love = Nothing

2. An odd Place to Begin

3. The Thing That is Better Than Life Itself

4. It's Not All About Me

5. It's My Way on the Love Way

6. Keep Calm and Keep Loving

7. It's Never Tight to Do What's Wrong

8. The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But

9. Be a Bulldog

10. Filling Up and Pouring Out

Each chapter has a few "Talk Together" section for reflection and discussion.

Includes a Notes section at the end showing sources.

Description (from NetGalley)

Every year, millions of men and women stand before friends and family to pledge their lifelong love to each other. Do they know what they’re getting into?

 

Unfortunately, many people have a shallow, superficial idea of what marriage is. As a result, many marriages don’t last, and many more married couples are trudging along looking for something more.

 

Love Like You Mean It gives husbands and wives a biblical understanding of what real love looks like in marriage by unpacking the ten attributes of genuine love listed in 1 Corinthians 13. Bob Lepine, marriage and family expert and host of the nationally syndicated radio program FamilyLife Today, helps husbands and wives discover that it’s not primarily emotions that define marital love, but actions and decisions that fuel emotions and cause marital love to grow.

 

Every person who is married, would like to be married one day, or wants to understand more about the biblical vision of marriage will find what they’re looking for as they dive deep into Love Like You Mean It.

Indigenous History Reading List: Non-Fiction

Picture Books

Grades 2-6

Non-fiction books

Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow, written by Aimée Craft; illustrated by Luke Swinson 

The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty.

On the banks of the river that have been Mishomis’s home his whole life, he teaches his granddaughter to listen—to hear both the sounds and the silences, and so to learn her place in Creation. Most importantly, he teaches her about treaties—the bonds of reciprocity and renewal that endure for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow.

Accompanied by illustrations by Luke Swinson and an author’s note at the end, Aimée Craft communicates the importance of understanding an Indigenous perspective on treaties.

(Description from Goodreads) 

Truth and Reconciliation (Indigenous Life In Canada), written by Simon Rose

Published in 2017

Table of Contents:

1. Different Cultures

2. Residential and Day Schools

3. The School System

4. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

5. The Commission's Work

6. The Future

Includes glossary, reading list, index.

Sharing Our Truths / Tapwe, written by Henry Beaver, Mindy Willett, Eileen Beaver; photographer Tessa MacIntosh 

Join the authors as they lead the children through important Cree cultural experiences, tell stories, and share their wisdom and truths with compassion. Learn the protocols for building a tipi, trapping a beaver, laying the grandfather stones for a fire, smudging, and harvesting salt from the Salt Plains in Wood Buffalo National Park. In Cree, tapwe means "it is so" or "the truth." In this, the ninth book in This Land is Our Storybook series, Henry writes, "We can tell you what to do with the truths we share in this book, but we hope that reading our story will help you get to know us a little better so that together we can make this nation a place we can all be proud of."

(Description from Goodreads)  

Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, written by Monique Gray Smith 

Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by survivors and their families. Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action. 

(Description from Goodreads)  

As Long as the Rivers Flow, written by Larry Loyie, Constance Brissenden; illustrated by Heather D. Holmlund (Illustrator)

Winner of the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

In the 1800s, the education of First Nations children was taken on by various churches, in government-sponsored residential schools. Children were forcibly taken from their families in order to erase their traditional languages and cultures.

As Long as the Rivers Flow is the story of Larry Loyie's last summer before entering residential school. It is a time of learning and adventure. He cares for an abandoned baby owl and watches his grandmother make winter moccasins. He helps the family prepare for a hunting and gathering trip. 

(Description from Goodreads)  

Online Resources

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

We Were Not the Savages: Residential Schools

Where Are the Children: Timeline

Indigenous History Reading List: Grades 2-6

Picture Books post

The following books are most appropriate for children in Grades 2-6

Junior Fiction

Dear Canada: These Are My Words: The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens, written by Ruby Slipperjack

Violet Pesheen is struggling to adjust to her new life at Residential School. She misses her Grandma; she has run-ins with Cree girls; at her “white” school, everyone just stares; and everything she brought has been taken from her, including her name—she is now just a number. But worst of all, she has a fear. A fear of forgetting the things she treasures most: her Anishnabe language; the names of those she knew before; and her traditional customs. A fear of forgetting who she was.

Her notebook is the one place she can record all of her worries, and heartbreaks, and memories. And maybe, just maybe there will be hope at the end of the tunnel.

Drawing from her own experiences at Residential School, Ruby Slipperjack creates a brave, yet heartbreaking heroine in Violet, and lets young readers glimpse into an all-too important chapter in our nation’s history. 

(Description from Goodreads)

Junior Non-Fiction

When I Was Eight, written by Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton; illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard 

Bestselling memoir Fatty Legs for younger readers. Olemaun is eight and knows a lot of things. But she does not know how to read. Ignoring her father’s warnings, she travels far from her Arctic home to the outsiders’ school to learn. The nuns at the school call her Margaret. They cut off her long hair and force her to do menial chores, but she remains undaunted. Her tenacity draws the attention of a black-cloaked nun who tries to break her spirit at every turn. But the young girl is more determined than ever to learn how to read. 

Based on the true story of Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, and complemented by stunning illustrations, When I Was Eight makes the bestselling Fatty Legs accessible to younger readers. Now they, too, can meet this remarkable girl who reminds us what power we hold when we can read. 

(Description from Goodreads)

Fatty Legs: A True Story, written by Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton; illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes 

The moving memoir of an Inuit girl who emerges from a residential school with her spirit intact.

Eight-year-old Margaret Pokiak has set her sights on learning to read, even though it means leaving her village in the high Arctic. Faced with unceasing pressure, her father finally agrees to let her make the five-day journey to attend school, but he warns Margaret of the terrors of residential schools.

At school Margaret soon encounters the Raven, a black-cloaked nun with a hooked nose and bony fingers that resemble claws. She immediately dislikes the strong-willed young Margaret. Intending to humiliate her, the heartless Raven gives gray stockings to all the girls -- all except Margaret, who gets red ones. In an instant Margaret is the laughingstock of the entire school.

In the face of such cruelty, Margaret refuses to be intimidated and bravely gets rid of the stockings. Although a sympathetic nun stands up for Margaret, in the end it is this brave young girl who gives the Raven a lesson in the power of human dignity.

Complemented by archival photos from Margaret Pokiak-Fenton's collection and striking artwork from Liz Amini-Holmes, this inspiring first-person account of a plucky girl's determination to confront her tormentor will linger with young readers. 

(Description from Goodreads)

A Stranger at Home, written by Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton; illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes 

Traveling to be reunited with her family in the arctic, 10-year-old Margaret Pokiak can hardly contain her excitement. It’s been two years since her parents delivered her to the school run by the dark-cloaked nuns and brothers. Coming ashore, Margaret spots her family, but her mother barely recognizes her, screaming, “Not my girl.” Margaret realizes she is now marked as an outsider. And Margaret is an outsider: she has forgotten the language and stories of her people, and she can’t even stomach the food her mother prepares. However, Margaret gradually relearns her language and her family’s way of living. Along the way, she discovers how important it is to remain true to the ways of her people—and to herself.
Highlighted by archival photos and striking artwork, this first-person account of a young girl’s struggle to find her place will inspire young readers to ask what it means to belong.

(Description from Goodreads)

Indigenous History Reading List: Non-Fiction

Indigenous History Reading List

June is not only National Indigenous History Month in Canada, but this year it also marks the horrific finding of the remains of 215 Indigenous children buried on the site of what was once Canada's largest Indigenous residential school in Kamloops (Tk’emlups), British Columbia.

As someone who doesn't remember learning about this in high school, let alone knowing that it was still going on in my adolescence, it's important to me to learn about this now and teach it to my children.

Here are some resources you may find helpful too:

Picture Books

Stolen Words, written by Melanie Florence; illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language, Cree, he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather find his language again. This sensitive, beautifully illustrated picture book explores the intergenerational impact of Canada's residential school system, which separated young Indigenous children from their families.(Description from Goodreads) 

 

Beautiful story of a child and her grandfather. As a librarian, I can't help but appreciate that the book she helped her grandfather with came from her school library.

Nibi's Water Song, written by Sunshine Tenasco; illustrated by Chief Lady Bird

Nibi is the Anishinaabemowin word for water. In Nibi's Water Song, Nibi is an Indigenous girl on the search for clean water to drink. Though she is faced with repeated obstacles, Nibi's joyful and determined energy become a catalyst for change and action as her community and, in widening circles, the country and government, rally around her to make clean drinking water available for all. There is a strong underlying message that even when a problem seems too large to face, every bit that everyone does helps. And inaction is not an option.

Sunshine Tenasco, an Anishinabeg activist for clean water, has an amazing optimistic spirit that shines through her writing. The hopeful tone and lyrical read-aloud quality of this gentle allegorical tale open the door to conversations and action aimed at young children, whether they are on a reserve that does not have clean water or they are living with access to clean water. Chief Lady Bird's stunning, original artwork carries through the themes of strength, hope, and resilience in an incredible collaboration of talent.

(Description from Goodreads)  

Shi-shi-etko, written by Nicola I. Campbell; illustrated by Kim LaFave 

In just four days young Shi-shi-etko will have to leave her family and all that she knows to attend residential school.

She spends her last days at home treasuring the beauty of her world -- the dancing sunlight, the tall grass, each shiny rock, the tadpoles in the creek, her grandfather's paddle song. Her mother, father and grandmother, each in turn, share valuable teachings that they want her to remember. And so Shi-shi-etko carefully gathers her memories for safekeeping.

Richly hued illustrations complement this gently moving and poetic account of a child who finds solace all around her, even though she is on the verge of great loss -- a loss that native people have endured for generations because of the residential schools system.

Winner of the Anskohk Aboriginal Children's Book of the Year Award. Finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Ruth Schwartz Award.

(Description from Goodreads)  

Shin-chi's Canoe, written by Nicola I. Campbell; illustrated by Kim LaFave 

When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko reminds Shinchi, her six-year-old brother, that they can only use their English names and that they can't speak to each other. For Shinchi, life becomes an endless cycle of church mass, school, and work, punctuated by skimpy meals. He finds solace at the river, clutching a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from his father, and dreaming of the day when the salmon return to the river — a sign that it’s almost time to return home. This poignant story about a devastating chapter in First Nations history is told at a child’s level of understanding. 

(Description from Goodreads)  

Online

Indigenous history

Learn about the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous contributions to the War of 1812, reconciliation and more.

Delivering on Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action

Learn how the Government of Canada is responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action.

What other resources would you recommend?