Review of Better Ways to Read the Bible, by Zach W. Lambert

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Better Ways to Read the Bible

Transforming a Weapon of Harm into a Tool of Healing

by Zach W. Lambert

Brazos Press, 2025. 202 pages.
Review written July 15, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Better Ways to Read the Bible is full of beautiful wisdom – beautiful in the sense that it promotes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and other fruit of the Spirit, as Zach says our Bible interpretation should do.

He starts by pointing out that everybody who reads the Bible interprets it. We don’t speak the same language or come from the same culture or time as when the Bible was written, so we can talk about “the plain reading of Scripture” – but we’re actually reading a translation during a time far removed from the original writers.

Everyone who reads and interprets the Bible does so with a set of assumptions about what the Bible is and how it’s supposed to work. This set of assumptions functions like a filter or a lens through which the reader attempts to make meaning. Although everyone reads the Bible through a lens (or set of lenses) – there is no neutral or unfiltered way to read it – many people are unaware that they’re doing so and have never stopped to take stock of the assumptions they bring to the text and how those assumptions impact interpretations.

I’m going to insert some of my own comments here. I accidentally learned about this back in the 1990s. I was reading books by George MacDonald and it dawned on me that George MacDonald, a man who clearly loved the Bible and knew it well, believed that hell is not forever. How could he possibly believe that? That’s not what the Bible says! And then I read the whole New Testament removing that filter – thinking Could this possibly be true?, and I saw how I could read passages completely differently. And focus on different passages, which with a fresh filter seemed to plainly say that all will be saved.

Or even when I was a teen and memorized John 9, where Jesus heals a blind man. The religious leaders say to the blind man, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” Even as a teen, I saw that those leaders were “proving from Scripture” – or their understanding of Scripture – that Jesus was not from God. It made me forever after be willing to question my interpretation.

And this book gives the reader tools for questioning their interpretations. He asks the reader to question the lenses they’re bringing to reading the Bible. He starts with lenses that cause harm (and he has plenty of examples from real people): “The Literalism Lens,” “The Apocalypse Lens,” “The Moralism Lens,” and “The Hierarchy Lens.”

And then he talks about four lenses that promote healing: “The Jesus Lens,” “The Context Lens,” “The Flourishing Lens,” and “The Fruitfulness Lens.” And yes! These chapters fill me with the joy of recognition. Back to applying it to where I first diverted from my Evangelical upbringing, I was told that believing in universal salvation was just wishful thinking, too good to be true. But isn’t our faith supposed to be good news? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And yes, he applies that to people who have been rejected by churches. That doesn’t fit any of the healing lenses above.

The Bible has always been the church’s book. It belongs to the people and is best interpreted within a healthy and diverse community. That’s how I know that the lenses I’ve been talking about promote healing rather than inflicting harm. Not because a scholar said so or because I cracked some code, but because I’ve seen them bring healing, wholeness, and flourishing to our community at Restore for a decade.

So I highly recommend this book. If you’ve ever been harmed by someone’s use of the Bible, there’s healing here. And if you love the Bible, you’ll find reasons to love it more.

zachwlambert.org

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Review of The Last Best Quest Ever, by F. T. Lukens

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Last Best Quest Ever

by F. T. Lukens
read by Lindsey Dorcus

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2026. 11 hours, 52 minutes.
Review written June 5, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

F. T. Lukens’ stories are always full of magic and full of fun. This one features 17-year-old Ellinore, who is known in the kingdom as Ellinore the Brave, and has been winning the kingdom’s quest competitions since she was thirteen.

It all started when she was twelve and a reckless knight lured a giant magical bear into their village. After Ellinore picked up the knight’s fallen sword, the bear fell on her – and luckily for her, impaled itself on the sword. At her next quest, when she was thirteen, she was supposed to get rid of the golden dragon that was plaguing a village. Well, Ellinore befriended the dragon, whose name was Dave, and convinced him to hide out in a different place, only fly at night, and take out his penchant for practical jokes on Ellinore.

Dave gave her a golden scale to take back to the king, and since then, he helped her win further quests – finding ways to make deals and talk reasonably instead of hacking and killing.

But the pressure of the lying was wearing Ellinore down, so after she earned enough bags of gold to move her parents to a nice cottage by the sea, she decided she was going to retire from questing.

But then her twin brother Zig foolishly made a bargain with a couple of mages in a tavern. In exchange for a big bag of gold, Ellinore had to bring them the horn of the Elderbeast. The catch: If she doesn’t succeed in sixteen days, the mages will take her brother’s heart.

Zig can be annoying, but Ellinore will do anything to keep him alive. So she sets out on a quest to find the Elderbeast’s horn. She usually works alone, but this time, she ends up gaining some companions: her brother, who insists on coming along; Aven, the attractive second-best quester in the kingdom; a royal young lady who wants to learn from Ellinore the Brave; and a young bard who has a map that shows the whereabouts of the Elderbeast.

But there are multiple rivals and multiple obstacles, and as the clock is ticking (or rather the candle is burning), Zig gets weaker and weaker. But the trouble with going on a quest with other people is that she can’t let them find out she’s a fraud.

This book has all the fun things I’m used to from F. T. Lukens’ books – magic, adventure, friendship, romance, danger, a refreshingly queer-normative society, and characters I love spending time with. I think there’s still a couple of their books I’ve missed, so I will for sure be looking those up. Their books always leave me smiling.

ft-lukens.com

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Review of Notre-Dame, by Lynn Curlee

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Version 1.0.0
Notre-Dame

The World’s Cathedral

by Lynn Curlee

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026. 44 pages.
Review written July 7, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Here is another book by artist Lynn Curlee about one of the important structures of the world. Although it is illustrated with big, beautiful paintings, those accompany a full text, so this book is more for upper elementary and middle school readers than your usual picture book crowd.

Is it safe to say that most people who have seen Notre Dame de Paris love this cathedral? I don’t think it’s just me. I’ve visited it several times, and each memory of that place is precious. So my heart was broken when the cathedral burned in 2019.

This book begins with the fire, explaining how it happened and the heroic efforts to save as much as possible. Then it goes back and gives the history of the cathedral. I didn’t realize it was the first truly Gothic cathedral, and we get detailed explanations of what that means.

Gothic cathedrals are among the most complex and ambitious structures ever conceived. It is simply mind-boggling to realize that they were constructed completely by manual labor, without the aid of machines of any kind. There were obviously no computers for design work, mathematical calculations, or virtual modeling, and no electric, hydraulic, or steam-powered devices to make things easier. All they had were hand tools like chisels, mallets, handsaws, levers, winches, and pulleys. Building materials were transported by boat or by oxcart. Probably the most complicated device they used was like a big hamster wheel, large enough for several men to operate by walking inside, for hoisting heavy loads high into the air.

Notre Dame has been around for nine centuries, and was ransacked at different times and then restored and added to. The French Revolution left it in disrepair, but then Victor Hugo’s popular novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, aroused interest in restoring it. That restoration was when the gallery of chimeras was added – the wonderful gargoyles on the bell towers.

The book concludes by telling of the amazing restoration work after the fire, with paintings of workers suspended from ropes.

The catastrophe of April 15, 2019, and the campaign of reconstruction riveted the attention of people from all over the world. By almost losing it forever, we gained a new appreciation of Notre-Dame’s importance as the ultimate example of a Gothic cathedral. As a monument of three different eras – the Middle Ages, the nineteenth century, and now the twenty-first century – the newly refurbished cathedral has reclaimed its official place as the Cathedral of Paris, a symbol of France, a great milestone in the cultural heritage of humanity, and one of the most popular tourist attractions on Earth. And unofficially, more than ever before, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame may be celebrated as the World’s Cathedral.

This tribute to the World’s Cathedral makes you feel like you’re there.

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Review of Lady Tremaine, by Rachel Hochhauser

Fairy Tale Variant, Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

Lady Tremaine

by Rachel Hochhauser
read by Bessie Carter

Macmillan Audio, 2026. 12 hours, 42 minutes.
Review written June 30, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Oh, this one’s brilliant! I’ve made no secret that I love fairy tale retellings. This is something of a feminist retelling of Cinderella – with plenty of depth. I’m going to list it under Historical Fiction rather than Fantasy Fiction, because it takes out the magic in the tale, and looks at the plight of a twice-widowed woman in medieval times trying to protect her daughters.

The book is published for adults, not because of “adult” content, but because the focus is not the young women trying to find husbands, but the mother and stepmother in the tale.

And why did we not notice that Etheldreda Tremaine has a story? Woven through the present of the story, we get Ethel’s back story – how she met and married a man who loved her and they had two daughters, for whom she would do anything.

But when her husband died, his family was going to marry off her daughters and send them away without her, even though they were only 7 and 8 years old. So she found another man to marry, this one with a title.

She tried to be a mother to his motherless daughter, but the girl was resistant. After this husband died, Ethel was left with the estate – but no money to keep it up. His daughter Ellen had a dowry that she couldn’t touch until she got married.

Ethel and her daughters worked hard to put food on the table, but keep up appearances in order to keep the girls’ prospects for marriage open. Ellen? Not so much. She’s used to being a gentleman’s daughter and prefers to stay in her room, reading. As the book opens, Ethel is hunting with the falcon her first husband left behind. Her daughters are diligent – one keeping the books and managing sales of apples, with the other making skilled creations with her embroidery.

At first, I thought it was a simple up-ending of the tale with Cinderella shown to be actually the less hard-working sister. But it goes a lot deeper than that.

When Ellen gets invited to the ball, but her stepsisters don’t, Ethel has to dredge up things from her past to fix matters. But she’ll do anything for her daughters.

And then Ellen misses going to the ball with her stepsisters because she was supposed to make her own dress (with expensive materials provided) – and simply didn’t get it done. It’s not a godmother who helps her show up later, but she does get help.

It’s after Ellen seems to have gained the affections of the Prince that the story turns darker than the fairy tale. Ellen’s going to need her stepmother’s help, and Lady Tremaine is willing to go to the ends of the earth for her stepdaughter.

I can’t give anything away, but the ending is perfect and hugely satisfying – and leaves me with a look at the old fairy tale that I greatly prefer.

rachelhochhauser.com

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Review of Spindle’s End, by Robin McKinley

Audiobooks, Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy, Old Favorites, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Spindle’s End

by Robin McKinley
read by Justine Eyre

Tantor Media, 2019. 12 hours, 30 minutes.
Review written May 31, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I was surprised to realize I never reviewed this Old Favorite on Sonderbooks. I was looking for Robin McKinley books the library has as eaudiobooks, thinking I’d be rereading books from the early years of writing Sonderbooks – and found Spindle’s End. It wasn’t until I looked for the old review on Sonderbooks that I discovered there wasn’t one. Amazon now tells me I purchased a hardcover copy of this book on May 5, 2000 – so I read it a year before I started writing Sonderbooks.

And I honestly hadn’t remembered how good it is! This time through was a delight. I loved the narrator – with a delightful English accent – much more than the narrator of my two favorite Robin McKinley books, The Blue Sword, and The Hero and the Crown. Am I so shallow that I require an English accent? I do think it seems appropriate for a fairy tale retelling. Anyway, I loved this narrator.

Spindle’s End is a very loose retelling of “Sleeping Beauty.” Very loose, with many significant details changed. I think the first time I read it, I couldn’t quite forgive those changes. This time, I knew they were coming, and I was simply caught up in the wonderful tale.

One significant change makes the story make a whole lot more sense – The evil fairy who curses the princess explicitly states that while she originally planned her curse for the princess’s 21st birthday, she could make it happen at any time. So this is why the princess must go into hiding.

I like the way the book begins by focusing in on 15-year-old Catriona, a young fairy learning from her aunt. She’s handed the baby princess and gets the responsibility of hiding her and bringing her home. Along the way, Catriona, who can talk to animals, gets help from animals who arrange to feed the baby.

And these are the sort of delightful details Robin McKinley has added to the fairy tale. The kingdom is packed full of magic, so much so that ordinary folks have ways of dealing with it to avoid the inconvenience of things transforming unexpectedly. First we focus on Catriona, bringing up baby Rosie as an ordinary village girl with the help of her aunt. Then as Rosie grows, the focus shifts to her, as her 21st birthday approaches and it appears that the evil fairy has finally found her.

The story is lovely, but you won’t find any princess passively waiting for a prince to save her. I like the way they subverted some of the fairy “gifts” bestowed at birth by, for example, not ever teaching Rosie to embroider, so her being supernaturally good at it wouldn’t be noticed. They didn’t have to worry about the magically perfect ringlets in her hair, because Rosie cut her hair short even as a small child.

So, yes, the frame of the fairy tale is there, but the delightful particularity comes entirely from Robin McKinley, who’s especially good at making characters who are far from perfect, but get you completely on their side. They work for their happily ever after, and you’ll be with them all the way.

robinmckinley.com

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Miriam and Her Dancing Shoes, by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, illustrated by Joani Rothenberg

Historical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Miriam and Her Dancing Shoes

by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
illustrated by Joani Rothenberg

Apples & Honey Press, 2025. 40 pages.
Review written April 28, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Miriam and Her Dancing Shoes is a delightful expansion on the Bible story of the parting of the Red Sea.

The paintings that go with the book have rich, beautiful colors. The people are leaving Egypt, but still complaining.

“ENOUGH COMPLAINING!”
Moses held up his hands.

“TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU CAN AND HURRY!”
There was no time to argue,
no time for bread to rise.
The people carried bowls of
sticky dough on their shoulders.

But not Miriam!
She carried a timbrel
and her dancing shoes.

I love Moses’s response:

“Give me strength,”
sighed Moses.
“We are running for our lives,
not planning a party!”

But as the people are going through the Sea of Reeds after Moses parts it, they are afraid and begin complaining again. Moses is so far ahead, they can’t even see him. And of course Pharaoh’s army is behind.

So Miriam shouts for them to follow her.

FOLLOW MY DANCING SHOES.

And when they slip and slide and get stuck in the mud, she tells them to lift up their feet like they are dancing. She plays her timbrel, and they walk to the rhythm.

Moses looked back
and was amazed.

The people were following
Miriam’s dancing shoes and
the music of her timbrel.

They were not complaining.
They were not grumbling.
They were singing.
They were dancing!

Miriam assures him this is the song of freedom, the sound of hope.

And this whole wonderful story is told with glorious paintings. I’m now thinking of this old story in a completely different way.

There are nine pages of back matter at the end of this picture book. I had a hard time deciding whether to put the book in nonfiction with some other Bible stories or with the picture books. I ultimately decided on picture books because the story it tells is so wonderful, and I think it will find more readers.

The back matter includes a wonderful song, written and performed by David Sasso, which you can find at www.davidsasso.com/freedom-walks-in-dancing-shoes. It’s based on the book and uses paintings from the book, and listening to it added to my delight with the whole project.

There are also a couple of craft projects in the back, including “Make a Freedom Tambourine,” and then notes about the story of the Exodus and the history of traditions that have grown up around Miriam, the sister of Moses.

You don’t have to be Jewish or Christian to love this story.

rabbisandysasso.com
applesandhoneypress.com

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Review of Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom, by Sangu Mandanna

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom

by Sangu Mandanna
read by Zenia Starr

Listening Library, 2021. 7 hours, 5 minutes.
Review written July 4, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.

I checked out this audiobook because of how much I love the author’s cozy fantasy novels for adults. It turned out to be a sweet fantasy for kids, in the mythology-is-actually-real genre.

In this case, the mythology in question is Indian mythology, and there’s a twist. Kiki Kallira, a girl who’s recently started having symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (Though it’s not named as such, and she hasn’t gotten a diagnosis yet, because she hasn’t told her mother how bad it is yet.), has been obsessively drawing a world in her sketch book where a heroic girl, based on her disreputable great-aunt, battles a major Indian demon, aided by a band of resourceful orphans. One day, this girl shows up in her bedroom battling a lesser demon.

It turns out that the major demon is real, and had been exiled to The Nowhere Place. He schemed to get back to our world by using his magic to make Kiki’s sketchbook world real – and use that to get out of The Nowhere Place. Now he plans to go from Kiki’s world eventually back to our world.

Now, the girl hero has escaped through a small tear between worlds, and takes Kiki back with her. Kiki needs to defeat the demon in her pocket universe in order to keep him from finding his way to our world. But how can a small, weak little girl with a brain that won’t behave defeat a demon?

And once in her world, Kiki befriends the band of orphans, who were already dear to her. Now that they are real, can she really bear to do something that would make that world stop existing, even though it will defeat the evil demon?

So there are nice undercurrents here, and some twists and turns in the quest. The author continues to display her fantasy-writing chops.

sangumandanna.com

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Review of Burn the Haystack, by Jennie Young, PhD

Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Starred Review 0

Burn the Haystack

Decode Dating, Torch the Duds, and Make Room for Men Who Matter

by Jennie Young, PhD

William Morrow (HarperCollins), 2026. 302 pages.
Review written June 14, 2026, from an advance reader copy.
Starred Review

This book is absolutely brilliant! When I first took it home from our shelf of advance reader copies at work, I got hooked and stayed up way, way too late reading it. Then I put it down and tried to avoid reading it again because I didn’t want to stay up too late!

I had just finished reading another book about dating, which made me glad to not even be trying it again – but this book has changed my perspective, and I might actually try going back on the apps, if I get to a place where I’m willing to give it a little time. Whereas the other book implied that if you want to date with a matchmaker, you should be willing to put in plenty of effort – this approach is different and encourages you not to spend a lot of time on the apps.

Here’s the premise: Finding a man who’d be a good partner in a long-term relationship is like finding a needle in the haystack. How do you find a needle in a haystack? Burn the haystack of course!

The key step to burning the dating app haystack is “Block to Burn” or B2B. Once you’ve figured out a man is not an appropriate match, you don’t apologize. You don’t explain. You block him. If you don’t block, the apps will cycle back to the same men they already showed you.

She admits you’ll go on fewer dates with this method – but they should be better ones.

And that’s not all. Jennie Young has a PhD in Rhetoric. So she shows you not one, not two, but thirty-three red flag rhetorical patterns – and she explains what these patterns tell you and why you don’t need to feel guilty about blocking to burn.

This part delighted me – because in my experience with online dating, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every one of these patterns. They are not rare (and many men combine several). But when I tried to explain why I don’t like strangers calling me “Dear” in their first message, some friends tried to tell me I was being too picky and should give them a chance. So I laughed out loud (and felt vindicated) when I read this (meant to be humorous) about the rhetorical pattern of people who quickly give you a pet name:

It seems obvious that people shouldn’t use pet names with strangers, but men do all the time. Rather than spending too much time trying to figure out why, let’s focus on what calling women pet names reveals about the men who are doing so:

–That they are presumptuous enough to assume women will be okay with this and/or like the pet names they choose.
–That they view women as objects and animals rather than complex human beings whom they do not know.
–That they’ve somehow missed sweeping changes to discourse norms for the past several decades. It’s true that there was a time when men could get away with calling women they didn’t know “honey” or “sweetie pie,” but that time is long past.
–That they are socially clueless and insensitive.

Any one of these revelations suggests a man is undatable. Block to burn the pet namers.

Another pattern it felt vindicated to see mentioned was the “No drama” guys. I once posted a PSA on Twitter about what a bad idea it is to put “No Drama” in your dating profile – It totally implies that this guy does not and will not take his girlfriend’s emotions seriously. But when I posted that, some random guy on Twitter mansplained to me why it’s actually okay! Needless to say, he convinced me even more deeply to avoid such men. And now I know that everyone following the Burn the Haystack Method is doing the same!

Or then there’s the people whose first message is “Hi!” There’s a whole sidebar about why you don’t need to bother with them. I’d learned that the hard way, but felt guilty about it. Now – B2B.

Honestly, I was already considered “too picky” by many of my friends. I’ve only been on four first dates with men I’ve met online – but they were all good dates, and two of them led to further dates. But the catch was I only blocked obvious scammers. So yes, I saw the same people I’d ruled out again and again. And I got tired of wading through the hay, and just gave up on online dating.

And the best part? I was afraid I’d forget some of the thirty-three rhetorical patterns. But I joined the author’s Burn the Haystack Facebook group! People post examples, and the whole community chimes in. Most are encouraging the person posting to block, but just today, someone got the opposite advice because it was probably not a red flag the way it was worded. So the group doesn’t just bash every man. And many success stories are also posted. With every posting, I’m learning more about the method and will feel less and less guilty about blocking men whom I definitely don’t want to start a relationship with.

Yes, she admits you’ll date fewer men with this method. But I, for one, think that’s much, much better. I was already ruling a lot of people out – but this will make it easier and completely guilt-free. And who knows? Maybe a needle will come up.

In closing, I have also been accused of being judgy – and here’s the author’s response to that accusation:

It’s definitely judgy, but I don’t see that as a negative. I love to judge things. I consider myself an excellent judge. It isjudgy, and it should be. You are choosing a human being, potentially for the rest of your life. There is no scenario that calls for more judgment. Being judgy keeps us safe, protects our boundaries and our time, and results in far better selections. Judge away, I say!

Oh, I should also add that this method is primarily for women looking for a long-term monogamous relationship. The author never implies that anything else is bad – that’s just what this method is designed for. Men who read the book can learn what not to say in their dating profiles. But if they don’t mean it and clean up their intentions behind those words – I do think red flags will slip out anyway. If you avoid these red flags and really mean what you’re saying – I think you’ll end up being a better relationship partner, so it’s all good.

So, will I use this info and jump into the dating pool again? I’m not sure, but meanwhile, I’m thoroughly enjoying watching empowered women in the Facebook group ruthlessly block to burn and end up finding their needles. Or simply being happier on their own.

If you’re single, I highly recommend this book. If you’re not single, you might get a kick out of it, too. At least stop giving dating advice to single friends until you’ve read it, please.

burnedhaystack.substack.com

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Review of Young World, by Soman Chainani

Science Fiction, Starred Review, Suspense, Teen Fiction Review 0

Young World

by Soman Chainani

Random House, 2026. 474 pages.
Review written June 11, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This novel is bonkers, chaotic, and far-fetched – but the truth is, I loved the wild ride.

The premise is that a 17-year-old named Benton Young, to impress an earnest girl, made a video that went viral and won the US presidency as a write-in. Okay, he didn’t get 270 electoral votes, and then there’s that little detail about it being unconstitutional – but politics got him actually in the White House. You see, his election started a global movement – a Young Revolution – and across the globe young people got put into positions of power. (The politicians were afraid of the movement and put the right pressure on the Supreme Court to say his election is okay. They’re planning to impeach him soon anyway.)

But being elected isn’t the same as wielding the power of the presidency. The powers that be don’t even want to let him appoint his own Cabinet – until he strikes a deal and gets his two best friends in.

But then the stakes move to a G-8 summit in Sweden. And it’s all about an island found in the Arctic among the melting ice caps that is claimed to be the ticket to great wealth for the country that claims it. But rumor has it, there’s a giant volcano under that island that could wipe out the planet.

So this is what’s being discussed when one of the leaders at the summit is murdered and the whole world thinks Benton did it. So for the rest of the book, he’s on the run across the globe and different powers are after him and trying to make deals with him and he can’t tell whom to trust or what to do. And that’s where it gets pretty chaotic at the end. I couldn’t completely picture what was happening in the big climactic scene.

But there’s lots and lots of action, along with plenty of thoughts about power and about what’s important. Benton comes to power because he sees the world as divided not by Red and Blue but by the Spend-Its and the Save-Its – the Save-Its being the young people who want to live in a world that’s going to last until they’re old. This book leaves you with lots to think about while you’re enjoying the wild ride.

somanchainani.com

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Review of What Emma Wrote, by Ann Diament Koffsky, illustrated by N. Tarcan

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

coverWhat Emma Wrote

The Woman Behind the Words on the Statue of Liberty

by Ann Diament Koffsky
illustrated by N. Tarcan

Apples & Honey Press, 2026. 44 pages.
Review written July 6, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This picture book biography seems especially appropriate for America’s 250th birthday. It’s the story of Emma Lazarus, the author of the poem “The New Colossus” engraved on a bronze plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, told simply for young readers.

Even as a child, Emma wanted to be a writer. Her family made a book of her poems and stories that they shared with friends. As she grew up, she became aware of the plight of Jewish immigrants facing hard times. Her own family had immigrated to the United States almost two hundred years before, but she remembered their history and felt a kinship.

And her work helping immigrants with practical needs also led to using her writing to rebut people who tried to name immigrants as the problem in America.

She wrote about the people she had met on Wards Island. She explained that they deserved to be welcomed and helped.

Emma didn’t stop after that. She wrote article after article and shared even more stories about immigrants.

Activism on behalf of immigrants plus writing skills made Emma Lazarus the perfect person to write a poem about the Statue of Liberty while it was being built.

I enjoyed reading the entire poem. I wish the name for the Statue of Liberty that she suggests had stuck: “Mother of Exiles.”

There are facts about the statue and about Emma Lazarus at the back of the book.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to commemorate the one hundredth birthday of the United States. How fitting to think back on it at our 250th birthday – but also reflect that some of the issues are still the same, that we still need to be reminded that one of our great strengths lies in welcoming people the rest of the world casts off.

Or, as Ann Diament Koffsky writes for children:

Emma’s poem is carved into a metal plate inside the statue’s base. It reminds visitors how important it is to welcome immigrants with kindness.

annkoffsky.com
nazlisillustrations.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/what_emma_wrote.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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