What I Read and Our Homeschool Read Alouds ll April 2025

What I'm Reading:

Living Fearless by Jamie Winship

Author Jamie Winship has lived and worked in some of the most volatile places in the world, helping leaders work through conflict and find resolution.  Through his experiences, he's found that much of the world's conflict is a result of fear and not knowing one's identity.  Using Biblical principles, even in hostile environments, he's brought peace and identity to many of God's children.  In his book, he teaches readers how to abide in Christ and sift their mindset, allowing God to use them wherever they are.  This is one of those books that requires multiple readings and deep soaking, but is so worth the time and effort.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

This one is a classic.  It's been quite some time since I picked it up, so I had it playing on audiobook this month.  Two sisters, two different temperaments, a repressed society, hidden love... mistaken intentions... it all comes together in one big happily ever after.

The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum

Another classic, but this one I've never read before.  It carries on much like the movie, but in the last 1/4 or so, it takes a decided turn as the characters must now use their gifts... brain, heart, and courage.  It's through their travels to different lands that they truly see what they're capable of getting Dorthy back to her home.

Our Homeschool Read Alouds:

The Cricket War by Tho Pham & Sandra McTavish

Based on a true story, The Cricket War follows a young boy, Tho, as he flees Vietnam in the early 1980s.  His family scraps together the money to send him to an uncle in America, but his voyage is anything but predictable.  Adrift on a small Vietnamese fishing boat... as a stowaway on a pirate ship... and waiting in a refugee camp, Tho dreams of reuniting with his family.  This age-appropriate read-aloud takes a closer look at refugee life without being too gritty for the middle-grade age.  The main character made the refugees' plight accessible and was a great addition to our history curriculum.

Born Behind Bars by Padma Venkatraman

Kabir's mother was put in jail before he was even born.  So the women's prison is the only home he's ever known.  Now, at the age of 10, he's released and sets off to find the grandparents he's never met.  But life on the streets turns out to be unpredictable, and luckily, he meets Rani.  Together, they set off to find a family and hopefully free Kabir's mother.

This was very good, very well done.  I read it with my 8th grader, but we could have read it really anytime in middle school.  It's a tough topic, but the author approaches it with a lot of grace.

What are you reading?