In the Shadow of the River by Ann H Gabhart

Gabhart loves taking readers into the lives of characters I don't often see featured in this corner or historical fiction and In the Shadow of the River  is no exception. Here, Gabhart introduces readers to the life of Jacci, a young showboat actress who has spent her life on the river avoiding the darkness that hides in her past.

One thing I always appreciate about Gabhart's books is her characters. Jacci herself is an interesting lead character as she uncovers the truth of her origins both familial as well as with river life. The supporting characters add a lot of fun too and I wish we had  a prequel with Grampus' adventures with Captain Dan, Marelda, and Aunt Tildy's adventures when the kids were young and the show was being established. 

I also appreciate the attention Gabhart takes in introducing her plot elements and making sure Jacci's story has no loose ends upon the story's end. Between the mystery of her parentage, the romantic tensions on the showboat, and the dangers pursuing Jacci from the past it could have been easy to see some plot points dropped or awkwardly fit into the overarching flow of the story, but Gabhart's ability to weave in her plot elements with care and focus comes through once again.

That said, this book does move much slower and has a clunkier pacing than I'm used to from Gabhart. The first third of the book covers Jaccci's arrival into showboat life, but the major focus of that section is essentially summarized with the major tensions resolution revealed on the book's back cover.

I would have far rather had more of Jacci establishing herself on the showboat especially given the story's themes around family and identity and the interesting cast of characters that Gabhart gave Jacci for her showboat family over the 100 pages of summary revealed plot we received. I think it may have also eased some of the age difference uncomfortableness between Jacci and Gabe if more time had been given to their friendship/relationship instead of him dropping it on her (and readers) after 15 years.

3.5 out of 5 stars 

Book was provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and Baker Publishing Group.

The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee

 

The Long March Home  is a fictional tale based on the actual events in the Pacific theatre during WWII. Centered on the character of Jimmy Propfield with his best friends Hank and Billy, this novel covers their childhood in Mobile, their experiences in WWII, and their desire to return home.

Honestly, this story was almost impossible for me to put down. The fact that Brotherton and Lee chose to tell Jimmy's whole story, from his childhood friendship with Hank, Billy, and Claire through to enlistment really emphasized the humanity and youth of the characters, as well as the real life men they symbolized. While obviously a war based novel, Brotherton and Lee have presented so much more with these characters as they explore, coming of age, brotherhood, grief, and forgiveness. 

This is one of those stories that catches you by the heart and sits with you long after the final page is turned.

On a more nerdy note, I appreciated how the authors note at the book's conclusion provided additional context on this less covered aspect of WWII. The explanation of certain historical figures and mysteries that made their way into the fictional plot as well as additional supplementary reading on Bataan is a good starting point for anyone else who had their interest caught on the historical side of these events.

As a warning for longtime readers of this publisher, this novel is far more graphic than usual offerings. The plot covers the forced death march of P.O.W.s, torture and abuse of prisoners, murder, and general horrors of war. None of these scenes felt gratuitous as they were based on the actual events and developed Jimmy's story but they can be hard to read.

4.5 stars out of 5

Book was provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and Baker Publishing Group.

The Other Side of Special by Brown, Clime, and Holt

 

I went into this book with high hopes but feel like this book was a well intentioned missing of the mark.

 My first point of concern came on page one when the authors talked about "special needs" making an off hand comment about "whatever the newest acceptable label is at the moment". The fact is, the term special needs came from the abled community, studies show often creates more discrimination, and is rejected by the majority of the disabled community. It was the first of many disappointments.

While I agree with the authors that many resources don't capture the nuance of parenting in the disabled community, their book doesn't either. I saw no highlighting in this book of the richness that comes from embracing and living in the uniqueness of disabled culture, no disabled joy, no promoting of all the hard work the disabled community has put in the last number of decades regarding advocacy, inclusion, and acceptance. In fact, I saw no evidence at all that the authors regularly sat with and learned from disabled peers and community leaders. 

I also struggled with the book's layout. While the author's covered some useful information, those sections felt like generic Christian parenting advice.
 Every parent will face negative emotions and reactions at times in their parenting journey and this book could have used its platform to highlight the similarities first, before branching out into how those common issues may uniquely impact disabled families. Instead, the book seemed to separate the disabled segments of their experience into the "messy, emotional" part of the book's tagline and the "joy-filled" parts to the generic advice.

I'm a mom to children with a variety of disabilities and I'm also disabled myself. Parts of this book were uncomfortable to read due to the casual inclusion of ableism and the general negativity surrounding disabilities. 

I would love to see these authors spend more time actually embracing and learning from the disabled community in the future.

1.5 out of 5 stars.

Book was provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and Baker Publishing Group.