Bane's Eyes, a Catholic YA book review...

Hello all! I hope that this Wednesday is treating you well. I have a book review to share with you today, and it's one that I am very excited about. If YA, and dystopian fiction, are your thing, settle in with your tea, because you're going to want ALL the deets on this one!

A few years ago, I became obsessed with a Catholic YA series authored by Corinna Turner called "I Am Margaret." :0 This is a four book series that just wrapped up with the final installment a few months ago. On this humble blog I thoroughly reviewed book 1, "I Am Margaret," as well as book 2, "The Three Most Wanted."  OK, *seriouisly*...these books GRIP me. They are *phenomenal.* I have had book 3, "Liberation," queued up on my Kindle for some time, wanting to savor it, as I didn't want the series to end. Then I heard that the final book, "Bane's Eyes," had come out, and the publisher graciously asked me to review it. Thus, over the course of the past month I have been nonstop reading books 3 and 4. Unable.To.Put.Down.

Let's start with a little background information if you're as yet unfamiliar with the series. You won't be for long, I have a feelilng ;-), but until then, here is how things start out in book 1:

Look, if you don’t pass...” said Bane, “I’ll have to see what I can do about it. Because... well… I’ve been counting on marrying you for a very long time, now, and I’ve no intention of letting anything stop me!”

IN MARGO’S WORLD, IF YOU DON’T PASS YOUR SORTING AT 18 YOU ARE RECYCLED. LITERALLY.

Margaret Verrall dreams of marrying the boy she loves and spending her life with him. But she’s part of the underground network of Believers – and that carries the death penalty.

And there’s just one other problem.

She’s going to fail her Sorting.

But a chance to take on the system ups the stakes beyond mere survival. Now she has to break out of the Facility - or face the worst punishment of all: Conscious Dismantlement.

Go back and read the reviews of the first two books that I linked above, and you'll have a really good sense of the main characters and plot at play here. By the time book 4 rolls around, quite a bit has happened, and I don't want to give any spoilers!! So I'm not going to summarize the plot any further, except to say that our hero and heroine are in their Vatican sanctuary awaiting a global vote that will determine whether or not religious faith will continue to be suppressed, and whether Sorting (the harvesting of organs from the "imperfect" members of society for the benefit of the others) will be abolished.

Like I mentioned, no spoilers! I could talk to you for hours about the intricacies of the plot and character development, but I won't, because these books are SO GOOD that I want you to read them and discover these happenings for yourself. Samantha is reading them and so I have had her to text with nonstop as she progresses through the books. :0 (this could be you too if you decide to read them! Send me a message, we can coordinate ;-)) I do have some thoughts to share that won't spoil anything, so I'll have at it!

Both books 3 and 4 take us to a more mature part of Margaret and Bane's lives and relationship, and thus the content changes accordingly. A very natural discussion of fertility and sexuality within marriage is woven into the plot, in a way that is both appropriate and thought-provoking. As well, Margaret experiences more grown up relationship intricacies with her brother, as well as others within their core group of friends. The situation that they are living under is incredibly stressful, and this takes a toll on the way they all see and interact with each other.

At times, both Bane and Margaret got on my nerves in book 4. ;-) Indeed, they are 19 years old, and their behavior and reactions are quite normal for young adults of that age! That's what makes these books so very compelling. There is action, there is heart-pounding suspense, but in the end they are GENUINE.

Some of the more mature content of books 3 and 4 lend an excellent opportunity for discussion with your very own young adult if your child reads these books. I mentioned the sexuality issue above, which is handled perfectly in the books, and there is also a plot element that involves the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is not termed as such in the book, but it is definitely there. That part of the story also warrants thoughtful discussion.

As I got further and further along in book 4, I could feel my emotions coming quite close to the surface. This entire series gets into one's head and heart, to be sure, but as the story was winding towards it's conclusion, I could feel myself bracing for the knowledge of what would become of our beloved characters. Because I, and I would imagine you as well once you read these books, became very invested in the characters and the world that they inhabit.

I can wrap it up by saying this: the entire series, but book 4 in particular, is a story of redemption. And it is NOT in the way that I expected when the series began. At all.

When book 4 reached its climax, I started sobbing. They were both sad and happy tears, and I was powerless to stop them. The book moved me THAT MUCH.

The depth of my evoked emotion, as well as the highly unusual fact that I plan to re-read these books in the future, should lend this series my highest endorsement. All 4 books are now available through Amazon, as well as Chesterton Press. Via Chesterton, the print copies are around $20 each, and the ebook versions are $5, all slightly less expensive than on Amazon.

If you've read any of the books in this series, or plan to read them, please do write in with your thoughts!

Catholic Book Club: Near Occasions (John Paul 2 High, Book 5)

Happy Catholic Book Club Wednesday, everyone! It's been a little while, hasn't it? We skipped July, and then I didn't have the August book finished in August, so it feels like a long time. But I have to say, I'm back to thinking about the book club, and it's all exciting! It's September, fall is in the air, it feels like a good time to settle in with some books, yes? The book I'm about to discuss is a YA title, and later in the month we have a novelized spiritual memoir. I'll talk about my ideas for future titles at the end of the post, OK? And you can chime in too!

So this book is part of a larger series, John Paul 2 High. All of the books are available from Amazon in print and for Kindle. They have been reissued of late by Chesterton Press in a coordinating color and photographic scheme, and are quite lovely to behold. I have the entire print run of books, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with my kids when they get to be high school age.

The book I read this past month is the latest entry in the series, titled Near Occasions. Let me speak first about the series as a whole. I like YA books generally, and I really love this series because of the specific Catholic focus. The books chronicle a group of students at a new (and super small) upstart Catholic high school named in honor of St. John Paul the Great. The characters run the gamut from devout Catholics with possible religious vocations, to a girl from a broken and irreligious home, the class clown, an athletic guy that all the girls want to date, several shy and previously homeschooled students, and the cradle Catholics with a decided lack of enthusiasm for their faith, harboring all sorts of insecurities one would expect at that age. Each book features two of the main characters more prominently, and has new stories and challenges for the characters, as well as a storyline that persists throughout the series about an unknown assailant who is stalking one of the female characters and engineered a school shooting at the nearby public high school. By Book 5, the characters are quite well developed, and they're going into their second year at John Paul 2 High. The scene is as follows:

School's back in session at John Paul 2 High, and for students J.P. and Liz, not much could be worse. The little start-up school where both their moms teach has doubled its number of students, bringing in a gaggle of clueless freshmen, singing charismatics, and annoying personages. For Liz, the major annoyance is Mary Summers, her old rival for Brian's affection. For J.P., it's a Byzantine Catholic named Athanasius Courchraine who somehow manages to be even cooler than J.P.

With Celia pushing the gag-inducing idea of creating a Catholic "community" in the midst of formal education, both kids escape to a place where religion is off the table-- Sparrow Hills High.

Then, as Liz joins the cheer team and J.P. becomes the school mascot, they start hearing rumors about the school shooting that happened at Sparrow Hills last spring. The police say the shooter is dead... but is he? 

Unable to resist a challenge, Liz and J.P. get on the case. But the more they investigate the hazier the police evidence seems. And if the Sparrow Hills Shooter is still out there, no one is safe...

It's been well over a year since I read Books 3 and 4 (which came out in close succession), so when I picked up Near Occasions I was having a difficult time remembering some of the events that the characters were talking about. I will say, although it is obviously ideal to read these books chronologically as a series to get the most out of them, it *is* possible to read this as a stand alone book, because it felt like that is what I did given the time lapse. And I was able to follow along just fine.

I really like the characters in this book, they are quite well developed and likable. The female lead, Liz, frustrated me sometimes with her choices, but I know it's because we're remembering our own ill advised 15 year old actions, yes? :) The book started a bit slow, beginning with the start of the school year, and introducing some new characters. That's a good thing, but as I mentioned, I wasn't reading very quickly at the beginning, and it's because the story hadn't quite grabbed me yet. But midway through, that changed. I started picking the book up to read during free moments, which is always the sign that I am truly enjoying the story. The action accelerated, and I was dying to see what happened at the end. And the end was very interesting in and of itself, because my feeling about whether or not the person most of the characters now believe to be the shooter kept changing, literally, from page to page. The ending leaves a nice cliffhanger for the next book, in terms of how things will work out for the accused, and whether John Paul 2 High has a future. I loved it! I already checked the publisher's website about Book 6, but no word on a release date yet. *long suffering sigh*

Have you read any of the John Paul 2 High books? What do you think? Later in September I'll be reviewing Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale, by Ian Morgan Cron. I started this book last night, and !!! I LOVE it. It reads like a spiritual memoir, but it's a work of fiction about a megachurch pastor having a crisis of faith and turning to Franciscan spirituality. I think I got this during a sale, but it's priced at $10.99 right now for Kindle, similarly for paperback. I'd think the chances of your public library having it are pretty decent, as well. I hope that some of you read this one along with me!

A quick housekeeping item before I sign off: future titles for the book club. For October, I'm thinking of listing a children's book. Unusual, yes, but still worthwhile, in my opinion. This is something I got for Henry, so for middle readers. Thoughts on this idea? Also, do you have titles you'd like to suggest for us to read this winter? Do leave those in the comments!

*librarian beam*

Catholic Book Club: The Three Most Wanted

Happy Catholic Book Club Wednesday everyone! I am *very* excited about February's selection, which is book 2 in the I Am Margaret series by Corinna Turner, this installment titled The Three Most Wanted. If you haven't delved into this series yet (and this is for adults and young adults alike, I would say high school age and up) I would encourage you to read my review of book 1 to get a sense of the dystopian foundation for the series.

Did you go back and read it? :0 It's important, since otherwise the description of the second book will be confusing. But heck, never mind my review, read the book if you can! I cannot say *enough* about how much I am enjoying this series. Importantly, this review will contain spoilers of how the last book ended, so if you're committed to reading the series, go ahead and pause here.You can come back to read the review and leave your comments after you're done with book 1. :)

But here is the description from Amazon for The Three Most Wanted:

"2,000 KILOMETRES – 3 NEW ADULTS – A BLOC-WIDE MANHUNT
SAFE? NOT EVEN COMPARATIVELY.
“Bane? Take Margo and go. You’ve done everything you can. Just leave me here, I’ll be fine.”
“No, you won’t,” said Bane.
“Fine. I won’t. Doesn’t make any difference now. Go.”

Margo, Bane and Jon are posing as just three more summer backpackers... but they have two thousand kilometres to go and the EuroGov’s hunt is closing in. They’re not the only ones in trouble. Major Everington is on trial for his life. And all those who help and betray them have problems of their own – the EuroGov has a lot to answer for. Even if they make it – just how safe is the long-besieged Free State?"

So we have our three endearing main characters from book 1, Margaret, Bane and Jon, and they are trying to walk to the Vatican, which is a Free State within this evil EuroGov empire. Annnnddddd, they have quite a lot of ground to cover. :) Margaret and Jon are Catholic, which is fiercely forbidden within this government-controlled territory. They forged a friendship while imprisoned together in the last book, after they failed their Sorting. Meaning that they are detained until the government decides to kill them for use of their body parts. Bane helped them escape, and he and Margaret are in love. Bane isn't a believer, but is sympathetic to the cause. These three, after freeing an entire facility of detainees, are very much wanted by the government. They desperately need to get to Rome before anybody recognizes them, so that they can seek asylum.

Along the way, as one would expect, they encounter a whole lot of challenges. Food is a huge issue, and Jon is injured. But Bane and Margaret will not leave him behind. It's all of them or none of them. They unwittingly run into different people who act as though they will help them, but...can they be trusted? The penalty for helping fugitives is high, but pretty much everyone in this universe has something to gain (or at least the hope of a gain) by trading information to the government in exchange for a detained loved one.

And this author expresses all of this SO WELL. I can literally *feel* the desperation in this book. Young people whose sweetheart was taken, or parents with children in a facility (or worse). It's heartbreaking, and people are in palpable emotional pain over it. And Margaret, Bane and Jon's feverish attempt to survive, their instinct to preserve their own life and the lives of those they love, is also palpable. I felt like I was right along with them as they traveled.

These books have a solid Catholic pro-life worldview that is espoused by our heroes and heroine, and the story as it unfolds will grip your imagination and make you appreciate your faith anew. I LOVE books like this, that are thrilling page turners, and that I identify with in terms of both the characters and the faith/morals presented. Once again, I found myself bringing my Kindle in with me to work so that I could read over lunchtime. That, in and of itself, is a testament to the power of a book.

As you would imagine, there are things that transpire in this book that are HARD. There was one particular scene that made me tear up over breakfast, and that was the first day of the lunchtime Kindle habit since I simply *had* to find out what happened next. I've spoken in other posts about having a difficult time reading about torturous, evil things, in one instance discontinuing my reading of the book. Although things that are unspeakably awful happen in these books, I did not have the same reaction to them at all.  The author handles it so adeptly, letting us see how our Catholic heroine applies her faith to deal with the events. The reactions of the characters are so genuine, so true to how the author has developed them, it all just *fit.* An evil empire is going to do evil things, but with our faith to sustain and guide us, we are strengthened and soothed. I was so inspired by the example of these characters.

So, if it wasn't already obvious, I HIGHLY recommend this book, as I did book 1 in the series. The instant my Kindle got to 100%, I was tweeting Corinna asking her about book 3 and I HAVE GOOD NEWS: it is coming out March 15th!

*angels!*

I can.not.wait. CANNOT WAIT! I am completely hooked on these books. They are all $3.88 for Kindle, and seriously: that is the bargain of the year!! We need to support creative and talented Catholic authors like Corinna. So if dystopian fiction is your thing, give these books a whirl. I really think you will love them.

Is anybody else reading this series? Do let me know your thoughts in the comments!

A lovely Christmas gift idea from one of our favorite Catholic authors...

Morning all! It's Tuesday, which is sort of a day I sometimes wish didn't exist, but no matter. :) I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed and even a tad headachey following a *crazy* edition of my work day yesterday. Even the evening was crowded with Mike's final Monday night teaching spell for the semester, a brand new wrestling practice for Henry, and me cooking hurriedly for both kids and then entertaining Anne while all of this was ongoing. I ended up suggesting that we girls watch "Frozen" while sipping hot cocoa, which was divinely inspired if I do say so myself. This meant I could sit on the couch to unwind a bit and knit a new shawl that I'm terribly excited about while we watched. I'll come back to the shawl later in the week, since it's part of a theme that is beginning to dominate my December. :)

But anyway, over the weekend I was over at Laura's blog reading an update about her new book, Erin's Ring, which is set to be available any day now! You can see the beautiful cover art in this post, which is from the Amazon page, where you can also read a bit about the book! This is a young adult title, ideal for teenaged girls and young women, but also an engaging and enjoyable read for women of all ages. I read a pre-publication copy and absolutely loved it. The best part is that the story is set during the fall and winter in New England, so the setting is *perfect* for Christmas gift giving! The perspective in the story shifts from contemporary to historical, all intertwined to the same New Hampshire town, with likeable young characters navigating struggles in their families and faith. An excellent example for young women and inspiring for all. This is the synopsis that Amazon provides for us:

What story might this ring tell, if only it could talk?

When thirteen-year-old Molly McCormick, who has recently moved from the Midwest to Dover, New Hampshire, finds an old Irish Claddagh ring poking up out of the dirt in a garden outside her local parish church, she is immediately intrigued. The ring's inscription, "To Erin--Love, Michael", fills her head with romantic possibilities. She teams up with her new friend, Theresa Grant, to uncover the story behind the lost ring. With the help of the head librarian at the public library, the two girls become immersed in the rich history of the Irish immigrants who came to Dover in droves during the 19th century, to escape famine and poverty in their homeland and make better lives for their children and grandchildren.

Molly and Theresa learn about the courage, tenacity, and deep faith that were the hallmarks of the Irish immigrants--people with names like Ann and Seamus, Cara and Finn, and of course, Erin and Michael. The young girls eagerly delve into old records tucked away in the dark corners of the library and learn how instrumental Dover's Irish-Catholics were in getting the first Catholic church built in their New England town.

Molly and Theresa set out to discover the origins of the mysterious ring, but they unearth a story that is far stranger and infinitely more touching than anything they could have ever imagined.

You can order it now, and Amazon will email you an estimated delivery date when they have one, and ship a copy out to you as soon as they arrive. These will be paperback copies for under $11, and I encourage you to scoop one up! I think reading material that our children can quietly relate to, which provides them with a positive moral example, is so instrumental to them forming and solidifying their faith at a young age. This can then become a foundation for a knowledgeable adult Catholic faith. Definitely give this one a look!

All right everyone, I'm off. A busy afternoon ahead of me. But I'll be back this week to talk winter-themed crafts, upcoming feast days, and an Advent update from the Catholic Librarian children. :) Talk to you soon!

Catholic Book Club: Finding Grace

Happy Wednesday all! Welcome back to our Wednesday book reviews, and today we have Laura Pearl's Finding Grace.This is another Catholic Young Adult fiction title, a genre that I've been highlighting of late, and I have so enjoyed my foray into these books! Settle in with your tea, and let's discuss. :)

Finding Grace brings us an engaging coming-of-age tale, chronicling the life of our adorable heroine from the summer before she starts high school in the early 1970's, through her college years. Grace is the baby in her Irish Catholic family, with 5 older brothers, living in Northern New York State. She fears herself exceedingly plain, overshadowed by her gregarious brothers and traditionally pretty friends. With her hard-to-control curly hair, glasses, and more reserved nature, Grace finds herself often overshadowed both at home and at school. Adding to her awkwardness is the fact that her last name is "Kelly;" As Grace Kelly, she is compared to one of the most beautiful women of all time when she finds herself to be anything but. We follow Grace as she journeys through high school, falls in love with a boy who is in love with her best friend, and wrestles with moral issues common to this age. Namely: personality conflicts and the meaning of Christian charity, endeavoring to have healthy family, friendship and romantic relationships, Church teaching and the authority it has over our lives, premarital sex, and abortion all play a role in the story.

Woven through the fabric of the narrative is Grace's new interest in the lives of the saints, which was enkindled during a recent conversation with her devoutly Catholic father. Grace has always loved her faith, and it's a huge part of her life through her family and her Catholic school. But she is now about to be a young adult, and she feels called to make her faith her own. How can *she* strive to be a saint as well?

As Grace encounters the bumps in life that are so painfully familiar to all of us, she draws inspiration from relevant saints. St. Therese of Lisieux and her Little Way of holiness is a particular favorite of hers, but plenty of other saints come into play as well. This is the *perfect* way to capture the imagination of young adults and draw them to the fact that the Catholic faith is so much more than simply attending Mass on Sundays, which they likely find quite "boring," and rather can be a fascinating part of their daily lives.

This book is positively lovely, and is ideal for older teenagers experiencing the pressures of this difficult portion of life. There were parts that made me laugh out loud, parts that made me cry (HARD; I woke Mike up one night accidentally when I had to get out of bed to fetch the tissue box and blow my nose), and parts that made me cringe because I SO.VERY.MUCH related to what Grace was going through. I mean, seriously - are there certain mistakes that we are genetically predisposed to all make?! Uuuuugggghhhhh. Just thinking back on that time, I want to slap some sense into myself sometimes, but I know it wouldn't have done any good, because we thought we had life all figured out.

Humility. It is a tough lesson to learn oftentimes. :)

I couldn't wait to see how things would turn out for Grace and her friends. Who will get the boy? Does Grace maybe have a call to the religious life? What will become of the friends who are starting to follow the "wisdom" of the age and veer from their Catholic upbringing? Will Grace ever blossom and see the beauty in herself?

This isn't a quick read, and for good reason. The book captures important moments in a young adult's life, and fleshes them out into a wonderful, relatable story that will grab your heartstrings. As an adult, this book made me nostalgic, and realize how much work I still have to do to make my faith a bigger priority in my life. Do we ever fully grow up? ;-) For young adults, I strongly suspect they will identify with the winningly charming Grace and want to try her approach to life with the saints.

Finding Grace is currently $4.99 for Kindle (bargain!) or $13.29 in print. I certainly learned a lot from reading it (I always do from stories of how another person lives out their faith, even those much younger than I), and I think it would make an excellent gift for slightly older teenagers mature enough to handle the moral issues I mentioned above. Do consider purchasing the work of our superb Catholic authors - quality fiction like this depends upon our support!

Stay tuned two weeks hence for the next official installment in the Catholic Book Club - we will stay with Catholic fiction, but move over into the adult realm - Don't You Forget About Me, by Erin McCole Cupp.  I will have a review, complete with an interview with Erin. If you'd like to read along with me, the book is only $3.99 right now for Kindle! Join us!

If you've read Laura's Finding Grace, please do leave a comment with your thoughts!

Catholic Book Club: I Am Margaret

Happy Wednesday everyone! This week I am pleased to have another book review, the second of three Catholic Young Adult fiction titles I have been asked to review. Wednesday is really becoming our book review day, no? :) I may be ready for the third one by next Wednesday, we'll have to see. The kids really cut into my reading time. ;-) But I digress. Today I will be discussing I Am Margaret, by Corinna Turner, and you're going to want to settle in for this one, dear reader.

*procures tea*

This book is written in the dystopian style that I'm certain we've all become familiar with lately via titles such as The Hunger Games trilogy, and Veronica Roth's Divergent series. This is a very exciting style and setting for fiction, and I Am Margaret is absolutely no exception to that. Plus, this is a *Catholic* book. There are Catholic characters. Exciting dystopian fiction with Catholics characters = not very common, my friends! I was so thrilled to start reading this book.

And so I did. Wham! Right from the outset, we are transported to another world, and I read this book very quickly, because I didn't want to put it down! I actually TOOK IT WITH ME TO READ AT LUNCH. People, I *never* do that. Why use up brain cells to remember to bring my Kindle to work when I could just waste time on Twitter while I eat instead? But this book grabbed me so much I simply HAD to find out what happened next.

This story is set in a futuristic part of the world controlled by an evil and anti-religion government that has convinced the majority of the population that only certain people should be permitted to survive into adulthood. Such people would be without physical ailments of any kind and can pass various academic examinations. The process to determine whether or not you are one of the lucky ones is called Sorting and takes place in young adulthood. Those that fail their Sorting are recycled. Yes, you read that correctly. :) They are taken to a prison to work themselves into prime physical condition, then they are murdered and their body dismembered, the parts used to service those who were permitted to live into adulthood. The population is repeatedly told that this is an admirable sacrifice for the good of society as a whole.

There is a resistance force, as you might imagine, as well as an underground Church. Catholics, of course, value the dignity of all human life, and the punishment for being what the government terms a Believer is severe: Conscious Dismantlement. I'll leave that to your imagination, as I'm sure it's running wild as I type. :) Our heroine is Margo, and she fails her Sorting due to her poor abilities in mathematics. Her and her family are part of the underground Church, even hiding Believers and priests, a very dangerous activity. She's in love with Bane, who passes his Sorting. From his position on the outside of Margo's prison, he plots for her escape.

Our main activity occurs in the prison amongst Margo, Bane's friend Jonathan (a fellow Believer) and the other teenagers sentenced to this fate.We get to see how Margo and Jonathan live out their faith in secret, and this aspect of the book made me appreciate the Eucharist anew. Only when contemplating trying to live ones faith without ever having access to the Mass and the Eucharist do I recognize how very lucky I am. The interactions between Margo and the other teenagers, and their interactions with the guards and others who are helping to keep them imprisoned, also raises tons of interesting fodder about Christian charity, love, and sacrifice.

Margo concocts a plan to try and escape plus save the others, and...wow, you have to read this book. :) By the time I got towards the end, I resembled a rabid dog with my obsession to get back to my Kindle and continue reading. When I finished, I realized that this book is the first part in a four book series and I just about died. I emailed Corrina immediately:

"I *NEED* BOOK 2 WHEN IS IT COMING OUT I DEMAND AN ANSWER."

:0

It's coming out hopefully before the end of the year, and believe you me, the instant it has a page up on Amazon it will be pre-ordered. Immediately. I.must.have.it. This is a highly recommended read, everyone. Excellent, for both young adults and adults alike. I can't wait for Henry and Anne to read this when they are teenagers. We can all learn to appreciate and cherish our faith more by reading stories such as these. And in the increasingly secular world we live in, that is a very good thing.

You can procure your very own copy of I Am Margaret via Amazon for less than $4 on Kindle (such a steal!) or $10.79 in paperback (eligible for Prime! :)). Via Corinna's web site, you can read the first chapter for free,*definitely* check this out.

Has anyone else read this book? Dude. Leave a comment, I would love to know your thoughts!

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Catholic Book Club: The Gate

Morning everyone, and welcome to a new installment in the Catholic Book club! The book I'll be discussing today, The Gate by Nancy Carabio Belanger, is the first in a slew of Young Adult novels that I have been asked to review, and I am thrilled to include this genre on the blog!

Young Adult fiction is certainly popular right now, amongst young adults and adults alike, and there is definite representation for YA books with religious themes. Overtly *Catholic* characters though, dealing with specific moral issues and learning lessons via the lives of the saints? Not so common, as you might imagine. And so when I received Nancy's book, and learned that it was the winner for Best Catholic Novel in the 2014 Catholic Press Association Book Awards, let's just say I was extremely intrigued. :-)

I was expecting a shorter book for some reason, and this book is substantial in size at over 300 pages, but let me tell you, the space is filled flawlessly. I mean..I was blown away. This book is EXCELLENT. When the Catholic Librarian is effusive, she really means it. :0

Our story centers around a 13 year old character, Josh, who is struggling emotionally and behaviorally since the death of his father several years prior. Both he and his mom have abandoned the Catholic faith that had been so meaningful to them during his dad's life, and Josh, now in public school rather than their former parish school, is acting out regularly, getting poor grades and not nurturing his preexisting friendships. His mom is burying her grief in her work, leaving Josh at home to fend for himself a lot, and he is beginning to get into more trouble, playing video games and reading books with darker elements to them, and sometimes stealing small items.

As part of a school project that he is immediately disdainful of, Josh is assigned to become a pen pal to a patient at a local nursing home. His pen pal is a older man named Pietro, nicknamed "Pie," recovering from hip replacement surgery, and Josh wants nothing to do with actually getting to know him. He wants to fulfill the assignment so that he won't fail his class, which he is on the brink of doing. His first letter goes unanswered, which rubs him the wrong way from the outset. When the class goes to visit their pen pals, Josh is prepared to gather the facts he needs to write his paper and be done with it.

Instead, he finds that the feisty Pie, who talks a lot about his love of the Yankees and his Catholic faith, captures something in his imagination that he can't quite put his finger on. He and Pie never end up exchanging letters, but instead Josh finds himself at the nursing home quite a bit, visiting Pie. Pie also lost his father as a child, and the two have that in common, forging a bit of a bond over that painful wound. There are also things about Pie that Josh wonders about, little mysterious pieces of his story that keep him interested enough to keep visiting.

One day, Pie makes a deal with Josh: every day, he'll leave one of his prized, collectible-quality baseball cards plus a slip of paper with a scripture verse on it, beneath a loose landscaping stone near the nursing home's beautiful garden gate. If Josh is so inclined, he can look up the verse in his Bible, dwell on it and ask Pie any questions he has about it and how it relates to his life's journey. But regardless of whether he looks up the scripture or not, he can keep the baseball card and do whatever he likes with it. Given that Josh is trying to save for a new video game, one that he knows his mother would never buy for him due to the violence and dark spirituality it espouses, he is eager to acquire the baseball cards and sell them. He agrees, intending to pay no mind to the scripture verses.

And...things don't turn out the way Josh plans. :) Not with Pie, not with the scripture verses, not with the video game he is so obsessed with, not with his friends, and not with his dormant faith. To find out what happens, you need to read the book. And please, READ THIS BOOK. I *loved* it. Every night, I couldn't wait to get home to read what happened next. I plan to actually RE-READ this book at a future point, and that is the ultimate stamp of endorsement from your Catholic Librarian. I also plan to lend this book to Henry in a few years so that he can read it when he is closer to Josh's age. It is inspiring, it is lovely, it is thought-provoking, it has an ending that made me cry. Multiple times. This is an absolutely worthwhile book for middle school aged children and adults alike.

Nancy has two other books available via Harvey House Publishing, Olivia and the Little Way and Olivia's Gift. If you order via the publisher, you can have them inscribed by the author and shipped for free. I am planning to order *both*. For me. And I suppose Henry and Anne will enjoy them too. :0 I am seriously impressed over here.

Do check these books out, dear reader. Catholic authors providing such quality writing need our support, and our children need this type of faithful inspiration.

Has anyone else read any of Nancy's books? Please leave me a comment!

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.