I started reading the adult version of this book several years ago and just couldn't get into it, so I moved on. However, I checked out the young readers version on Libby through our library on a recent road trip and we all enjoyed it. The book tells of a young man, someone who'd been dealt one major blow after another through his life, and the underdog rowing team he eventually became part of. It's a part of history that serves as an inspiring challenge to never give up.
This collection of essays, poems, and short stories is an inspiring, heartbreaking, uncomfortable, and important look at life behind bars. Broken into eleven different categories and written while the authors were incarcerated, each piece gives those who have never been in prison a glimpse of what various aspects of life are like for the men and women serving their sentences.
While I expected some crass or rough content because of the nature of the book, and welcomed it because I think it's important to make a priority of learning about those whose lives are different than my own, there were a few pieces I chose to quit before I finished. Even if there are some pieces a person isn't comfortable finishing, I still think the book is a valuable read. There were a few quotes from the first part of the book that I liked, but I lost the paper I'd written the page numbers on.
p. 108 (Pell Grants for Prisoners, written by Jon Marc Taylor), Parolee unemployment is a prime contributor to recidivism, so any program that enhances an ex-offender's employability is of benefit to the community.
p. 109 (Pell Grants for Prisoners, written by Jon Marc Taylor, quoting Chief Justice Warren Burger), We must accept the reality that to confine offenders behind walls without trying to change them is an expensive folly with short-term benefits - winning battles while losing the war.
p. 247 (Prisoners of Our World, written by Allison Blake), Now she lives in the could-have-been / Wonders each night if it should-have-been / Too afraid to think of the would-have-been
p. 254 (Pilots in the War on Drugs, written by Robert J. Moriarty), Nobody every won any war. All that ever happens is that one side loses more than the other.
Love-Centered Parenting: The No-Fail Guide to Launching Your Kids, written by Crystal Paine
I've followed Paine for a really long time and have enjoyed seeing her shift in parenting over the last few years. She humbly shares from her own experience as she encourages others in their own, which is an approach I've always appreciated about her. This faith-based book is a kind reminder to accept how much we're loved by God and to let that love determine how we treat our kids.
p. 27, I worried more about producing kids who made good decisions than about kids who knew they were wholeheartedly loved.
p. 32, I remember sitting there wanting to defend my parenting choices. And yet, if I wanted something to change, something was going to have to change - and I needed to be willing to have that change begin with me.
p. 37, Love-centered parenting is not about making all the right choices, doing everything perfectly, or never making mistakes. Love-centered parenting is about wholeheartedly loving our kids because we know how much we are wholeheartedly loved by God.
p. 50, We've created a standard of perfection we feel we must achieve to be a great parent or to have a great kid. And if we're not hitting that self-made standard, we feel we are failing.
But who put that on you? While we might sometimes feel like there is pressure from outside sources, in most cases it's something we've put on ourselves.
p. 63, The most impactful way you can help your kids understand God's love for them is to see it lived out in your life on a day-to-day basis.
p. 74, If you believe it's your job as a parent to raise responsible kids or to raise kids who love Jesus or to raise kids who make good choices, your job performance as a parent is based solely upon how your kids turn out. Not only is this a crushing load to carry, but it will cause you to be hypercritical of your kids' choices because you feel like they directly reflect on your parenting. (This belief will also likely make you highly critical of other parents and their kids' behaviors too.)
p. 83, Do our kids see an example of Christlikeness in us that they would want to emulate? Are we saying we love God and want to honor Him and yet we're going about our day with an attitude of frustration, anger, and unkindness?
Strength in What Remains, written by Tracy Kidder
Deogratias "Deo" Niyizonkiza was a smart, eager medical student and citizen of Burundi, then an underpaid and overworked refugee in America who lived in horrible indoor conditions and the landscape of Central Park. He's now an American citizen who founded and leads health clinics in Burundi. He experienced horribly traumatic things in the genocide of his country of origin and incredibly challenging things upon settling in America, but has chosen to keep moving forward. His inspiring story is one of brokenness, fear, and desperation, but also strength, humility, and determination.
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