A reflective, persuasive look at spiritual development for young Christian women, told by someone who’s been there.
In her debut nonfiction work, Ciminello offers wisdom for teenage girls and young women based on Christian spirituality.
Without holding back, the author describes how, like many young Christian woman, she struggled to accept God’s will when it didn’t mesh with her own desires or expectations. Each chapter describes a stumbling block Ciminello confronted during her formative years, and these stumbling blocks are similar to those faced by many teen girls, especially those pursuing Christian lives. For instance, she describes how she spent the majority of her senior prom waiting for her date to arrive with her corsage. The date—a friend she went with since her crush asked another girl—arrived late and without the corsage, and Ciminello missed out on having fun that evening because she refused to act against her expectations. Alongside each embarrassing and honest story, the author provides a spiritual lesson through Scripture and faith-based reflection. She connects her prom experience to the way that one might wait for life to “begin” even though all one needs has already been gifted by God. Each chapter closes with a journal entry from Ciminello’s past and space for the reader to write a journal entry of her own, rounding the lesson off in a personal manner. This book is best described as personal. By using stories from her own life, the author gains the authority of experience while maintaining a friendly, conversational voice. As such, she can make firm statements about right and wrong and the importance of following God without seeming haughty. Her tone is reminiscent of one a gentle older sister might use in guiding her younger counterpart, making the lessons she offers easy to accept. Additionally, Ciminello crafts her book with a clean structure, making it even easier for readers to follow. Aside from maintaining a similar, sensible form, each chapter is long enough to provide real food for thought without dragging on and causing attentions to drift, further improving the work’s readability.
A reflective, persuasive look at spiritual development for young Christian women, told by someone who’s been there.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2013
ISBN: 978-1490802565
Page Count: 166
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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