Mary A. KassianCritiques

Sabriel Sabriel by Garth Nix Sabriel Is a good fantasy book that explores a world of magic and necromancy, Sabriel is a girl who is pushed into a place that she is not ready yet, she accepts the role so she can find her father and save the Old Kingdom, Sabriel is my first Garth Nix book.

This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

My number one New Year's Resolution this year was to spend more time reading the Bible. My number two resolution was to be faithful to developing my blog. That's why I chose to review this, a girl's devotional. I don't really use devotions very much because I'm a very lazy person who doesn't like writing things out longhand, but I decided it would be good both for my spiritual health and my handwriting to try this out.

On the whole, I'm glad I gave this devo a try. I spent a week doing it every day on top of my regular Bible reading (In January I set myself the goal of reading the entire Bible in two years. I'm in Leviticus.), and I found that it broke the monotony of the laws of Moses very nicely. The devo is full of little stories from real-life girls, messages about God's love and our duty to obey, and lots of space for jotting out your own thoughts and prayers. The pages themselves are very pretty, with various shades of pink backgrounds and beautiful flowers winding their ways across the pages.

After doing about a week's worth of the devotions and reading through the rest of them, I am a little conserned about some of the content. It's written in such a positive, affirming manner that I really have a hard time taking offence at anything written in the book (it would be like arguing with my grandmother!), but I did still want to mention that the book skates dangerously close to some controversial issues a few times. For example, it states that women are designed to be men's "helper," but then goes on to define the word "helper" in terms of equality. They state that men and female are created equal but for different purposes, which makes me wonder just what exactly they mean by that. Is the "purpose" of women to sit at home and watch the kids while the "purpose" of men is to go to work and earn money? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that (in fact, that's how it works in my family!), but I didn't exactly like the subtle suggestion that we women must remember our place, and refrain from becoming too masculine. In fact, at one point they even say that a "True Woman" always dresses appropriately - which I agree with - going on to say that clothes should "suit your . . . femininity" as one of the conditions inherent in dressing properly. Are they saying that they believe girls shouldn't wear pants? Because I definitely disagree with that.

Now I'm not a huge feminist, but I do believe that women should not be restricted to wearing pretty frocks and taking care of the children. The kicker is, the authors of this book may or may not believe that either. Everything is phrased in such positive, reaffirming tones that it's impossible to know for sure whether they're really condoning what I'm hearing. Still, if I had a teen I probably wouldn't give her the book just because of their support of gender roles and a few other minor issues. Like I said, though, it's all couched in such gentle and positive terms and mixed in with so much real, good, important advice that it might be okay. Plus, as a teen myself, I know that one devotional isn't going to change the way I think. I for one will likely go through at least most of the rest of the devotional, shaking my head at it every now and then but mostly just appreciating it for its gentle, loving messages about keeeping a level head and living to please my loving God.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Conservative view of biblical role of women

I did not finish this book. I didn't find the writing style attractive or appealing, which made me automatically want to disagree with everything the author is trying to say.

I was eager for the opportunity to review the book Girls Gone Wise In a World Gone Wild by Mary Kassian, and I was not disappointed. As a woman and friend to women with young daughters (and aunt to 6 boys that are rapidly approaching the age where they notice girls) I am interested in how to lead young women and even some not quite-so-young woman to think about their choices.

This book is written to provide thoughtful advice and alternative options to what the world provides. It is suitable for women at college age or above, and has helpful information for mothers of younger girls. She lays it out there in a few examples, never beyond acceptable, but it is probably not useful for younger girls to read those details, protect their thought-life. The book is also very useful for women of all ages. Given the bombardment of the media and the feminist messages, I believe we all need some corrective reminders of what scripture says and what is truly wise.

The structure is identifying contrasts between the wild girl and the wise girl. The writing is clear and keeps the subject interesting. The chapters are short enough to allow for some real contemplation of what is being discussed, and there is a companion website with questions that can be used by an individual or in a group to spur deeper thought.

I will be recommending this book to friends. I even thought that I'd love to share it with my nephews so they can see the truth behind the wild girls no matter how fun they may look, and really appreciate the wise girls of the world.½