Book Review – Treachery and Truth
Treachery and Truth by Katy Huth Jones Immersed in the historical background of the tenth century, this true tale of Good King Wenceslas, as told by his faithful servant Poidevin, brings the reader into the Dark Ages. Fear grips the land of Bohemia as the faithful face betrayal and persecution...
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Book Review – Rosa, Sola
Rosa, Sola by Carmela Martino Rosa Bernardi, an only child living with her Italian immigrant parents in 1960s Chicago, often feels alone, or SOLA, as her parents would say. But after she holds her best friend AnnaMaria’s baby brother for the first time, Rosa is sure that if she prays...
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Book Review – Roland West, Loner
Roland West, Loner by Theresa Linden 2nd-Place Winner of the 2016 Catholic Press Association Book Awards in the Teen & YA Fiction Category!Roland West, Loner is a contemporary Christian story of a fourteen-year-old boy who finds himself friendless at a new school and the subject of cruel rumors. Despised by older...
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Book Review – Secrets: Visible & Invisible
Secrets: Visible & Invisible by Carolyn Astfalk, T.M. Gaouette, Theresa Linden, Susan Peek, Cynthia T. Toney, Corinna Turner, and Leslea Wahl Secrets: Visible and Invisible is a collection of short stories by seven CatholicTeenBooks.com authors. As described by Mark Hart of Life Teen International, who provides the foreword, “Each story reveals...
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Book Review – Saving Mount Rushmore
Saving Mount Rushmore by Andrea Jo Rodgers When John Jenkins’ parents ship him off to stay with his aunt, he’s certain it will be the worst summer ever—until he learns he’s been accepted into a top-secret school. St. Michael’s Academy is home to gifted students with extraordinary talents. Although John...
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A Review of ‘Prayer Everywhere: The Spiritual Life Made Simple
“The Lord cannot be at work in me if I am only allowing him the time I spend doing pious or prayerful things. I must open the whole of my life to Christ and intentionally make him a vital part of everything I do.”–Father Gary Caster Reading Level Grades 11+ Review and...
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Book Review – Erin’s Ring
Erin’s Ring by Laura H. Pearl Presented in a story-within-a-story, Erin’s Ring offers an historical novel set within the story of two contemporary teen-age friends from very different kinds of families. Both stories have elements of Catholicism offered as ordinary and important parts of life. The small town setting is...
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Book Review – The Other Side of Freedom
The Other Side of Freedom by Cynthia T. Toney In a southern farming community in 1925, thirteen-year-old Salvatore and his Italian immigrant father become involved against their will in a crime that results in the murder of an innocent man and family friend. Will Sal keep the secrets about that...
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A Complicated War: A Review of ‘A Long Walk to Water’
“I didn’t understand this complicated war, how it mortally devoured the land and left it so full of skeletons.”– Benson Deng, They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky Reading Levels Interest Level: 6-9 Reading Level: 3-8 Review and Comments When I was teaching high school, I taught the book They Poured Fire on Us...
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Book Review – Julia’s Gifts
Julia’s Gifts by Ellen Gable As a young girl, Julia began buying gifts for her future spouse, a man whose likeness and personality she has conjured up in her mind, a man she calls her “beloved.” Soon after the United States enters the Great War, Julia impulsively volunteers as a...
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