Subway Girl by P.J. Converse

This is a relatively short, "coming of age" novel for young adults. I am the mother of young adults, and enjoyed the book for its own sake. Amy is a Chinese girl who was raised in America, and knows little Chinese; Simon is a Chinese boy who needs to know English for his graduation exams. Then he really needs to learn it so he can talk to Amy. I enjoyed the contrast of the cultural values and morays of America and Hong Kong. It was fun to learn about Chinese adolescents. In the end, aren't we all the same? The ending was right too, not a pat happy ending but a real and fulfilling finish to a book that I couldn't put down. Highly recommended for kids from high school to age ninety nine.

Thanks to Lorien Forrest for her review.

Review of God's Guest List by Debbi Macomber.

Debbie Macomber is a well-known author, and I have read several of her fiction books before. She has branched out into nonfiction, and I thought it would be nice to read something personal by her and about her. This book is meant to lead you through a written process of recognizing the precious people God has placed in one's life. Of course Mrs. Macomber is a gifted writer. The book flows well, and has some wonderful stories. The book is essentially a Christian witness, bits of the author's spiritual journey. It becomes obvious early on in the book that she is a former Roman Catholic Christian. Near the very end, Mrs. Macomber shares some of her perspective of coming to know Christ. As a practicing Catholic, it saddened me to see how how legalistic her view of the Church was. What concerned me is that anyone who reads this book may believe that her point of view about the Roman Catholic church is an accurate presentation of the Church's official view of Christ and redemption, which it is not. Otherwise, I thought it was a fine book which will be beneficial to many women in their faith lives.

Thank you to Lorien Forrest for her review.