Philip C. Almond’s fascinating and comprehensive cultural study of Mary Magdalene reviews hundreds of interpretations of the revered saint and explores the creative tension between her complex tradition and the history of religious... Read More

Inspired by a true story that brought light in a dark time, this picture book shows how even a spark of hope can make all the difference. In 1945, Gertie the duck built her nest on a precarious post in the Milwaukee River. The local... Read More

In her captivating memoir, Suzanne Craig Robertson brings out the nuances of a death row inmate’s story that news reports and court judgments ignored. Robertson’s husband, Alan, was a participant in a church ministry that visited... Read More

A child with outsized ambitions imagines what he would do if given the powerful position of the president. There are bestowals of freedom on animals and children, and grumpy people are relegated to towns far, far away. The rules are... Read More

"Serving Herself" is Ashley Brown’s impressive biography of Althea Gibson, a multifaceted trailblazer in sports. Gibson was a sports prodigy whose drive and career path bewildered her working-class family. She had to take side gigs to... Read More

Dreamy illustrations, muted to resemble aged paintings, bring new life to this Chinese folktale about the rewards of honesty. An old emperor has no children to inherit his throne, so he devises a challenge to choose an heir: the children... Read More

The universe is strange and wonderful, as Jillian Scudder reveals in "The Milky Way Smells of Rum and Raspberries", a book that balances its reverence for science with respect for its audience’s intelligence. Did you know that the moon... Read More

In S. A. Patrick’s novel "A Vanishing of Griffins", three friends travel through a whimsical, magical world on a continued quest to defeat an evil sorcerer. In the last volume, Patch, Wren, and Barver managed to upset the plans of the... Read More