Beneath the Night Tree by Nicole Baart. 2011. Tyndale. 400 pages.
Daniel hummed in his sleep. It was an unconscious song, a midnight lullaby, as familiar to me as the sigh of my own breath. I fell asleep at night listening to the cadence of his dreams, and when I woke in the morning, his quiet melody was a prelude to birdsong. Julia DeSmit, our heroine, is a single mom essentially raising two kids. One, Simon, is her half-brother, who's now ten. The second, Daniel, is her son. She isn't all on her own. She lives with her grandmother--the woman who raised her.
Julia DeSmit is used to feeling a bit lost, a bit of a wanderer--though that isn't really the case. She has strong family roots and unlike her mother she knows how to be responsible and loving and compassionate. Still, she has certain dreams of her own, a vague idea on how she wants her life to go. And so when one of those dreams seemingly starts to come true--a marriage proposal from Michael, her boyfriend, well, you'd think she'd be happier.
But Julia is learning that love isn't always simple, that some people are worth giving second chances. Parker, the biological father of her son, contacts her and wants to know if their one night together resulted in a child. And slowly--one or two words at a time--she catches him up on all he's been missing. But the decision to allow him into their son's life isn't automatic.
Parker may be just what Simon and Daniel need. A strong, smart father figure who gives his time and attention...he is the exact opposite of Michael in oh-so-many ways.
And that's just the beginning...
This is the third novel in the series and I enjoyed it very much. The first two are After the Leaves Fall and Summer Snow.
© 2011 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews

The Devil in Pew Number Seven: A True Story. Rebecca Nichols Alonzo with Bob DeMoss. 2010. Tyndale. 288 pages.
I ran.
My bare feet pounding the pavement were burning from the sun-baked asphalt. Each contact between flesh and blacktop provoked bursts of pain as if I were stepping on broken glass. The deserted country road, stretching into the horizon, felt as if it were conspiring against me. No matter how hard I pushed myself, the safe place I was desperate to reach eluded me.
Still, I ran.
The Devil in Pew Number Seven is such a compelling read. It's a true crime memoir by Rebecca N. Alonzo. She's the daughter of a small-town pastor. And her story is quite amazing, and in many ways a bit surprising. Each chapter features a black-and-white photo. Just one more reminder to readers that this story--this haunting story--is all too real. Yes, this book goes dark, ugly places. But. It's a story of hope, love, survival, faith, and forgiveness.
The book is told within a framework. The opening chapter places you at the climax. A child running for her life. A child running for help. A child trying her best to be brave for her mom, for her dad, for her younger brother, Daniel, who was just a toddler. A child running after witnessing the unthinkable...
But. The book then goes back to the beginning. With the story of her parents. How they met and married. How they struggled with infertility. How her father came to be a pastor in this small community. How they came to welcome two children into their home. How their family was tortured--tormented--by a few disgruntled individuals within that community. How their family was loved and supported by others. It's a story of faith, of hope, of love.
The author argues that forgiveness is the language of heaven, and that God's forgiveness is mankind's greatest need.

Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes. 2010. April 2010. Tyndale. 384 pages.
Nothing deepens a stream like a good rain...or makes it harder to cross.
Jenny is going back home. But she's not going alone. She has her young daughter, Isabella, with her. What will her father say? What will her father do? Will she be welcomed back with open arms even after all these years? Has she reached the place where she'd welcome his open arms? After all, part of her still holds a grudge for how he's treated her in the past. How he reacted to her mother's death. How he reacted to the news that she was pregnant. But Jenny is out of options. She's dying. And her little girl will need some place to call home. Will it be with her grandfather and great-grandmother? Or will it perhaps be with her father (and stepmother)--a man who doesn't even know she exists?
Can Jenny find peace and love in her last few months of life?
I liked this one. It was a bittersweet novel, of course, but you know that going into it. A book about a mother dying of cancer and leaving her daughter behind, has to be sad. It has to be heartbreaking. But this one isn't without hope, without love. So I did like it.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The First Escape. G.P. Taylor. 2008. Tyndale. 288 pages.
In the dining room of Isambard Dunstan's School for Wayward Children, all was not well.
This is a strange book defying all my categories. It's not a traditional novel--roughly half of it is told in graphic (illustrated) form. But it's not a traditional graphic novel either since a good bit of it is in prose. It's published by a Christian publisher, but, for the most part except for one little scene I would say that you'd never be able to tell it was "Christian." What it is, without a doubt, is an action/adventure story.
What I noticed from the start was the writing. Taylor really knows how to set the mood and tone.
Shards of lightning blasted from a black morning sky and burst upon the heath outside. Rain beat and battered against the lead windows that reached upward in vast stone arches. Staring down upon a sheltered gathering of children was the pointed face of Isambard Dunstan himself. The noted explorer's likeness had been captured in stain glass for two hundred years, a look of dread upon his face and a scowl upon his lips. He had left the house to be a home for children abandoned by their parents, but no one who had the misfortune to live there was sure whether his action was a blessing or a curse. (1)
His descriptions have a way of not only telling but showing as well.
A large wooden door swung open and a fat cook barged through.
In her stubby fingers she carried a massive post of brown gruel that steamed and gurgled like the rumblings of a cow's belly. She glanced up at the image of Isambard Dunstan, who scowled at her as she began ladling the food from the dirty tureen into 166 bowls.
Every eye gazed hungrily. Sniveling noses sniffed each bowl as it was passed from one hand to the next. Fingers dipped quickly into the gruel and then popped into mouths as each child waited to begin breakfast.
"No one eats!" screamed the cook, spitting the words from her toothless mouth. "You eat when I eat and not a moment before." The fierce look on her face dared anyone to take one morsel without her permission. If there was one thing Mrs. Omeron hated more than children, it was children who ate before she did. (3-5)
This one just had a way of drawing me in and making me want to read more. He hasn't even introduced the main characters yet but I'm hooked all the same.

Who are the stars of this one? Twins. Sadie. Saskia. Known to everyone at that place as
Them. These Dopple twins are about to be put through a series of tests or hardships as they face separation for the first time. One of them is about to be "adopted" by a mysterious woman. The other is left in the "safety" of the school. The truth is both twins are about to face danger. (The remaining twin has the fortune of befriending a boy who just happens to be named Ganger. Erik Ganger.)
The art. This one is heavily illustrated for a traditional novel. Black-and-white illustrations are sprinkled throughout, and almost every chapter has a graphic novel portion that is illustrated in full color. There is very little "tradition" maintained in the layout of this one. (Even
What a lovely series. I really like the cover color. Very pretty.
This sounds more realistic than your average love story.
This sounds wonderful overall. I just have a difficult time reading about mothers who do not tell fathers about his child(ren).