Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

The Weekly Read

A man in the middle: Review of 13 Days in Ferguson by Captain Ronald Johnson

When Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014, and protests and riots followed, I didn’t watch the news as much as I should have. I was disturbed but I didn’t understand all of what was happening, and I didn’t always know which reports to believe. This is why I like first-person accounts of events, and while I know that Ron Johnson’s account doesn’t tell the whole story, he was there for the duration. 13 Days In Ferguson is an important work.

13 Days In Ferguson by Captain Ronald Johnson

The book walks readers through Johnson’s experience as a Missouri State Highway Patrol captain from his initial response to the protests and violent acts after Michael Brown’s death to his charge to lead the security effort in Ferguson to his vision for Ferguson in the future. Through it all, he is firmly a man in the middle.

I wanted to read this book because of Johnson’s perspective–as a black man and a law enforcement officer, he has a unique position in the conversation about race and policing. I felt he was honest in his recollection of the events and he didn’t paint one group in a more favorable light than the other. As a man caught in the middle of a national conversation, he is using that position to try to bridge the gap. I was inspired by his community policing efforts and the sincerity of his hopes.

I’m glad I added this to my racial justice reading list, and I would encourage you to add it to your list as well.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book from the publisher. Review reflects my honest opinion.

Saved the best for last: Review of Searching For You by Jody Hedlund

I’m usually sad to see a book series end, and in the case of Jody Hedlund’s Orphan Train series, I’m especially sad because she saved the best for last.

You can read my reviews of the first two books in the series here and here, and if you haven’t read them, I’ll try not to spoil too much for you with my take on this third and final story. Each book tells the story of one of three sisters who have had to make hard choices about their life and future in order to survive, and for all of them, the choices ultimately led them to board an orphan train heading west from New York to rural towns in Illinois.

Maybe you can already tell why I’ve liked this series. (It’s Illinois, in case you’re wondering.)

Searching For You tells the story of Sophie Neumann, the youngest of the three sisters and the one who has been on the run and missing from her sisters’ care. She has been caring for two young children, themselves orphans, and doing whatever it takes to keep them all alive and fed. When her current living situation becomes too dangerous, she is forced to board an orphan train with the two children and head west. Sophie plans to disappear with the kids in Chicago but that plan doesn’t work out and the three of them land in a rural Illinois town where the two younger children are taken in by a family and Sophie goes to live and work on a farm with a Scottish family who embrace her as one of their own.

And it’s here that Sophie is reunited with her one-time neighbor Reinhold Weiss. While she learns more about farm life and hears about her sisters’ lives since they separated, Sophie enlists Reinhold’s help to get the two children she’d been mothering back into her care.

That’s all I’m going to say about the plot, specifically, but here are some of the things I loved.

  • The way Sophie settles in to rural life and finds belonging. She blossoms with stability and learns to stop running from her problems.
  • The family of Scots, who are a delightful addition to this community. The mother, Euphemia, is full of grace and wisdom, including this gem: “When we’re finally willing to let go of the messes we’ve made, the good Lord can step in and salvage the scraps.”
  • And I’m especially fond of stories where a romance blooms out of a friendship because it mirrors my own love story. (This is not a spoiler, exactly, because Jody Hedlund writes historical fiction chock full of inspirational romance.)

I’m a big fan of Jody Hedlund books, so I won’t spend another blog post gushing about how I drop everything to read one of her books and let everything else in my life go until I finish it. (This is the highest compliment I can give to any author.)

If you are into historical romance, I would recommend anything by this author. If you don’t want to start with this series, I can point you in a good direction for where to start.

Disclosure: I read an advance copy of the book from the publisher. Review reflects my honest opinion.