• Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • About the Contributors
    • Our Rating Scale (and Searching Tips)
    • Disclosure
    • Legal Policies
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Browse All Reviews

IgniteLit

Miracle Wheels

September 29, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

29 Sep

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

Miracle Wheels by Don Schoendorfer

Title: Miracle Wheels
Author: Don Schoendorfer
Major Themes: Disabilities, Wheelchairs, Medical Missions
Synopsis: A dyslexic boy with a passion to help people tells the story of his mission to bring mobility to the world.

As I have said many times before, I always enjoy memoirs. When I see a Christian memoir offered for review, I almost always grab it. This week, I read Miracle Wheels. The subtitle explains this book clearly, The Story of a Mission to Bring Mobility to the World. In these pages, Dan describes what ended up being his life mission, and how he got there.

Don was born and raised in Ashtabula, Ohio. As a boy, he struggled with reading because of dyslexia. He spent his spare time building and modifying a go-kart, and trying to outwit the police with it. After graduating from high school, he entered a university, where his dream was to use technology to help people. He helped to develop several things there, then ended up in the corporate world. There, he helped develop new medical technologies. Then, through his daughter’s serious problems, Don and his wife started going to church and became Christians.

Don still wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. When he saw the way disabled people lived in third-world countries, he had the idea of building cheap wheelchairs that could be passed out there. He worked and experimented until he came up with a cheap, sturdy chair that would give the disabled the mobility and dignity they so desperately needed—and then he had to find a way to get it to them.

I found Miracle Wheels a very inspiring account. This was a man who, though he struggled with school, set himself the goal of going to MIT and learning everything he could, with the goal of helping people. I loved the way he gave God the glory for all the good he was able to do, even pointing out the fact that it was a terrible experience he and his wife went through with their daughter that brought about their turning to God as well as good that happened later. The stories about the disabled people he helped in third-world countries were heartbreaking. I never thought about the struggles such people faced before.

I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

WARNING: Chapter 26 describes a terrible “treatment” by a shaman in Africa.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback

Keywords: Biographies · Christian History · Christian Non-Fiction · Disabilities · Don Schoendorfer · Medical Missions · Memoirs · Mission Work · North America · US History · US History 1950-2000 · Wheelchairs

Leave a Comment

The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass

September 27, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

27 Sep

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass by Katie Powner

Title: The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass
Author: Katie Powner
Major Themes: Montana, Family, Pigs, Pets
Synopsis: A garbage collector with a pet pig, an old woman with regrets, a younger woman keeping secrets and an older Native man with a three-legged dog—how could they work together and take care of each other?

I really enjoyed this book! How could I not enjoy it, when the first chapter introduced a pet potbelly pig and a person saving usable items from the dump, and the second chapter started out with a game that my family enjoys? Even though it deals with some very heavy subjects, The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass has a lot of comic relief, too. It has a very realistic, normal man for a hero, a villainous villain, hurting women and an old lady living with regrets—in short, the kind of people you would have for neighbors. 

Pete Ryman spends his time, these days, picking up garbage in Sleeping Grass, Montana. He never planned to come back to Sleeping Grass, but as a high school dropout who kept losing his temper and getting into fights, he didn’t have many options. Sleeping Grass holds too many memories for him of loneliness and abandonment. He now has a pig to keep him company, though, and meets up with his friend Windy Ray and his 3-legged dog every week to play chicken foot.

Wilma watches Pete every week, praying for him and trying to muster up the courage to admit to Pete how she failed him so many years ago. She also tries to figure out how to help Lily, the young woman she hire to help her take care of her house. She knows what God is telling her to do—but how could she imagine what would the cost would be to her? 

Pete is a fun character to read about. I liked the things he thought when he was tempted to swear, like “Tyke on a bike.” There was quite a variety of them. I also loved the way he related to his pig, and how he bumbled through building a relationship with his nephew. The time he talked to him about how each person has value was beautiful. I also really liked Windy Ray’s way of talking about the Creator and how only finding peace with the Creator will satisfy a person. Wilma is a dear lady, too. Overall, I found The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass an enjoyable read with just the right mixture of romance (two different romances, with endings that surprised me by how realistic they were), mystery, humor, and tragedy. I really appreciated this author’s portrayal of life and how she showed people dealing with hard things. I liked how she wrote characters who were so believable, talking and acting just like real people, with a normal mixture of good and bad character qualities. I’ll be watching for more books by this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

WARNING: Chapter 16: Dang. Around chapter 24 a boy bullies other children at school. Chapter 27: Son of a gun. Chapter 33: Darn it. Chapter 36: Why the heck, two men fight. Chapter 39: An animal is abused. In several chapters, a woman is verbally or physically abused, and considers abortion.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Keywords: Christian Fiction · Family · Katie Powner · Montana · North America · Pets · Pigs · US History · US History 21st Century

Leave a Comment

The Wings of Poppy Pendleton

September 25, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

25 Sep

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson

Title: The Wings of Poppy Pendleton
Author: Melanie Dobson
Major Themes: New York, Saint Lawrence River, Thousand Islands, Human Trafficking
Synopsis: Two missing or troubled girls, separated by over 85 years of history: Is there any way they can be connected, and if so, can finding the truth save lives?

As I read The Wings of Poppy Pendleton, I was reminded of why I like Melanie Dobson. It’s been several years since I read one of her books, but this one drew me in just as much as the others I have read. She is a master of writing split-time fiction!

1907—Amelia dearly loved her little daughter Penelope, or Poppy, as her husband insisted on calling the child, but she struggled with her love for her husband. Then, on the night before Poppy’s birthday, while her parents were having a party for New York’s rich and elite, Poppy disappeared—and her father was found dead.

1992—Chloe, though she lived on Koster Island from which Poppy Pendleton disappeared so many years ago, had no interest in the old unsolved mystery. All she wanted to think about was preserving the island, the house her grandparents left her on it, and the candy shop she inherited from them. Everything changes, though, when a young girl named Emma suddenly appears in her life with a scrapbook that mentions Penelope, and a reporter shows up wanting to dig into Poppy’s story. Though Chloe doesn’t want to think about it, she realizes soon that she might need to to keep Emma safe. Is it possible to find answers so many years later?

The Wings of Poppy Pendleton is the kind of mystery that I like best. It moved slowly enough that I didn’t find myself wanting to race through, but rather I was able to enjoy savoring it. I also liked that the romantic element was fairly low-key; my daughter asked me about it when I was at about 44% and I told her that the male protagonist had possibly shown up; I wasn’t sure yet. I also loved the way the author slowly revealed bits and pieces of the mystery and solution. Then, though the action ramped up enough in the last 10% or so of the book that I had trouble setting it down and getting on with my work, the ending was quite satisfactory.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

WARNING: Chapters 17 and 21: A man comes into a little girl’s bedroom at night. Later, there are veiled references to her being “old enough in a year or two.” Chapter 27: Pretty dern sure. Chapter 43: Pretty darn good. Several times: references to girls being trafficked. Overall: The male protagonist/love interest is divorced.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Keywords: Books for Women · Christian Fiction · Historical Fiction · Human Trafficking · Melanie Dobson · New York · North America · Saint Lawrence River · Split-Time Fiction · Thousand Islands · US History · US History 1900-1950 · US History 1950-2000

Leave a Comment

The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay

September 22, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

22 Sep

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay by Bruce Lindsay

Title: The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay
Author: Bruce Lindsay
Major Themes: Christmas, Great Depression
Synopsis: Richard was afraid that Christmas would not come this year because the Great Depression was so bad, but his mother helped him figure out how to bring Christmas.

I received a review copy of The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay last week, and the next decision I had to make was when to read it to the children. I like to read review books to all four of my school children at once, to see the reactions of a range of ages. I decided to read it to them as our history/geography/science time for that day—and was glad to see that it fit into the history category, since it is a true story from 1933, during the Great Depression!

Richard was beginning to wonder if Christmas would come to their home this year. Probably not, he figured, since no one had much money anymore. Then, he saw a truck come and start handing out turkeys to a long line of men. When he asked his mother to get one for them, she told him they didn’t need it—they could eat the fat red rooster out in the coop! Well, that was one problem solved, but what about gifts? Mother suggested he make a list of everyone he loved and see what he could do for them.

Richard remembered his collection of coins from doing odd jobs around the neighborhood. He found bookmarks for his teacher and uncles, hair clips for his big sisters, crayons for his little sister, and other little things for the other people he loved. But what about Mother, the one he loved the most?

The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay is a beautiful book. The story is beautiful, and so are the illustrations. They glow! This book would be a treasured gift for any child and a beautiful addition to any collection of picture books. The story is worth reading over and over.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

No warnings!

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 3 – 4, 5 – 8
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9, 8 – 12

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Keywords: Bruce Lindsay · Christmas · Great Depression · North America · Picture Books · US History · US History 1900-1950

Leave a Comment

Genius Noses: A Curious Animal Compendium

September 20, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

20 Sep

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

Genius Noses: A Curious Animal Compendium by Lena Anlauf & Vitali Konstantinov 

Title: Genius Noses: A Curious Animal Compendium
Author: Lena Anlauf & Vitali Konstantinov
Major Themes: Animals, Zoology
Synopsis: Beautiful paintings and engaging text describe all sorts of animals, focusing on their noses and how they use them.

I had some extra time one evening so I started reading Genius Noses to my younger children. I soon realized it was much longer than I had thought it was, so we read several pages and then stopped for the night, but over the next couple of school days, we finished reading it for our science time. What a fun book! Everyone, from my 13-year-old son down to the 3-year-old, loved it. My youngest asked me this morning when we would finish reading the noses book!

Many different animals are highlighted in this picture book. Each animal has a unique nose in some way. We were fascinated by the variety of noses. Some noses are used for snorkels, some are shovels, and some are hands or fingers. A lot of the animals have a full two-page spread, although several pages have an assortment of animals together. All the pictures are beautiful! They are full-color paintings, and the text is very interesting.

What types of animals have made it into the pages of this book? There are the obvious ones, like the elephant with its trunk or the anteater with its long snout. We also enjoyed learning about some lesser-known animals like the elephant seal and flying foxes. I had never heard of the desman before, but it is a fascinating little creature that lives in Russia. And what about the stink badger? Or the leaf-nosed snake and the Pinocchio chameleon from Madagascar? It was amusing to see the proboscis monkey on one page and the snub-nosed monkey on the next!

Genius Noses is a great book for animal lovers. Any child who likes to learn about nature will love studying the pictures in this book. Actually, all ages will like this one; I had the ebook open while I was working on this review, and adult members of the family stopped by my desk to have a look and exclaimed at the beautiful pictures and clever theme! (One more interesting fact about this book: it was translated from German!)

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

No warnings!

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 3 – 4, 5 – 8
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9, 8 – 12

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Keywords: Animals · Lena Anlauf · Picture Books · Science · Vitali Konstantinov · Zoology

Leave a Comment

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 306
  • Next Page »

Review Archives

Browse all reviews here!

  • Reset search

RSS Recent Reviews

  • Miracle Wheels
  • The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass
  • The Wings of Poppy Pendleton
  • The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay
  • Genius Noses: A Curious Animal Compendium
  • The Light That Shines Forever

Subscribe

Recent Comments

  • Carrie A. Pearson on Virginia Wouldn’t Slow Down
  • Lilly on Turtle Heart
  • Deb Brammer on Short Poppies
  • Deb Brammer on Give it a Go
  • Esther Filbrun on Beyond the Door

As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. See our full disclosure here.

Copyright © 2023 IgniteLit · theme by Restored 316 · illustrations by icons8 and Toptal Subtle Patterns · Change privacy settings