Dear America: I Walk in Dread, The Diary of Deliverance Trembley Witness to the Salem Witch Trials by Lisa Rowe Fraustino

Dear America:  I Walk in Dread, The Diary of Deliverance Trembley Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691 by Lisa Rowe Fraustino

The story unfolds through the eyes and voice of twelve year old Deliverance Trembley, an orphan in Salem Village, Massachusetts in 1691.  Deliverance, or Liv as we come to know her, lives with her seventeen year old sister, Mem, in the house of her uncle who has left them to go on a whaling expedition with instructions that they are not to tell anyone in the village that he is away.  

During his absence, Mem becomes ill and Liv must care for her as well as do all of the chores.  The girls try to attend church when they can.  One Sunday they learn that four girls from their church have become possessed and claim that some of the good ladies of Salem Village are witches and have cursed them and damned them to the devil.  Liv is friends with one of the accused but doesn't believe the good Christian woman she knows could possibly be a witch nor does she believe in witches.  

Soon, the town becomes privy to the fact the uncle has been away and threaten to take action for the orphans.  Fortunately, their brother Benjamin, who has been in the militia returns and saves the girls from an uncertain future.  

Meanwhile, the accused witches are tried and eventually convicted.

While Liv and her sister are fictional characters, most of the other characters are real and the events portrayed in the story are real and given to the best of the writers research and knowledge.

While, I hardly ever read children's books or young adult fiction, I loved this book!  I read the whole thing in one night. Ms. Fraustino really did her homework and gave us an historical ride through the times and lives of the people during the Salem Witch Trials.  I can't wait to read more of the books in her Dear America series!  

Published in 2011 by Scholastic Books.

The Duck Commander Family by Willie and Korie Robertson

The Duck Commander Family by Willie and Korie Robertson with Mark Schlabach

If you love their show, Duck Dynasty, you will absolutely love this book.  

Willie and Korie, along with the rest of the Robertson family, own and run the multi-million dollar company Duck Commander where they make and sell duck hunting products.  This book is their story.

We learn the roots and secrets of the Robertson family that are not portrayed on the show.  Phil was pursuing a college education and played football and had a teaching degree but gave it up to hunt ducks and once left his family but eventually he found God and thankfully his wife, Ms. Kay, forgave him and accepted him back into their lives.  Phil invented the double reed duck call and that is how Duck Commander got it's start.  Phil and Kay ran Duck Commander out their home for years. 

We also learn of the childhoods of the family members, specifically Willie and Korie.  They didn't come from the same backgrounds but they learned to use both to their advantage.  They went to college, married, had kids, and eventually took over the family business Duck Commander and later opened a second branch called Buck Commander where they sell deer hunting accessories.  

And finally we learn of the failures and successes of each person in the family, their faith in God, their hopes for the future, and their passionate love for family and ducks, and food!!  They love food and there are quite a few family recipes in the book.

I love these guys.  My husband and I watch every episode and even watch the mini-marathons when they come on.  We also have some of the episodes recorded on our DVR.  If we are feeling down we put it on.  It seems to take you away from your worries and troubles for just a little while and is sure to make you laugh.  We all know laughter is good for the soul!  

One of my favorite Bible verses from the book is this:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty   I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. 

- PHILIPPIANS 4:11-13

My favorite character from the show is Ms. Kay.  I just love Ms. Kay.  I want to give her hug and help her cook.  I also want to try her cornbread.  I'm going to give it a try asap!  

Published in October 2012 by Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone:  Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is a true story of the life of a 12 year old boy, Ishmael Beah, during the Civil  war in Sierra Leone in the 1990's.  Ishmael comes home from a journey to find that his village is under attack by the RUF (Revolutionary Unit Front) or rebels and flees to find safety with his older brother and other children his age.  After a year or so of traveling around, scrounging for food and water, and looking for a place to go, he finds out that his whole family has been slaughtered by the RUF.  Ishmael and his friends are soon after recruited by the Sierra Leone Army and forced to become soldiers.  The boys are brainwashed and forced to become brutal killers in the name of the government even carrying out scouting expeditions and capital executions of rebel prisoners.  After a few years in the army, some of the boys, including Ishmael are rescued by UNICEF and taken to a rehabilitation center to try and learn to be boys again.  Eventually, Ishmael is rehabilitated and travels to America to give interviews and speeches on his experiences during the war.

This book intrigued me and infuriated me all the same time.  It's hard to imagine the life of child in such a way  as Ishmael had lived his.  The hardships even before the war much less after his family was killed and he became a boy soldier.  Also astounding is the fact that he went on to live a successful life after such atrocities and to work for the cause of the betterment of children everywhere.  It just proves that people can change even in the face of adversity.  When he first became a soldier, he was the same age as my son is now.  I read this book really quickly and highly recommend it.

A Long Way Gone was nominated for a Quill Award in the Best Debut Author category for 2006 and was published by Sarah Crichton books in 2007.  

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent

Heaven is For Real:  A Little Boy's Astounding Story of his Trip to Heaven and Back.

I have to admit that when I first picked out this book at the library, which I put on hold and had to wait quite a long time for, I was skeptical.  I opened it right to the middle and starting reading which is totally out of character for me because I wanted to skip the technical stuff and get right to the little boy's comments about Heaven.  I was immediately charmed by his simple way of describing what it was like in Heaven.  So I started back at the beginning.

Todd and Sonja Burpo are on a family vacation when their 3-year old son Colton becomes violently ill.  They rush him to the hospital and soon after find out that he has an erupted appendix which requires emergency surgery.   After much prayer by Todd, a pastor, and his congregation, Colton recovers from surgery and all is well.

Shortly after they are home from the hospital Colton tells his parents that during the surgery he had actually died and that his soul astrally traveled to Heaven.  He tells his parents of things he learned that he couldn't possibly have known about such as relatives he met who had passed before he was born and a sister who had been miscarried.  He said that he had wings and that he sat on Jesus' lap.  He saw the throne of God and the gates of Heaven.  

This book is a fast read and I enjoyed it very much.  I do feel like I have a sense of renewed faith after reading it because I don't think it is possible for little kids to make up stuff like that.  It is possible that the parents read more into his visions than he proposed but all in all I believe his story.

Heaven is for Real was published in November 2010 by Thomas Nelson and was on the New York Times Bestseller list.

The Holy Ghost Girl: A Memoir by Donna Johnson

The Holy Ghost Girl; A Memoir  by Donna Johnson

Donna Johnson's father left the family when she was very young.  Donna, her mother Carolyn, and her little brother Gary join up with a tent revivalist, David Terrell, where Carolyn plays organ.  

The children are placed in the care of Brother Terrell's wife, Betty Ann who has two children by Brother Terrell during the revivals and are rowdy and full of mischief.  The story tells of growing up poor in the tents even sleeping on the chairs until wee hours of the night and traveling from town to town living in rented houses and eating scraps of food, sometimes fasting as well.

The revivals are full of exorcisms, healings, and speaking in tongues and at times, Brother Terrell has to fight off the KKK as the story is set during the civil rights movement mostly in Mississippi and Alabama.  

As the evangelist grows larger and traveling is more intense Donna and Gary are sent off to live with whoever  her momma can dump them on, sometimes abusive  people.  Eventually, the scandal of the affair breaks and Brother Terrell moves them into their own house where he makes regular visits and they even have more kids together but later on Carolyn finds out that Brother Terrell is having other affairs and has other "families". 

In my opinion, the book was a little slow, but I kept at it as it is interesting and there is a surprise in the end but I'll leave that to you dear readers to find out for yourselves.  I find it fascinating how Brother Terrell can heal people through the power of faith in the Lord and he does.  He makes the blind to see and the crippled to walk right in front of thousands of people and people would come from near and far and line up to be healed.  I don't know if it's true or not, but what Donna makes very clear is that the Lord speaks through him even though he is a sinner and cheater and a liar. 

The book was published in 2011 by Gotham books.