Review: Once Upon a Cross

Once Upon a Cross
Reviewed by Teenage Drama Queen, 14

Once Upon A Cross by Thom Lemmons is the story of Janice, a young writer and teacher from the twentieth century and Linus, a first century carpenter in Janice’s fledgling novel. Amidst Linus’ search for the truth about the Man called Yeshua, Janice is in a search of her own: to find healing and the true peace of a God who seems like only a distant dream, or a Heavenly “Hall Monitor.” Even though her father is a pastor, Janice never accepted the saving grace of Jesus and is now stumbling blindly through her life, caught in the hatred of the man who, in her eyes, failed as a father. Linus, plagued with visions of his dead wife and child, is sure he can never love again. Then one day a man wakes Linus from sleep and orders him to build an extra cross for the crucifixion the next day. After delivering the cross to the high priests, Linus discovers that he has built a cross for the young rabbi whose radical ideas have drawn many followers. How could this Prophet possibly deserve to die? Linus sees his mark on the bloodstained cross and knows he must flee Jerusalem. He doesn’t care where he goes; he must get away, and quickly. This book cleverly combines two very different stories into a true message of healing that only Jesus can give. Both characters are searching for God’s love. The only question is, will they find it? Discover for yourself by reading Once Upon a Cross by Thom Lemmons, an awesome message of searching, healing, and grace.

Review: Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Reviewed by Jade Blackview, age 17

I’m sure we’ve all read that dry grammar text, muddled through the adjectives and adverbs, and suffered through the dissection of a sentence. Boring right? Wrong! The face of grammar is beginning to change. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss makes grammar much more interesting. Kids who grumbled over apostrophes and semicolons will be begging to read this book.

Truss takes a novelistic approach to this dry subject, making it come alive through real-life stories and funny scenarios on how improper punctuation can make things sound totally different. She gives instruction on how grammar is to be appropriately used as well as a bit of history about names and origins. Grammar has never been so well treated before.

Are you: Confused by Commas? Addled by Apostrophes? Puzzled by Periods? This book is for you! Pick up Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss today for an exciting ride down grammar street!