Book Review: What You Didn’t Learn in Sunday School

What You Didn’t Learn in Sunday School: Women Who Didn’t Shut up and Sit Down. Shawna R. B. Atteberry. Wipf & Stock Publishers, February 6, 2013, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 102 pages.

Reviewed by Marcie Hill.

This pint-sized book is packed with information about women in the Bible who stepped out of their “women roles” to protect or influence their families, homes, communities, and even their countries, using their voices, their courage, and their positions of authority.

While a couple of the women included are familiar to readers of the Bible, most are relatively unknown historical figures, like Daughters of Zelophehad and the Prophetess Huldah. This is not because their actions were not relevant. The two most likely reasons for the readers' ignorance of these women are: 1) Women’s subservient roles in society, and 2) Men wrote the Bible. In Biblical days, women were supposed to be “submissive and under the authority of men in all aspects of life.” This possibly contributed to their lack of a more prominent presence.

Rev. Atteberry notes “only eight verses out of over 30,000 verses in the Bible talk about female submission and silence.” These verses are found in 1 Corinthians and I Timothy, which are expounded upon in chapters 10 and 11. To counter these inaccuracies, she wrote about women who didn’t shut up in Part 1, women who didn’t submit in part 2, and women in authority in Part 3.

Each chapter introduces the women by name and provides scriptures on what each woman did, as well as the impact of each woman's actions. The author provides questions to gauge a reader’s thoughts on each situation.

This book is an enlightening and educational read. However, there are a couple things I think would improve the book. First, the title could be improved to have more impact. Second, the chapters could be set up differently to give readers an understanding of why these women would not sit down or shut up. Finally, it would help if the author provided more insight into the authority these woman exercised. I think a brief description of each woman’s role or impact should immediately follow her name and would add understanding for the reader.

I appreciate Rev. Atteberry for bringing the stories about these women to our attention, since people have read the stories of the Bible thousands of times and have likely overlooked or ignored the women in the stories. It was interesting to learn how the actions of women who had the courage to speak up affected their families, homes, communities, and countries.

Book Review: Pernicious Intent

Pernicious Intent. G. R. Case. Cool Blue Books, March 24, 2015. Trade Paperback and Kindle, 368 pages.

Reviewed by Ed Sarna.

G. R. Case’s novel Pernicious Intent is both a buddy story that is reminiscent of Lethal Weapon and a non-stop thriller. The story introduces DEA Agents Carlos Perez and Reese Tyler, who are members of the Drug Reaction Tactical Force or DRTF, an undercover unit that targets the illegal drug trade in Miami. In order to blend in, the members of the unit are supplied with, amongst other things, the hottest and fastest cars. The fast car thing keeps with the tradition of the buddy story genre, where a car is barely driven off the lot before it is thrust into a high-speed chase, often culminating in the need for a replacement vehicle.

The action begins when Carlos and Reese attempt to secure an informant, Ricky, who may have information on a recent drug heist. Ricky, who works at the airport, is located but before he can be apprehended, he takes off running. The ensuing chase damages planes, a good portion of the airport, and numerous bystanders. By the time the should-be informant is caught, the damage is epic. Unfortunately, because of Carlos’s carelessness, they end up capturing the wrong man.

This is the last straw for Reese who, although he still cares for Carlos as a friend, cannot put up with him any longer as a partner. He puts in for a transfer to teach at the DEA’s training facility. Fast forward two years and Carlos is still with the DRFT unit and on the trail of one of Miami’s fastest rising drug lords, Tyrus Miller. Tyrus has come up with a new designer drug called Smile G, which is the hot new drug on college campuses, with one minor setback: it can sometimes be deadly. Tyrus is making a power play to eliminate his competition and decides he does not want to have to worry about DRFT closing in on him. He puts a hit out on the team, killing two of them and hurting Carlos and his pregnant wife. Carlos, who is now out for revenge, asks Reese to come back for just one more case. Reese reluctantly agrees, and together they destroy half the town and enough luxury vehicles to stock a good size car lot. There are numerous plot twists as the pair pursue, and are pursued by, Tyrus and his assassin sister, Tela.

While some of the motivation behind the non-stop action does not always withstand close scrutiny, it moves so quickly and is so much fun that like a good action movie, you forgive and forget for the thrill of the ride. The book, subtitled Miami Book 1, has a cinematic feel to it and appears to be the first in a series. I can easily see it as a big budget action film. In the future, Case could focus a little more on character development, but as long as he keeps the action going, his books are sure to be a fun read.    

G. R. Case is a novelist, screenwriter, radio show host, and sociologist. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a Master’s degree in Sociology. He resides just outside of Chicago, Illinois.

Book Review: Cementville

Cementville. Paulette Livers. Counterpoint Press, Berkley, CA, March 11, 2014. Hardcover, Trade Paperback, and Kindle, 304 pages.

Reviewed by Terrell Isselhard.

“Seven local boys, gone all at once in one horrific night. Boys whose parents thought they were safe, having signed on with the National Guard to protect the homeland. Not to be shipped out to some faraway place we never heard of.”

Paulette Livers debut novel, Cementville, opens with the return of seven young men killed in Vietnam. The town gathers to celebrate the return of one hero and mourn the arrival of the seven dead. Livers’ novel offers a unique and sensitive look at the toll war takes on the people at home. America’s wars are often fought abroad and mourned at home, and as our nation continues to fight overseas, Livers’ novel offers important and moving insights into how war can echo in the homes of people who are not necessarily doing the fighting.

Cementville defies easy categorization. On the one hand, Livers has written a novel that has its roots in the tradition of the Vietnam War literature of Tim O’Brien, but there is also something uniquely southern and regional about her literature with echoes of Faulkner, Willa Cather, and Jayne Anne Phillips. However, Cementville manages to be a part of these traditions while still standing out as a unique and contemporary novel. We find ourselves moving through an entire community in the space of only a few hundred pages. Livers seems capable of inhabiting any mind. Whether she is writing from the perspective of an elderly African American man living in the Cementville ghetto, or giving us a look at the isolated perch of an agoraphobic woman who still remains intimately involved in the lives in the town, Livers manages to dive deep into every story in Cementville.

So much is lost in war, but we rarely allow ourselves to sit with that discomfort. Livers seems capable not only of guiding her reader though painful realizations, but also offering much needed doses of hope, humor, and insight along the way. In learning the story of each of these characters and seeing how all these experiences overlap, we find ourselves a part of Cementville in a way that most novels do not allow. Livers does not simply guide us through the town. Instead, she allows her reader to sink into the murky and, at times, frightening world of this small Kentucky community.

Cementville will appeal to readers of literary fiction. It is a war novel, a Vietnam novel, a southern novel, but it is also a profoundly contemporary novel because it looks closely at the tension between community and individuality, which is a great American struggle that only seems to get harder with time. By taking her reader back to the Vietnam era, Livers manages to push us past the politics of the present and remind us that when a nation is at war, patience, understanding, and love are the most useful tools we have.

Book Review: Family Secrets (Secrets and Second Chances)

Family Secrets (Secrets and Second Chances). Donna M. Zadunajsky. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, December 22, 2014, Trade Paperback, Kindle, and Audible, 466 pages.

Reviewed by Gail Galvan.

Is it ever too late to change, to try to right the things that have gone terribly wrong? That is one of the questions that Family Secrets: Secrets and Second Chances attempts to answer. The main character, Alexis, hits devastating roadblocks in her complicated life. Not only does she face an unimaginable fight against breast cancer, but also her heart aches when she realizes that she was never the mother her son, Colton, needed and deserved.

Alexis works long hours at her dream job—she is an astronaut at NASA—and her consuming desire to be a part of the next space shuttle launch team has always interfered with her ability to be an attentive mother to Colton and a good wife to her husband, Jay. When Jay commits suicide, Colton blames his mother and they grow even further apart.

Alexis knows things must change, but is at a loss as to how to affect that change. She thinks about her life this way: “Was life fair? Not in the least. Not when you worked your ass off for everything you’ve ever dreamed of and poof, in an instant, with one sentence . . . it was gone! Why bother to dream at all if your dreams and schemes never come to fruition?” A little later in the book, though, her thoughts become more positive: “But, if we don’t have our dreams and goals to motivate and guide us, where would we be in this world? Lost, stumbling aimlessly, and not driven by desire, blood, sweat, and tears!”

As Alexis begins her agonizing battle against cancer, she wonders about second chances and tries to become a loving, caring mother. But Colton wants no part of it, and he certainly does not believe his father committed suicide. He digs until the family’s secrets begin to unfold. The story twists and turns, catching the reader off guard in the suspenseful search for the answers to Jay’s death.

I always enjoy and appreciate courageous characters, and both Alexis and Colton prove to be fighters as they forge ahead for truth and more peaceful, loving family ties and times. Although I wished the page count had been a little less, I found the book to be a good read. Parents who struggle to stay connected with their children, and anyone who has endured a struggle with cancer either firsthand or with a loved one, will certainly identify with the story.

This is Zadunajsky’s third novel. She also writes children’s books, mainly stories about her daughter, Tayla. Zadunajsky graduated from the Institute of Children’s Literature. She lives in Illinois with her daughter, husband, a dog, and two cats.

Book Review: Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the Sun

Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the Sun. Clayton Smith. Dapper Press, March 23, 2015, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 232 Pages.

Reviewed by Vicky Edwards.

Mabel Gray is a spunky, unflappable, compelling adolescent girl with a desire to forego a life of anonymity in an orphanage by becoming “A Person of High Station.” If she becomes a “Person of High Station,” can becoming “A Lady of High Station” be far from reach?

Not if author Clayton Smith has anything to do with it. Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the Sun is an imaginative romp around a fantastical world of wizards, talking statues, skeletons, a Grandfather Tree, and various other nonhuman creatures with very human abilities to help or to frustrate our heroine. Mabel’s mission is to find the three keys that can unlock The Boneyard Compendium, a book of powerful spells stolen by a wizard.

The story is engrossing, and the settings are either charming or ominous (but not too frightening for a pre-teen to teen). Our heroine is smart; adults will appreciate how Mabel’s vocabulary is clever and entertaining, and should inspire readers to use higher-level words than what they usually get from books that are geared to this age level. The proper names are wonderfully imaginative, from Mabel’s home at St. Crippleback’s Home for Waifs and Strays to the wizard Emerys Croup and the head of the Elderary named Elder Alder. There are also the Good Witch, the Bad Witch, and the Witch of Neutral Position.

The tone of this book, though, is what sets it apart from most. It is whimsical and never takes itself seriously—which means that even though a young girl is in serious peril, you may keep turning the pages quickly to find out how she will get out of it, but it’s all in good fun and you do know that she will be just fine in the end.

The omniscient narrator often directly engages the reader (after charming little side stories, the narrator admits “but I digress”). One of these digressions includes instructions on how to use a flashlight in a dark forest to minimize your chances of being spotted by creatures, although you are forewarned that they will be coming for you, at which point you need to “run as fast as you can back to the safety of your house, for you are in grave danger.”

That unusual use of the second person pronoun pops up often in the book, further engaging the reader. The narrator imagines the reader tucked into bed with the book and nibbling on a chocolate biscuit. Mabel sees a creature assemble itself out of its bones, and the narrator clues us in that, “If you have ever seen it, you know it is quite a shock.” The device is effective and often very, very funny.