Book Review: Stealing Home by Allison K. Pittman

A well-written story about an alcoholic baseball player, an "old maid" who pretends the town's opinion of her doesn't matter to her, a twelve-year-old black boy who wants a better life, and a deaf feed store clerk who is secretly in love, Stealing Home was a historical look at baseball and racism in small town America.

As a secular novel, I would have given it higher ratings, but I've come to expect more from a Christian novel. While God, Christianity, and church were sprinkled throughout the story, the supposed God-change took place virtually without God. The story was primed for a redemption story, but only hinted that God MIGHT have had anything to do with it. I know that God works through people, as He did in this story, but I would have preferred to see transformation take place with God clearly at the helm. So, all in all, it was a good story, well-told, but had a faith element that for me, was lacking.

Jack and the Beanstalk

The other day, I was "doing school" with my 3-year-old and we were reading from a book of fairy tales. As I finished the story, what struck me was the moral of the story. I know fairy tales sometimes have different versions, but the one I read basically said this...Jack disobeyed his mother and sold their cow for magic beans. Jack's mom got mad and threw the beans out the window, which grew into the clouds overnight. Jack climbed the beanstalk, found a giant's castle, snuck in, and stole gold and a hen-that-lays-golden-eggs. He lost the gold as he ran from the giant owner, but managed to hold onto the hen. He climbed down the beanstalk and chopped it down, killing the giant following him. And the hen gave him a golden egg daily. The moral? Disobey, steal, and kill and riches will be yours. There is something seriously twisted about this story. "Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum!"