Set in 1989, with apartheid as the backdrop of No Greater Love Kathi Macias Apartheid isn’t heard often any more. I believe we have an entire generation who doesn’t know this sad part of world history—when South Africa officially sanctioned racial discrimination. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that the official racial divides began to be dismantled. Set in 1989, with apartheid as the backdrop of No Greater Love by award-winning author Kathi Macias, gives the reader a taste of the injustice and struggles suffered by Black and mixed-race people in South Africa, all with the approval of the South African government. Chioma, orphaned at the age of twelve, has every reason to hate the white ruling class of South Africa. At sixteen, she comes face to face with a possibility that was as foreign to her as it was illegal. Chioma finds herself falling in love with the son of the owner of the farm where she works. Her hate for white people and her love for Andrew throw her into struggles of life and death, violence and revenge, or forgiveness and selfless love. Unlike many Christian novels, No Greater Love offers no formula answers or formula endings. Each time I thought I knew the outcome of Chioma’s life, I was surprised with something different and more compelling. This makes No Greater Love more than just a novel for pleasure reading; it is also a story that helps the reader examine whether such difficult decisions are possible in today’s America. In that regard, No Greater Love gives the reader a chance to determine how to react if Christians become the target of such bigotry. The questions becomes more than just will Chioma find happiness; it becomes “Can I survive the struggles she has faced?” “How would I react to those same horrid conditions?” This is a book that should be in history classes as well. Apartheid is given scant treatment in many history courses and the reality of such injustice is lost in the facts. Students can learn more about the meaning of racial inequality through this story than any textbook can convey. No Greater Love is the first in Ms. Macias’ Extreme Devotion Series. The series will use romance, danger, and suspense to illustrate sacrificial love and victorious commitment. If this novel is a taste of the future books in the series, a winner has been born.” target=”_blank”>No Greater Love by award-winning author Kathi Macias, gives the reader a taste of the injustice and struggles suffered by Black and mixed-race people in South Africa, all with the approval of the South African government.

Chioma, orphaned at the age of twelve, has every reason to hate the white ruling class of South Africa. At sixteen, she comes face to face with a possibility that was as foreign to her as it was illegal. Chioma finds herself falling in love with the son of the owner of the farm where she works. Her hate for white people and her love for Andrew throw her into struggles of life and death, violence and revenge, or forgiveness and selfless love.

Unlike many Christian novels, No Greater Love offers no formula answers or formula endings. Each time I thought I knew the outcome of Chioma’s life, I was surprised with something different and more compelling. This makes No Greater Love more than just a novel for pleasure reading; it is also a story that helps the reader examine whether such difficult decisions are possible in today’s America.

In that regard, No Greater Love gives the reader a chance to determine how to react if Christians become the target of such bigotry. The questions becomes more than just will Chioma find happiness; it becomes “Can I survive the struggles she has faced?” “How would I react to those same horrid conditions?”

This is a book that should be in history classes as well. Apartheid is given scant treatment in many history courses and the reality of such injustice is lost in the facts. Students can learn more about the meaning of racial inequality through this story than any textbook can convey.

No Greater Love is the first in Ms. Macias’ Extreme Devotion Series. The series will use romance, danger, and suspense to illustrate sacrificial love and victorious commitment. If this novel is a taste of the future books in the series, a winner has been born.

No Greater Love
Kathi Macias
New Hope Publishers
ISBN:978-1596692770

I started reading The Call of Zulina (Grace in Africa)after I settled in my seat and I kept reading after arriving at my destination. The story and characters were so engaging I couldn’t wait for the return flight to finish.

Kay Marshall Strom’s story is somewhat based on fact – a white slave-trader married to an African. That in of itself makes a compelling reason to read the book of eighteenth-century slave trade in West African. It is, however, their daughter Grace who is the focus of the story.

Grace is the couple’s only child and is raised to be a proper English lady. Her life changes dramatically when her father promises her in marriage as part of a business arrangement.

When Grace runs away from the marriage, and from her home, she learns the truth behind her father’s wealth and her mother’s anger. Thrown suddenly into the world of kidnapped natives as an African, Grace is respected by some of the captives because of her attempts to help them. Others distrust her because she’s their captor’s daughter.

The Call of Zulina is the first in the Grace in Africa trilogy. This series is more than a good story. Ms. Storm is attempting to use story telling to shine a light on the continued problem of slavery.

She notes on her website (www.kaystrom.com) that although its been more than 200 years since the first anti-slavery law was passed, it continues under nicer names of sex trafficking, human trafficking, bonded labor, or child labor. Ms. Strom says, “ . . . today slavery is against the law in every country of the world. It is up to us to demand that those laws be enforced.”

The book includes a lexicon of words used by native African people and slave traders. I didn’t refer to the lexicon while reading because Ms. Strom’s writing makes each one clear within context.

Discussion question are also included, which are ideal for a book club, and for high school students. Students can learn about the humanity behind the facts of slave trade.

Don’t wait for a flight across country to read The Call of Zulina. Do prepare to be so enthralled with Grace’s tale that you don’t want to leave.

The Call of Zulina

Kay Marshall Strom
Abingdon Press
ISBN: 978-1-4267-0069-9

Join the discussion of The Call of Zulina on January 18, 2010.

Interview with Kay Marshall Strom

Green by Ted Dekker is subtitled “The Circle – Book Zero – The Beginning and The End.” The book’s description say the reader can begin reading The Circle series with Green, or read it as the end of the series. Maybe it works to end the series, but it doesn’t work as the beginning book.

The opening prologue and chapters introduce a future world that has been brought back to an uncivilized state with bands of people roaming forest and deserts. The reader also meets the religious people and their enemies, along with the deity Elyon. The conflict between good and evil is set.

Suddenly though the scene, setting, characters, and story change. I muddled through some chapters that were set in the present wondering if a chapter from another book had been accidently bound in this hardcover. One character from the beginning is mentioned in this unconnected chapter. Just as quickly, the story goes back to the future.

Throughout the book, the reader is thrown back in time to what seems to be a different story with a few of the same characters. Although I was tempted to skip the present chapters, I keep reading them to try and tie this story line to the main futuristic apocalyptic story. Didn’t happen.

Unlike most series, Dekker doesn’t provide the reader with sufficient context to tie the whole story together. The reader has a few choices: Skip the chapters that don’t fit the current tale. Go buy and read the other three books of the series, which according to Dekker’s website begins with Black. Use the money on another book. I recommend the third option.

Had Dekker left out the pointless time travel, the future tale of good and evil would have been a good read. I guess the time travel is important if you’ve read the other three books of the series. In reading Green as the beginning of The Circle, there is no context for it.

The thin illusions to Biblical references are relevant only to readers who know what they mean. As a Christian I understand “drowning” in the red the lake. A non-Christian may not. I know from my study of the Bible that Elyon is Eloheim of the Old Testament. A causal reader may not.

Not having this knowledge doesn’t ruin the story. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was written vaguely to attract a Christian audience while being vague enough to not put off a general audience.

Admittedly this is the first Dekker novel I’ve read. I didn’t find the story or writing so compelling that I’d return for more. If another of his novels floats my way, I’ll skip it unless it is truly the first of a series.

Green
Ted Dekker
Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN: 978-1-59554-288-5