Historical Archives - Page 2 of 2 - A.J. Cattapan

Monday Book Review: The Tomb by Stephanie Landsem

March 23, 2015/3 Comments/in Book Reviews, Historical, Lent/by AJ Cattapan

Normally, I review middle grade and young adult books, but today I am super excited to bring you The Tomb by Stephanie Landsem. This is the the third book in Landsem’s The Living Water series. I enjoyed the first book The Well, I adored the second book The Thief, and I’m absolutely in love with the third book The Tomb! Somehow Landsem’s books just keep getting better and better!

Title: The Tomb

Author: Stephanie Landsem

Genre: biblical fiction

Synopsis: Martha is the good girl. She follows all the laws, as is proper for the daughter of a respected Pharisee. However, it’s her sister Mary who gets to marry the man of her dreams, a poor man who makes her happy even though he has little to offer her. Martha is also in love with a poor man, but he’s a pagan, and there’s no way her father would ever consent to her marrying anyone other than a proper Jew. Even the righteous Simon can’t seem to convince Martha’s father to let him marry his eldest daughter. Martha is such a good cook and law-abiding woman, no man seems good enough to marry her. However, Martha is hiding a secret, a sin that could get her stoned in her hometown of Bethany. And to make matters worse, her brother Lazarus wants to run off and follow their cousin Jesus, whom many (but definitely not all) are claiming is the Messiah!

The back cover of the book gives away far more than I am in my synopsis, but I’d actually recommend not reading the back cover before you read the book. I didn’t, and I’m glad I skipped it. I enjoyed the many twists this story took along the way.

If you follow me on Facebook, you may already know that this story brought me to tears–several times, in fact. Landsem has a way of making Jesus so real. Any Christian is familiar with the story of Jesus coming to Martha and Mary’s house for dinner, and how Martha complains that her sister won’t help her with the food preparations. But what Landsem does is flesh out this scene for us, so that we get a clearer picture of what it might actually have been like. In doing so, she illuminates Jesus’s human nature. I think we tend to focus mostly on his divine nature, but it’s wonderful to spend some time thinking of Jesus as the guy who comes over for dinner and the children run to him and throw their arms around his legs.

I could go on and on about how much I liked this book, but I don’t want to spoil any of it for you. I highly recommend all of The Living Water series. You can read them in any order, but at the end of The Tomb, there is an epilogue where Landsem brings together characters from all three of her stories.

You can find the book on Amazon here and at Barnes & Noble here. You can also follow Stephanie on Facebook and Twitter or visit her website.

Monday Book Review: Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

January 19, 2015/1 Comment/in Book Reviews, Historical, Middle Grade/by AJ Cattapan

Today I’m bringing you one of last year’s nominees for the Rebecca Caudill Award. I had it on my to-be-read list for a while and finally got around to it. I enjoyed it very much and can see why it was recommended for an award.

Title: Navigating Early

Author: Clare Vanderpool

Genre: historical fiction

Age group: middle grade

Insider cover flap: “After his mother’s death at the end of World War II, Jack Baker is suddenly uprooted from his home in Kansas and placed in a boys’ boarding school in Maine. There he meets Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as an unending story and collects clippings about sightings of a black bear in the nearby mountains. Feeling lost and adrift, Jack can’t help being drawn to Early, who refuses to believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the great Appalachian bear, timber rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as the Fish, who was lost in the war. When Jack and Early find themselves alone at school, they set out for the Appalachian Trail on a quest for the great black bear. Along the way, they meet some truly strange characters, several of them dangerous, all lost in some way, and each a part of the pi story Early continues to reveal. Jack’s ability to be a steadfast friend to Early will be tested as the boys discover things they never know about themselves and others.”

I really admire authors who can do an authentic historical voice. I’d love to write a 1940s era story, but I’m not sure I could pull off the proper voice for it. Clare Vanderpool does a fantastic job with creating that 1950s voice. This book is sort of a cross between Dead Poets Society (with its all boys boarding school) and Stand by Me (with its cast of quirky boys setting on a quest).

The story is very enjoyable with the two boys meeting some fascinating (if slightly unbelievable) characters along their journey. I also enjoyed how Vanderpool wove the pi story that Early creates into the journey that Jack and Early take together. This is a highly enjoyable coming-of-age story that I’d recommend to both boys and girls who like stories of kids on a quest.

Monday Book Review: One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

March 31, 2014/1 Comment/in Book Reviews, Edgar Nominee, Historical, Mysteries/by AJ Cattapan

This is the third in my series of reviews of the nominees for best juvenile mystery for the 2014 Edgar Awards, and so far it’s looking like a top contender.

Title: One Came Home

Author: Amy Timberlake

Genre: mystery (historical)

Age group: upper middle grade

Synopsis: In 1871, Georgie Burkhardt has plans for one day running her grandfather’s store with her older sister Agatha, but those plans take a turn when Agatha disappears. It happens after a thunderous flock of pigeons invades their small town in Wisconsin, using it as a nesting place. Agatha has two local men interested in her, but she suddenly leaves one day with a group of “pigeoners” who are out to hunt the birds and follow them wherever they nest. Days later, the sheriff returns to town with an unidentifiable body dressed in Agatha’s blue gown. Everyone assumes the worst except for Georgie. She’s convinced her sister’s still out there, but can she find her before it’s too late?

I’ll fully admit to being envious of those writers who can create an authentic voice for a character in a historical piece, and Amy Timberlake does just that. Georgie is a full-fledged, gun-wielding tomboy of the late nineteenth century. Her narrator voice sweeps us up in her search for her sister.

I also admired how Timberlake creates suspense without being flashy or overly dramatic. I found myself reading late into the night and yet wondering how I could be so invested in a book where “little happened.” This isn’t an action-packed book, yet I found myself caught up in the mystery of what happened to Agatha and what would happen to Georgie. I think part of the suspense-building is due to the way Timberlake works the pigeons into the story. They are a dramatic part of the setting of this story, and their presence is based on the fact that in 1871 south-central Wisconsin was home to the largest nesting of passenger pigeons ever. Of course, one can’t help but think of the Hitchcock movie The Birds, and then you get a sense of how intimidating a giant flock of birds can be.

This is only the third of the Edgar nominees for best juvenile mystery I’ve read so far. It’s been a busy spring, but I hope to finish off the rest of the nominees before the awards next month!

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