THE HARLEM HELLFIGHTERS (graphic novel) by Max Brooks.

Published by Del Rey in 2014.

Illustrated by Caanan White.

Synopsis:

The Harlem Hellfighters is Max Brooks' history of an all African American unit (the 369th Infantry) that fought on the Western Front alongside French units. They mostly came from New York.

This unit was allowed to fight precisely because they were assigned to a mostly French army. The American army would not let African Americans fight and had originally used the 369th as laborers, alongside civilian laborers.

The French were in need of immediate manpower. French white soldiers already had experience fight alongside regiments of soldiers from their African colonies and were eager to bring American troops to the front, no matter their color.

The 369th spent more time than almost any other American unit on the front lines. They may have spent the most time on the front lines. They were the first Allied unit to reach the Rhine River. 

Legend has it that the nickname "The Harlem Hellfighters" was given to the unit by their German foes.

They were among the first units to return to the United States and were given the honor of marching in a tickertape parade in New York City.

My Review:

The story that Max Brooks tells in this graphic novel is a little herky jerky. He tells the story with plenty of emphasis on individual soldiers, the terrible conditions on the front, and the racism they experienced. But, the overall plot of the war is rather poorly told.

The biggest reason that I am giving this book a rating of 3 stars is the illustrations. I truly dislike the art style. I found it distracting and hard to follow. There were details that are included that just filled the page and often made it difficult for me to figure out what I was supposed to be looking at. I bought this graphic novel from an online source without having seen the art. I hated it so much that I didn't read this graphic novel for nearly 7 months. 

Note: The publisher says that this book is aimed at children 8-12 years old. I believe that all of those ages are too young. It has graphic depictions of the violence of trench warfare. There are bullets blasting though heads, spraying bloods and brains across the page. There is a depiction of a bayonet going into someone's mouth and coming out the back of his skull. 

To be clear, I DON'T have a problem with showing the war as it really was. I DO have a problem with showing an eight year old a soldier being vaporized by an artillery shell. I would give this book a PG-13 rating.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks.

SWITCHBACK: A PATRICK FLINT NOVEL (audiobook) by Pamala Fagan Hutchins

Published in 2019 by Pamala Fagan Hutchins.

Read by the author, Pamala Fagan Hutchins.

Duration: 7 hours, 56 minutes.

Unabridged.

My synopsis:

It is 1976 and E.R. Doctor Patrick Flint wants to take his family on a week-long family camping and hunting trip on horseback. He is keenly aware that his teen children are getting older and they won't have too many more opportunities to go on adventures around their Wyoming home.

But, things are starting to unravel. His wife decides she doesn't want to go at the last minute. His daughter is complaining because she'll be out in the mountains and away from the boy she is interested in. 

So, the family separates for the week and that's when things start to go bad - and once things start to go bad in this book they just don't stop.

My review:

The basic outlines of Switchback are quite good, especially for the first book in a series. There's a decent amount of world building and the choice to set the book in 1976 removes all chances of cell phones or computers being a part of the story.

But, there are problems. For example, Dr. Flint is a congenial, funny guy at work. At home, he yells and screams when things don't go his way. The couple throws things at one another - not soft things, but things like dishes and coffee mugs. Maybe that's the way some couples do things, but I've been married a long time and we don't do it that way. Voices can be raised, but things don't get thrown. I disliked the man from that moment.

*****Spoiler Alert*****

This book is just way too busy with plot twists. There are sudden (often violent) plot twists that started at about the one-third point. Once they started coming, they never seemed to stop. An escaped prisoner commits a home invasion, a motorcycle gang (sort of) makes leering sexual comments to the high school daughter, the family uncovers a drug manufacturing operation, a car theft, a devastating car crash, a coyote pack attack caused by the (sort of) gang, food poisoning, a mountain lion attack, a horse killed for no reason, an attempted rape, a kidnapping, a murder, an attempted murder, a stabbing, and a horse breaks its leg in the middle of nowhere. 

There were enough plot twists for 2 or even 3 books. My advice - slow things down and save these ideas for another book.

*****End Spoiler Alert*****

Despite my misgivings about the sheer number of plot twists and my dislike of the main character, I found the last third of the book to be pretty compelling - I wanted to find out how the book ended.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Switchback: A Patrick Flint Novel by Pamala Fagan Hutchins.

YOUR JESUS IS TOO AMERICAN: CALLING the CHURCH to RECLAIM KINGDOM VALUES over the AMERICAN DREAM (audiobook) by Steve Bezner

Published in October of 2024 by eChristian.
Read by James R. Cheatham.
Duration: 7 hours, 28 minutes.
Unabridged.

Have you ever listened to someone speak, agreed wholeheartedly with almost everything the person said, but still felt underwhelmed by the presentation?

That's where I am with this book.

Bezner is the pastor of a church in Houston and he discusses how the church needs to stop being a cheerleader for both America and Jesus. Oftentimes, America comes first - especially as churches make political power a priority. 

As the title says, Bezner says the church has to return to honoring Kingdom Values over American Values. Bezner is not anti-American, but he does not that American popular culture and American political culture do not really align with Kingdom Values - and that should be the goal.

He goes on to tell about things he's done wrong in this area of his ministry and things that he believes are working out well now.

Like I said at the outset, I liked what Bezner had to say, but his presentation just was merely okay. The producers of the audiobook made the choice to read the footnotes out loud, including the number of the footnote and every detail of the source. The author includes relevant commentary with his footnotes, so you can't ignore them. Most authors rework footnotes like these into the text. Reading the entire footnote was an odd choice.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: YOUR JESUS IS TOO AMERICAN: CALLING the CHURCH to RECLAIM KINGDOM VALUES over the AMERICAN DREAM by Steve Bezner.

SIN MIEDO: LECCIONES de REBELDES (en español) by Jorge Ramos)

Published by Celebra in 2016.

In Sin Miedo: Lecciones de Rebeldes, Jorge Ramos brings us stories of people that he has interviewed over the years that he considers to be rebels with lessons to offer to all of us.

The title can be translated as Fearless: Lessons from Rebels. Some really are literal rebels, some are rebels that became dictators (he has 4 of these), and some are people that really aren't rebels, but are very successful in areas where people like them are not normally successful.

If you don't know who Jorge Ramos is, you probably don't watch Univision TV very much. Univision is a Spanish language channel based in Miami and Ramos is their most recognizable news anchor. 

The interviewees range all over the place, including Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Fidel Castro, Barbara Walters, George W. Bush, Daniel Ortega, former Presidents of Mexico, two Venezuelan dictators, a Mexican revolutionary leader, Spike Lee, and Richard Branson.

Some of the interviews are pretty compelling with lots of details. Some are skimpy, but fleshed out with some background research (you couldn't really corner Fidel Castro and pressure him to give you a long interview so you make do with the time you were given.)

The result was a mixed bag. I was touched by the patriotism of Venezuelan refugees that kept on fighting the Chavez/Maduro dictatorships in the face of overwhelming obstacles, but the interview with Bill Gates was standard boiler plate profile of his admirable work to fight disease in the Third World.

I skipped the dual interviews with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a Palestine Authority leader, figuring that anything said in that interview was superseded by the October 7 Attack and the Gaza War that followed.

The edition I read was in Spanish. It's been a few years since I read a book in Spanish. The last one was also a Jorge Ramos book. I enjoy his clear, concise style. I guess that makes Ramos my favorite Spanish language author! The English translation of this book is called Take a Stand: Lessons from Rebels.

I rate this collection of interviews 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Sin Miedo Lecciones de Rebeldes by Jorge Ramos.

USHERS (short story) by Joe Hill

Published by Amazon Original Stories on November 1, 2024.

Synopsis:

In Ushers, Martin Lorensen is being questioned by two federal agents that have noticed that he almost died twice in two mass casualty incidents.

One was a school shooting that primarily took place in the classroom he shared with the shooter when he was in high school. He got to school that day, but turned around and went home when he got to the front doors - just a few minutes before the shooting started.

The other was a tremendous train crash - he almost got onto the train - he was at the station with ticket in hand and walked away after telling a girl and her mom to not get on the train.

The federal agents are curious. Is he some sort of terrorist that sets up mass casualty events? Or, is he the luckiest man on the East Coast?

My review:

This is a well-told short story with an ending that would have been a welcome addition to the Rod Serling's old Twilight Zone series.

I rate this story 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Ushers by Joe Hill.

STAR-SPANGLED JESUS: LEAVING CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM and FINDING a TRUE FAITH (audiobook) by April Ajoy

Published in October of 2024 by Worthy Books.
Read by the author, April Ajoy.
Duration: 8 hours, 4 minutes.
Unabridged.

Star-Spangled Jesus is the story of April Ajoy and her spiritual evolution since the political appearance of Donald Trump in 2015-2016. 

Is it weird that a politician caused a spiritual evolution? 

No, not in a world of Christian Nationalism. For the most basic definition, I am going to say that it is a belief that a person can't truly be an American if they aren't Christian and their rights as an American should reflect that.

Also, this is precisely what happened to me, so I get it. Trump shocked me out of the Republican = Good Christian mindset because of the simple reason that he is so overtly antithetical to so many Christian ideals and is proud of it.

If the previous paragraph offends or confuses you, you will hate this book. 

Ajoy's pre-2015 Christian experience was much more conservative than mine and more intense. Her father was a conservative pastor. She went on more than one extended mission trip, including one in the United States to promote a book he wrote. She even wrote and sang a song to promote her father's book on the 700 Club!

Like me, her spiritual evolution did not lead her out of the faith, but it did lead her to a new, much more inclusive understanding of her faith.

The book is told in an informal manner, full of personal stories - as it should be because faith is personal. Some of these stories are funny, some are tragic. But, I look at this as the story of a successful maturing of faith. This doesn't mean she is a serene monk now. What it means is she's a clever, bright follower of Christ with no tolerance for hypocrisy and a wicked sense of humor that she uses to expose that hypocrisy for what it is.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith.

SING DOWN the MOON by Scott O'Dell

Originally published in 1970.

Named a Newberry Honor Book in 1971.

Set in the New Mexico and Arizona territories in 1863-1865, Sing Down the Moon is the story of a teenaged Navajo girl named Bright Morning. 

Despite the fact that the American Civil War is raging in the East, this is a tough time for the Navajo. There are pressures from the people they call Spaniards who raid the Navajo and other Native Americans in search of slaves (undoubtedly the "Spaniards" were Spanish-speaking Mexicans that were living in the territory before Mexico lost it to the United States at the end of the Mexican War in 1848.)

But, that's not the worst of it. In 1864, the U.S. military under Kit Carson (called Long Knives in this book) rounded up all of the Navajo and put them in a concentration camp called Bosque Redondo. The Navajo in the book are unsure as to why they were forced to come to the camp, but the ongoing threat of Confederate raids into Arizona and New Mexico had a lot to do with it. There were fears that the Confederates might combine with the Navajo or both groups could simply start independent attacks at the same time.

Or, they just wanted the land.

No matter the reasoning, this act was devastating to the real-life Navajo and to the Navajo characters in this book.

This book was a re-read for me. I read this book when I was in 4th or 5th grade and for the last 45+ years it has stayed with me. It's not like I was constantly thinking of the book, but when I saw a related movie or TV show or visited a historical site, flashes from the book would come to me. Recently, I had the chance to get a copy of the book and I snatched it up, hoping it would be as good as I remembered.

This book is a stark, quick book. It is very much a "just the facts" style book. There's not a lot of character development and the chaos visited upon the Navajo just keeps on coming. 

This is not an upbeat, happy book. Bright Morning is captured as a slave and later is forced to march to Bosque Redondo. But, it is a book about not giving up - no matter the situation. Bright Morning and the boy she loves, Tall Boy, are admirable characters. 

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell.