Special Needs Children

Lord, Cynthia. Rules. New York: Scholastic, 2008. 200 pp. ISBN: 978-0-439-44383-8

Twelve-year-old Catherine wants to live a normal life, but her eight-year-old brother has autism. This book describes her struggle living with a brother with autism and how family life revolves around his disability. She creates rules for him to keep him from embarrassing himself and others. Some of these rules are: No toys in the aquarium and you can hug your mother in public but not the clerk. Catherine even makes rules for herself to help her get through life, such as "Sometimes people don't answer because they didn't hear you. Other times it's because they don't want to hear you." Things get tricky when a new girl moves next door and she meets a paraplegic boy.

This is the author's first novel. Cynthia is a former teacher and bookseller. She has two children, a daughter and a son, and the son has autism. She was motivated to write the book when her daughter asked her, "Mom, how come I never see families like mine in books and on TV?" Rules was a Newbery Honor book in 2007.

Lord has written a wonderful story that is true to life. I have special needs children and I read the book to my children and they loved it. My older daughter said that it spoke truthfully for our own life. The book has both funny and sad parts. I do not like books that sacrifices the story for the message. This is not one of them. The author knows what she she is describing. This book will encourage families who have or know special needs children. One of the important points of the book is that it describes the feelings and struggles of the non-special needs child that receives little attention and lots of responsibility because of the needs of the family.

Writing a Literature Review

Machi, Lawrence A., and Brenda T. McEvoy. The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2009. 164 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4129-6135-6

Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students. Los Angeles: Sage, 2008. 170 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4129--3425-1

Doing a literature review is important both in academic and professional life. A literature review is usually a part of a journal article, a thesis, and a dissertation. What is a literature review and how does one do it? Two useful books on writing a literature review are The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success by Lawrence A. Machi and Brenda T. McEvoy, and The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students by Diana Ridley. Both of these books provide useful instruction for doing a literature review.

The Literature Review by Machi and McEvoy provides a six-step model for doing the literature review: Select a topic, search the literature, develop the argument, survey the literature, critique the literature, and write the review. This model is easy to follow and makes the process of writing the literature review understandable. The book includes many charts that illustrate the six steps. The writing is clear and anyone new to writing a literature review find it easy to understand.

Machi and McEvoy defines a literature review as a "written argument that promotes a thesis position by building a case from credible evidence based on previous research." The authors make an important distinction on writing to understand and writing to be understood. The first part is exploratory. The writer is discovering what they want to write. The latter is writing to communicate to others. The distinction between searching and surveying the literature is also helpful. In the first part you are surveying what information is available on your topic.

Ridley's book is a good companion to Machi and McEvoy. One of the great strengths of Ridley's book is that it includes examples from real dissertations in all the chapters. In chapter one, she describes what is a literature review and how one does it. She also explains the structure of a literature review. In the next chapter, she describes the different purposes of a literature review. Some of these purposes are: it provides historical background to your research; it informs you of the content of the discipline; it provides a justification for your own research. Chapter three explains how to find the information for your research. This chapter includes many practical ideas, like visiting the library early and getting to know your librarian. Chapters four and five discusses note-taking and managing your notes. Chapters six and seven provides information on structuring your literature review and information on plagiarism. My favorite chapter was chapter eight which describes critical reading and writing. Chapter nine provides helpful tips on how to communicate your voice in the review. The final chapter stresses the idea that doing a literature review is a continuing process; in other words, it is not linear.

Doing a literature review sometimes seem an overwhelming task, especially, doing it for the first time. These two books will make a difficult task a lot easier.

The American Church Experience

The American Church Experience: A Concise History, By Thomas A. Askew and Richard V. Pierard. Grand Rapids, Mi. : Baker Academic, 2003. 288 pp. ISBN 0-8308-3201-7.

This is the author's version of a work that was submitted/accepted for publication in the following source:

Shaffett, J. E. Christian Librarian 49:39 no. 1 2006.

Thomas A. Askew (Ph.D., Northwestern University) is Stephen Phillips Professor of History emeritus and executive director of the East-West Institute of International Studies at Gordon College. He is coauthor or editor of five books relating to religious, educational, and political themes. Richard V. Pierard(Ph.D., University of Iowa) is professor of history emeritus at Indiana State University and scholar in residence at Gordon College. He is a board member of the American Baptist Historical Society and the author of numerous books and articles relating to the history of Christianity.

The American Church Experience includes over forty illustrations, an extensive bibliography of important recent literature in the field of American church history, an index, and a well-written narrative of the history of American Christianity. Its prose is intelligible, interesting, and balanced. It provides a good overview of American churches in 240 pages. It is highly recommended for church, public, and academic libraries.

The book is divided into five parts: The Old World Heritage(2 chapters), Colonial Foundations(1607-1783) (3 chapters); The Nationalization and Expansion of the Churches(1784-1860) (4 chapters) ; Disruption, Devotion, and Debate (1861-1916) (5 chapters) ; The Churches in a pluralistic Society (1917- Present) (6 chapters). The authors in the preface tell the reader that as they paint the picture of American Church history in five parts, they will “pay particular attention to the evangelical tradition”. The authors do cover other groups in the narrative.

Some of the people covered in this book are: John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Anabaptists, Pilgrims, John Winthrop, Roger Williams, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Francis Asbury, Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Phoebe Palmer, Fanny J. Crosby, Henry Ward Beecher, Walter Rauschenbusch, and many more. Some of the major events covered: English Reformation, Great Awakening, American Revolution, Church-State relations, missions, education, and diversity in religious life, slavery, Darwinism, fundamentalism, social gospel, and others. It describes all these topics in an even-handed manner.

The authors incorporate the religious experience of African-Americans and women into the larger narrative. They situate the history of Christianity “within the social, political, economic, and cultural context of American history”. Askew and Pierard accomplished their goal of writing a broad outline of American Christianity, paying particular attention to the evangelical tradition.  

Hog's Head Conversations

Hog's Head Conversations: Essays on Harry Potter. Edited by Travis Prinzi. Allentown, PA: Zossima Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-9822385-8-5.

Since the publishing of the last novel of the Harry Potter series, scholarly and popular assessment of the series continue to pour from the press. Some of these books are pointed at the scholarly community and others at a more popular audience. I believe this book is pointed at both. The writing is clear and readable for the generally educated public. The more scholarly, academic essays are in the last section. These essays are fun to read and add new insights to Harry Potter. The authors include well-well known Potter scholars and even an Inkling scholar, Colin Manlove. Some of the other authors are John Granger, Amy H. Sturgis, James W. Thomas, and others. The editor, Travis Prinzi, authored an excellent earlier work, Harry Potter and the Imagination.

All of the essays are worth reading. Some of the best are Colin Manlove's "The Literary Value of the Harry Potter Books," Thomas's "Repotting Harry Potter," Tumminio's "God and Harry Potter at Yale," and Sturgis's "When Harry Potter met Faerie." Manlove defend Harry Potter as great literature. Manlove is an acknowledged expert on fantasy literature and has written books on C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of narnia, and Christian Fantasy. Manlove analyses the structure of Harry Potter and how it compares with great literature. Thomas also focuses on the literary value on Harry Potter. He is professor of English at Pepperdine university and has written Repotting Harry Potter: A Professor's Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Reader. In his essay he addresses two different critics of the Harry Potter Books, professional critics like Harold Bloom and Conservative Christians. Trumminio who teaches theology explores theological themes in the series. She also teaches a class at Yale called God and Harry Potter. Sturgis's essay provides evidence how Harry Potter contains similarities with the Lord of the Rings and fits Tolkien's and Lewis's criteria for a Faerie story. She also addresses the complaints that Harry Potter is too scary for kids and too childish for adults to read. Would Tolkien and Lewis read it if they were still alive?


These are just some of the excellent essays in this book. It was fun reading and I gained new insights about the series. These essays reaffirmed that there is a great depth to Harry Potter.

The Myth of Certainty

O'Malley, William J. Help My Unbelief. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008. pp. 152. ISBN: 978-1-57075-803-4.

Bertrand Russell, a famous atheist was once asked,  when you die and you face God, what would you tell him? Russell responded, why didn't you provide more evidence? Many people require an absolute certainty to believe. Is absolute certainty possible in this life? Is faith necessary? I have a quote on my wall that says, "A life without faith ... is too narrow a place to live" (George Woodberry). William J. O'Malley addresses the problem of unbelief in his book, Help My Unbelief. He is referring to the episode in the Gospels where Jesus tells a man to believe and the man responds, I believe, help my unbelief. How can you believe and not believe? That is a good question.

William J. O'Malley has published many popular books on Christian living. He has taught high school and college students for over forty years. He has paid attention to the questions his students ask. What are some of these questions? "Who am I?" "Where do I fit into all this?" In regards to absolute certainty, O'Malley notes, "there are precious few conclusions I haven't the faintest doubt about." He says "being at least somewhat uncertain is a quite fitting position to take on nearly every serious question."

In chapter one O'Malley addresses "The Need for Certainty." He discusses the challenge of the new atheists, people like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins. He also discusses the idea of proof and if the faith can be proved. He also addresses what is faith. How can we really know what we believe is true? O'Malley disagrees with the idea that faith is a leap into the dark. The author says, "An act of faith is an opinion. Seeing is not believing, it's knowing. Belief is accepting something as true without overwhelming certitude---an opinion based on objective evidence and honest reasoning but with no pretensions to absolute closure." See my earlier blog on his method for forming an opinion.

I think there is a lot of truth in what O'Malley is asserting I do not think we can experience absolute certainty is this life. That is why the Bible calls us pilgrims, sojourners. Some other important themes addressed in this small book are: the human condition, the quest for the self and God; the Bible and myths, the teachings of Christianity, the imperfect church, science and faith, and suffering. O'Malley gives an excellent overview of the suffering of Job. O'Malley notes, "God gives Job no rational answer. Hed gives Himself as the rational answer." 

Work as a Calling

Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor

By Ben Witherington III, Eerdmans, 2011, 166 pp., ISBN 978-0-8028-6541-0, $18.00.

Is work a curse, a necessary evil, a means to an end, or does it serve some other purpose? This is the question that Ben Witherington, professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky, seeks to answer. Witherington seeks to dispel many myths about work. He says he was surprised “how little theologians have discussed work” (xi). Witherington notes that Adam was given work to do before the fall and work is being done in the New Jerusalem. Witherington seeks to clarify what a biblical view of work would look like. He interacts with others who have written on work and critiques their work: Miroslav Volf, Jurgen Moltmann, Gene Veith, Martin Luther, Augustine , David Jensen and Andy Crouch. Witherington is shaped by a Wesleyan, Armininian background. You can see this in his emphasis on believers being co-workers with God. For example, he critiques the reformed view for waiting for God to do everything. He emphasizes the scripture that says that we are God’s workmanship, created unto good works (Ephesians 2:10); and another Pauline verse, work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

Witherington defines work as “any necessary and meaningful task that God calls and gifts a person to do and which can be undertaken to the glory of God and for the edification and aid of human beings, being inspired by the Spirit and foreshadowing the realities of the new creation…” (xii). Witherington notes that nowhere in the Bible is the idea of retirement found. Work is part of the original creation. The fall did not change it; just made it more toilsome. It is also part of the “new creation.” He says that “in the creation accounts work is what human beings were fitted and commanded to do, … [but now] the Spirit inspires  and gifts” believers for the work God calls them to do and “in which they find joy” (xii).

Witherington believes that our work needs to be connected to our calling to follow Christ. All Christians are to love God with their whole being and to love their neighbor as themselves. All believers are to make disciples of all nations. Witherington thinks our work can be a calling, a vocation, and a ministry.  He believes these things are interrelated, but distinct. He believes that work is what one is called to and gifted to do. Along with that, he believes we should avoid two extremes, laziness and being a workaholic. He also discusses the nature of good work. We should strive for excellence in our work. We should put our whole heart into it. 

Witherington notes that work needs to be balanced with worship, rest, and play. He suggests that Saturday could be devoted to rest and play and Sunday could be devoted to worship. Time with the family would be part of worship, rest, and play. The Bible says six days you should work and have one day for rest and worship. Then God said it was very good. This points out the need for rest, worship, and contemplation. It also supports the importance of leisure. 

Witherington writes very well. The book is an enjoyable and stimulating. It would have been helpful to include an index. A book without an index is frustrating.

Library, Books, Reading

Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Medal (Prestigious Children's Award for top book of the year) in 2009 for his book, The Graveyard Book. Gaiman had some interesting things to say about libraries, books, and reading. Gaiman grew up in England.

From the ages of 8-14, Gaiman noted that he haunted his local library during school holidays. He would get his parents to drop him off on the way to work and he would walk home when the library closed. Gaiman described his reading practices: "I read indiscriminately, delightedly, hungrily." Sometimes, literally hungrily, except when his father pack him lunches. He said when he became too hungry, he would "gulp his sandwiches as quickly as possible in the library park before diving back into the world of books and shelves."

Gaimon read all kinds of books, some which he would not re-read today. He "devoured" these books. He notes that "there were no bad stories: every story was new and glorious." He said when he read all the books from the children's section, he moved over to the adult section. He notes how helpful the librarians were to him: 
"The librarians responded to my enthusiasm. They found me books." They taught him about inter-library loan and ordered him books all over England. 

Gaimon closes his acceptance speech by trying to re-say what he really wanted to say in case it was missed.:

"Reading is important. Books are important. Librarians are important."

In our world of technology, we forget the importance of books and librarians. My mother took me to the library when I was little and I was allowed to read whatever caught my interest. We have tried to pass on this love of reading and learning to our children. When we connect a child with a book, we have done a great thing.