Bridge to Haven

As soon as I started reading Bridge to Haven, I couldn’t put it down. It was a wonderfully beautiful story loosely based on Ezekiel 16. I wept at parts as well. Francine Rivers is an amazing, gifted writer, and though this tale reminds me a lot of “Her Daughter’s Dream” and Carolyn, actually I could kind of predict the story based on that and Redeeming Love, I still immensely enjoyed the book and couldn’t put it down!

An infant girl is born and abandoned under a Bridge in the town of Haven, California. A pastor, Ezekiel, who does an early morning prayer walk rescues her. Even though he tries to have someone else adopt her, his wife loves the little girl, whom they name Abra, and decides to claim her as their own, raising her along with their young son, Josh. However, his wife suffered from rheumatic fever and soon succumbed to death. Ezekiel knows he can’t raise the five-year-old, whom he has never felt comfortable with anyway because he didn’t think God wanted him to do it but he gave in to his wife’s pleas, so he does what’s best for her and sends her to live with another family, who had originally wanted to raise her. However, being only five at the time, Abra only feels abandoned by Zeke and can’t understand, and of course no one explains this to her until it’s too late. 

**May Contain Spoilers

Abra blames God because Zeke abandoned her, and struggles to trust anyone, except Josh. Then one day she meets Dylan, a charming, dangerous young man. She runs away with him, and he essentially rapes her the first night they are together. However, for some reason he’s attracted to her, and keeps her around even though he hadn’t kept any of the others around. He becomes very abusive and controlling quickly. Then, after a time, he dumps her with Franklin Moss, a Hollywood agent. He turns her into Lena Scott, and she has to work very hard all the time and it begins to irritate her. After all, Franklin is twice her age and she isn’t overly in love with him. However, following a forced abortion Franklin (who pretends to marry her) forces on her, her eyes truly begin to open to the mess her life is – and how much Joshua, her foster brother and best friend, truly loves her with a pure, gracious love.

Personally, I enjoyed this modern novel the most since “The Atonement Child” and “The Last Sin Eater.” It’s my top three. (I love all of her biblical/historical fiction novels.) I think readers will be able to connect with Abra and Joshua.

Voyage with the Vikings

In the first of the Imagination Station series by Focus on the Family, we meet cousins Beth and Patrick, who end up traveling back in time to the age of the Vikings on a mysterious quest to save one of Mr. Whittaker's ancestors. The quest involves gathering different things from different time periods. They meet Erik the Red.

I'm a history buss, and I think it's interesting. The Viking time period is not a period that seems to get much attention, and I'm glad they decided to place Beth and Patrick there.

The books are simple, but seem realistic (other than the fact that time travel is impossible). Beth and Patrick wear costumes so they fit in semi-well, and they never seem to be able to change the past. They always find what they're looking for. The books also emphasize God more, although it seems to be everyone except the two children who refer to Him.

The characters are not always fleshed out, but given that it is for younger readers, that could be overlooked.

The content is interesting and gives information about a historical event often overlooked by writers and researchers.

I would say a 9 on a 10 point scale.

Sail to the South Pacific in “Battle for Cannibal Island”

Beth and Patrick sail off on another grand adventure in the Imagination Station, this time to 1852 Fiji with Captain James Home in “Battle for Cannibal Island.” There, they find the Christian Fijans are battling the non-Christian Fijans, and one missionary wants to create peace between them. He suggests that they start on a peace treaty aboard the British ship. The missionary was determined to share the Gospel and continued to put himself in harm’s way to reach the cannibals with the message of Christ and his love and grace, even though at times it seems they didn’t want to hear it. Young readers will delight in reading about Beth and Patrick’s adventures while learning that sacrifice and listening to and doing God’s will for your life is the only way one will live a truly complete, happy, fulfilled life, even if they are living in poverty and risking their lives daily to share the truth. Sacrifice and compassion are not always easy, but are always worth it in the end. I highly recommend reading this, and all of the Imagination Station books.

"Princess Stories: Real Bible Stories of God's Princesses"

Larsen wrote a delightful Bible story book for young girls! This adorable book will fascinate girls! They will get to read about wonderful women of the Bible. There's Eve (first princess) and Deborah (wise princess), Naomi (role model princess) and Abigail (the peaceful princess), and so many more women who were all influential somehow in working out God's plan for salvation. Each women has four pages. The rough breakdown is that page one includes a rhyme about her life and the beginning of a summary of her life. The second page continues the story of her life, and includes a Bible verse. The fourth page of each section is "Princess Ponderings" with questions for little readers to think about.

This book is a tight, wonderful introduction to these strong women, although obviously not as in-depth as some of their stories in the Bible. Parents can delve into the Bible for more details about each woman. This reminds me some of "Bad Girls of the Bible" series and what we can learn for them, except it's more concise and targets children as opposed to adults. All in all, a recommendation for parents to consider purchasing and reading through with their little girls.

"Mark of Distinction" by Jessica Dotta

The delightful and much awaited sequel to the intriguing story of Miss Julia Elliston, or Mrs. Macy, or Miss Pierson, “Mark of Distinction” creates a little more of a developed character out of Julia. She doesn’t understand politics at all, and her father is trying to pass her off as the daughter of his deceased wife, since she has started to create a public spectacle after escaping Mr. Chance Macy, although she feels awkward living the lie. In this novel, she steps into a distinction as the Emerald Heiress since she inherited an emerald mine from her father, which also distinguishes her as Lord Pierson’s daughter. Edward is still aggrieved at her and also heartbroken, as she married Chance Macy believing he was going to protect her from her mother’s murderer – when in fact, Chance Macy WAS her mother’s murderer. And she greatly misses her mother, of course, and their simple life. I definitely enjoyed this one better than the first one, and can't wait for the third one. This is a wonderful story, full of intrigue and mystery set in the grand British past among the nobility of society, about a girl struggling to find security in a very unsecure world.

The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life beyond This World

A wonderful, touching account of one little boy's journey into the most wonderful place - Heaven. He may have been six, but the things he described couldn't have been imagined - he saw angels, heard things, and talked to Jesus. And besides, why would a six-year-old who'd been in a coma make anything up about what he saw?

Alex and his father, Kevin, were in a horrible car accident that left Alex on the verge of death and in a coma. No one is sure he will survive. When he wakes up, though, to everyone's surprise, he has a wonderful story to tell - about Heaven and Christ. A beautiful reminder that God watches all, even the smallest person is still important in the Lord's eyes, and He is the ultimate Healer and conquerer and authority over death.

Although it has been made into a movie, I haven't yet had the pleasure of watching it, but I can't wait until I'm lucky enough to get that chance.