My Scribbler’s Heart

Celebrate the Life of JPII with A Boy Who Became Pope Anniversary Edition

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

Like many Catholics of my generation, I have a great love for Pope St. John Paul II, who, along with St. Teresa of Calcutta, was the worldwide face of Catholicism in the 1980s and ’90s. How blessed we were to hear and see these living saints in real time as they ministered to the world with their love and wisdom.

As nearly two decades have passed since JPII’s death in 2005, I have grown to love and appreciate him even more. He is one of my favorite saints and one whose intercession I seek daily. I’ve long wanted a copy of A Boy Who Became Pope: The Story of Saint John Paul II. Despite the fact that my children have pretty much grown out of picture books, I treasure the anniversary edition copy sent to me by Pauline Books and Media.

A Boy Who Became Pope

The hardcover picture book is beautifully and lovingly written and illustrated by Fabiola Garza, a character artist at Disney Creative Group. It follows Karol Wojtyla from birth through his papacy and death, enumerating the deaths in his immediate family and demonstrating his persistent desire to discern God’s call.

Continue reading →

The One Sound We Need More Of

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

It’s ironic that while our means of communicating have proliferated, our ability to communicate in person has diminished. I’m convinced that unless we cultivate silence in our lives, our communication with others will suffer.

Where once there was silence within the home, there is noise. Children, of course, create all sorts of noise, and that noise definitely impedes communication between adults. But there is a more insidious noise that accompanies our electronics and devices.

Besides the pings, rings, dings, and chimes that accompany messages, alerts, and alarms, there is the noise of podcasts and an endless stream of talking heads. There is music of every sort. Movies, videos, games—more and more and more! And it’s all available and accessible 24/7.

Similarly, the television, which was once relegated to waking hours, now broadcasts or streams content all hours of the day and night. We can blithely move about our days from room to room, home to car, car to store, restaurant, or workplace, and take our noise with us, even as we walk to and from.

This noise stifles natural conversations. When the relative quiet that naturally encourages interaction is absent, we withdraw, knowing it’s not an opportune time for dialogue.

Continue reading →

An Open Book

/ CAstfalk / 4 Comments
An Open Book

Welcome to the October 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

Poison Study

Many years ago, when I belonged to a local library’s writing group, I became aware of Maria V. Snyder’s Poison Study. The author was a local success story in publishing, and there was often mention of her. It took me a decade or more, but I’ve finally gotten around to reading the novel. In this fantasy, a young woman is spared execution and offered a position as food taster for the commander of Ixia. She’s kept captive by the need for a daily dose of antidote only her captors can supply. So far, so good.

Continue reading →

Spooky Stories for Hallowtide from Catholic Teen Books

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

Shadows: Visible & Invisible

Shadows: Visible & Invisible

About the Book:

Shadows: Visible & Invisible is a collection of short stories by seven authors and is centered around the All Hallowtide Triduum of All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. These fictional stories are meant to help teens learn more about the history of these important days on the Church calendar through engaging tales.

Continue reading →

An Open Book

/ CAstfalk / 7 Comments
An Open Book

Welcome to the September 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

You’ll notice that a lot of our recent reading was inspired by our summer vacation in Kentucky, where we made eleven stops on the Bourbon Trail and visited Daniel and Rebecca Boone’s graves, among other places.

Boone: A Biography

Many hours of our travel time were spent listening to Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan. Frontiersman Daniel Boone was a complex man who lived a fascinating life in 18th-century America. Robert Morgan’s biography is long and detailed, occasionally veering off on interesting tangents. While we didn’t complete the entire book as a family, my oldest son is listening to the remainder on his own. When presented with the hardships Boone overcame in uncharted wilderness and in conflict with hostile native tribes, I couldn’t help but think how soft we Americans have become. 

Continue reading →

An Open Book

/ CAstfalk / 6 Comments
An Open Book

Welcome to the August 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

Hillybilly Elegy

Like many others, my husband purchased a copy of J.D. Vance’s memoir, Hillybilly Elegy, following the Republican National Convention. I’m not sure if it was Prime Day pricing, but it was a considerably reduced price. I’d had my eye on this several years ago but hadn’t gotten around to reading it, so I’ll likely read it as well. So far, from the stories my husband has shared, I think it’s fair to say Vance’s Appalachian family was very colorful. I read the introduction, and the writing was so smooth, I wanted to continue.

Continue reading →

Mentored for Good Blog Tour

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

Mentored for Good by Keith Lilek

Mentored for Good

About the Book:

Are you happy with who you’ve become? I am, but I didn’t get here by myself. I’m the beneficiary of many God-inspired mentors throughout my life. Their guidance and wisdom have shaped me into the person I am today. Do you remember who lifted you at various times in your life? Who inspired you to actively change your course? I do. I remember. I remember them all. And I want to share with you how their guidance and my willingness to learn transformed my life. I am forever grateful to them.

Mentored for Good is not just a book; it’s a personal journey. It’s the story of how a willing mentee, the author himself, was shaped and molded by the mentoring he received throughout his life. It’s about how his character was shaped to benefit all those he came in contact with. Life’s struggles. Life’s uncertainties. How can we succeed? How can we be better at anything we want to try? We often don’t take advantage of those creative people all around us who are willing to share their stories, actions, and solutions. It’s hard to go through this life alone. But there are many people we come in contact with that can and do inspire us to live more fruitful lives if we are open to it. In Mentored for Good, the author revisits the lessons taught to him in sonnet form that captures the impact each lesson has had on him, his friends and family, and hopefully his readers.

Continue reading →

5 Saint Stories Your Teen Will Love

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

There are a handful of words most people will never misspell. They are the words they once misspelled when they got knocked out of a spelling bee. Mine are lunule, hexafoos, and hagiography. The last one is pertinent here:

Hagiography: (1) biography of saints or venerated persons. (2) idealizing or idolizing biography

(Source: Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

Hagiography sounds like an arcane word, obscure and maybe old and stodgy. Maybe that has to do with “hag.” Unfortunately, that’s sometimes how the lives of the saints come across. Through misperception or stale storytelling, the lives of the saints may seem boring or irrelevant. They are quite the opposite!

Holiness is relevant in every time and place throughout human history, and achieving that holiness is the result of inherent struggles, often heroic ones. Sometimes the tension between good and evil is played out in dramatic fashion as in the lives of martyrs. Sometimes it is an internal struggle hidden behind a cloister wall. In both cases, there is tension ripe for a good story.

If you’re looking for lives of the saints (and blessed) stories that will highlight that struggle in ways that are relevant and relatable, told in compelling novels, I have five recommendations to get you started. Find these books and more saint novels at CatholicTeenBooks.com/saint-stories.

Continue reading →