I didn't really read this entire book in April, but I did finish it this month! This was the most recent book chosen by some dear friends who I Bible study with via Skype every week. In it, Bevere outlines why we shouldn't feel diminished or limited or offended by our status as women; we should, instead, take the would-be insult "you fight like a girl" as a compliment! God instilled characteristics, desires, and abilities into us as women that only we have and only we can reach. Fulfilling those paths will empower us like never before. We aren't equal to men; we aren't meant to be. We are different from men, in amazing, wonderful, necessary, intentional ways. While a few of the chapters didn't resonate with me (just because I didn't necessarily relate to the struggle that she was writing about), we all three enjoyed the book as a whole, and the message is one that needs to be heard by women everywhere.
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Lucky Linderman is one of the best characters I have yet to read in young adult fiction. Just knowing the premise of this book, I didn't really think I would relate to it: Lucky, who has just finished his freshman year of high school, is tormented by a bully constantly, though his parents aren't willing to help him stand up for himself. But at night, in Lucky's dreams, he meets up with his grandfather, a POW/MIA, in the jungles of Vietnam, on what he believes is a mission to help Grandad escape. I am glad to report I was completely wrong. Lucky, as a narrator, is so truthful, so sympathetic, and so much stronger than he knows. The journey he goes on in the month or so this book covers, both in reality and in his dreams, is incredibly moving and reassuringly realistic. This is a fantastic read.
