It’s clear from this language, and my own experience, that my old self isn’t going to come off as easily as that itchy dress I was supposed to wear. I have to formally disown it and divest it of all authority. The t.v. show was called “Branded” because the soldier had been convicted of cowardice….

Swallows and Amazons, written by Arthur Ransome in 1930, is one of the most perfect children’s adventure novels I have ever read. My only regret is in taking so darn long to get to it. Despite being a reader and lover of English children’s literature, somehow I never knew about Swallows and Amazons until I…

  What a coincidence that Shipwrecked was donated to my library just as Sara and I were putting the finishing touches on our Kensuke’s Kingdom book club packet, for which we are using this same cover! In the Author’s Note for Shipwrecked, Blumberg says she became fascinated with Manjiro while doing research for her book…

“My meditation on Acts 22:26 is something like, My flesh shall pitch a tent in confident expectation. This is not a confident expectation that God will arrange things in my life for my comfort and convenience. This is an expectation that God, who cannot lie, will do what he has promised.”

“In this story, there is an accident while Michael is sailing, but he is with his parents at the time. They are a small, happy family on a trip around the world in their yacht. It’s not an every-day situation, to be sure, but I found it refreshing that the parents aren’t the bad guys….