hope – The Dusty Jacket

Book Review: The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson

Children! Pah! Children were like starlings—witless, twittering, little pests. Besides, children meant homes and responsibilities and regular work and Armand was perfectly content living under a bridge in the city he loves more than anything else. But his perfect life changes when a gypsy woman grabs his arm and says, “You will meet with adventure today.” Then Armand meets three red-headed children, a shaggy dog that should have been white, and a proud mother determined to keep her family together. Oh, lá, lá! Adventure has certainly found Armand!

Recipient of the 1959 John Newbery Medal, The Family Under the Bridge is a charming, heartwarming story set against the backdrop of the picturesque and historic city of Paris. Natalie Savage Carlson’s story is brimming with the sights, sounds, and smells of one of the world’s most romantic cities and gives us a curmudgeon with a heart of gold through our reluctant hero, Armand Pouly. Despite his most valiant efforts, Armand opens his home and heart to this irresistible brood and becomes all the better for it.

The author sets her story during Christmas time, which is fitting as it is the season of hope, faith, and family. Family is a strong theme throughout Carlson’s book, as the children and their mother struggle against financial and social pressures to stay together. As the eldest child, Suzy, is always saying, “We’re a family and we have to stick together.” Themes of humility, kindness, and pride also permeate this lovely story as the children’s mother lets go of her pride to accept the help she greatly needs and Armand realizes that perhaps having your heart stolen by starlings isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Perhaps Armand himself sums it up best when he says, “It isn’t walls and furniture that make a home. It’s the family.” Armand always wanted adventure. Little did he know at the time that the family under the bridge would provide him with the adventure of a lifetime.

Rating: 5/5

The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom

The First Phone Call from Heaven

Mitch Albom (Adult Inspirational)

It was a rather ordinary day in the small, quiet town of Coldwater, Michigan. A day when a phone call would forever change the town—and soon the world—forever. The last time a phone call had such an impact was on March 10, 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell made the world’s first phone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson, and infamously uttered, “Mr. Watson—come here—I want to see you.” The phone call received by Tess Rafferty was just as improbable and consequential because this call came from Heaven. As more people came forward to share their own calls, one man remained skeptical and determined to prove this wonderful miracle was nothing more than a cruel and heartless hoax.

I fell in love with Mitch Albom after reading Tuesdays with Morrie and he has again presented me with another beautiful bouquet in the form of The First Phone Call from Heaven. He gives us several characters to follow as each receives a phone call from the afterlife, but he keeps us focused on three central individuals: Sully Harding, widowed father and newly released from prison who refuses to buy in to the religious narrative; Katherine Yellin, real estate broker who receives the second call but is the first to announce it publicly; and Police Chief Jack Sellers, divorced and father to a son lost in combat who must maintain law and order while trying to grapple with his own truth. Woven through all of these stories are historical facts and tidbits about Alexander Graham Bell, which I really enjoyed learning: stories about his mother and wife who were both hearing impaired, his close brush with obscurity, and the actual creator behind the standard telephone greeting “Hello” (hint: it wasn’t Bell who suggested “Ahoy!”). All of these references could have seemed forced and out of place, but Albom connects the past to the present as effortlessly as we are able to connect with one another today.

Albom’s faith is clearly the heart of this book as heavenly callers reassure their living recipients that they are well, happy, and that Heaven is indeed real. Sadly and realistically, we witness a beautiful event spiraling out of control as protestors seek a platform and news outlets realize the potential profit that faith and hope hold. It was Winston Churchill, working to form the United Nations after World War II, who said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” I’m sure it was a media mogul who might have been tempted to tack on “…or a miracle either.”

This is a wonderful story of faith challenged, hope questioned, and lives altered as the impossible becomes possible and the unknown is made clear. And whether you’re a believer, non-believer, or agnostic, one thing we can agree on—that remains as true today as it did in 1876—is that a single voice spoken through wires has the ability to change life forever.

Rating: 5/5

* Book cover image attributed to: www.abebooks.com

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The Walk by Richard Paul Evans

The Walk

The Walk

Richard Paul Evans (Adult Inspirational)

Alan Christoffersen had it all: a successful advertising agency, a big house, luxury cars, and a beautiful wife who was the love of his life. But a horrible accident would set off a series of events that would send his world crashing down. Within weeks, he would lose everything and Alan Christoffersen, the man who had everything, was suddenly left with nothing. It seemed that even God had abandoned him. So, Alan decided to walk away from his troubles…literally. With nothing more than a backpack and a few essentials, Alan set off on a near 3,500 journey stretching from Seattle, Washington to Key West, Florida hoping that this walk might bring him some clarity to a life that didn’t make sense anymore.

I’ve read many What-would-you-do-if-type books: What would you do if you could live forever? What would you do if you had one wish? Go back in time? Trade places with someone? Were invisible? This one was different. Tackling the idea of how to move forward after you’ve lost everything is daunting. Alan faced this situation, questioned his own faith, and wondered why love, hope, and grace had been so mercilessly taken from him.

The Walk is the first in a series of five books in The Walk Series by Richard Paul Evans. This first installment takes Alan all the way across the state of Washington: from Seattle to Spokane. During this first leg of his journey, he meets several people who remind him what kindness, generosity, and gratitude look like: a handless man looking for answers, a scarred woman offering hope, an innkeeper who faced death, and a stranger returning a favor. Each person along his journey offers Alan little bits of wisdom and insight and their brief presence in his life leaves him undeniably changed.

The Walk is an easy and quick read. Evans deals with religion and faith without being overly preachy and gives us a likeable protagonist who seeks the good in humanity although he himself has been betrayed by those he had trusted most. In the opening pages, we know Alan completes his walk and eventually reaches Key West, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey” and we know that Alan has a very long journey ahead of him. A journey that will hopefully answer some of his questions and perhaps even restore his faith.

Alan keeps a diary of his walk. In one entry, he wrote, “We truly do not know what’s in a book until it is opened.” Likewise, we often don’t know what’s in a person until we ask or until we have the opportunity to get to know them. We don’t know their past, the burdens they may carry, or the pain they may be enduring. The few people that Alan encountered during his walk through Washington began as unopened books, but by extending a kindness or even just a simple greeting, those books began to open and Alan discovered that perhaps the love, hope, and grace that he thought had been denied him had never really abandoned him after all.

Rating: 4/5

*Book cover image attributed to www.goodreads.com

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