"Janie's Freedom" by Callie Smith Grant

About this book:

  “Where will Janie fly to freedom?

Eleven-year-old Janie is confused. The Wat Between the States is now over, and Miss Laura, the widowed owner of Rubyhill Plantation, has told the plantation’s former slaves they’re free to go. But for Janie, where?

There are still many dangers in the South and many unknowns in the North—and leaving Georgie may eliminate any chance of Janie ever finding her mother. Can Janie’s faith provide the wisdom and guidance she needs to face a world of new choices?”


Series: Book #14 in the “Sisters in Time” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to that review: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, & #13.


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned & read; Prayers & Blessings over food; Talks about God, Jesus, & Heaven; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, praising God, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, hymns, & a pastor; Mentions of Heaven; Mentions of a cross necklace; A few mentions of those the Bible; A few mentions of Quakers & Methodists; A mention of a godsend; A mention of a miracle;

             *Note: A couple mentions of a place feeling haunted.

Negative Content- All about many mentions of the Civil War, fighting, deaths, slaves, slavery, freed slaves still facing prejudice, & hatred; Mentions of slaves being sold & taken away from their families; Mentions of chain gangs; Mentions of thieves & stealing; Mentions of alcohol & a drunk grandfather who beats his granddaughter (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of fires being deliberately set; A few mentions of fevers & injuries; A few mentions of slaughtering/killing animals for food; A few mentions of hunting & skinning animals; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of tobacco.

Sexual Content- Mentions of two of Janie’s older sibling figures being sweet on each other.

-Janie, age 11-12
                                P.O.V. switches between Janie & Anna

                                            Set in 1867-1868
                                                    144 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This is such a hard topic in history to read about, but I think this author did quite well with Janie and the faith content shown throughout this small book.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"Unyielding Hope" by Janette Oke & Laurel Oke Logan

About this book:

  “A Sweeping Companion Story to the Hallmark TV Series When Hope Calls
  Lillian Walsh has already suffered more than most. After the passing of her sister and birth parents when she was younger, and now her adoptive mother's recent death, Lillian struggles to understand why God would allow her to lose so much. Yet her adoptive father seems ready to move on, boarding up their home to embark on an extended visit to his native Wales.
  Then a lawyer turns up on their doorstep with news that again upends Lillian's life. She has inherited a small estate from her birth parents and, even more shocking, her younger sister Grace is likely alive. Lillian rushes to reunite with her sister, despite the fear that they won't be able to rebuild a connection.
  When the two sisters meet, Grace is not what Lillian expected--she's full of exuberance and big dreams despite being raised in difficult circumstances. Can Lillian set aside her own plans to join her sister in an adventure that will surely change them both?”


Series: Book #1 in the “When Hope Calls” series, which is a companion series to the TV show of the name same.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, read, & quoted; Prayers, Talking to God, Praising God, Thanking Him, & Blessings over food; Church going; Many talks about God & faiths; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Lillian struggles with doubting God; Mentions of God, Jesus, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, blessings over food, & thanking God; Mentions of the Bible, Bible reading, those and events in the Bible, & devotionals; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, services, hymns, & Sunday school classes; Mentions of Jews; Mentions of being Blessed & blessings; A few mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a godsend;

             *Note: A mention of a Greek mythology character.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shut up’, a ‘stupid’, and three ‘dumb’s; An accident & pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of accidents & deaths; Mentions of abuse & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of thugs, thieves, stealing, jails, & being arrested; Mentions of fights, fighting, & injuries; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of prejudice; Mentions of name calling, teasing, & meanness from other children; Mentions of hunting, guns, & shooting animals for food (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of wars & killings; A few mentions of hanging or shooting thieves; A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A couple mentions of manure;

             *Note: A few mentions of authors & books.

Sexual Content- A couple embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); A bit of noticing; Mentions of attraction & possible attraction; A few mentions of jealousy.

-Lillian Walsh
                                P.O.V. switches between Lillian & Lemuel
                                                 {Historical, the year is unclear}
                                                        331 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Just like the past Janette Oke books I’ve read, this book was very clean and well written. I’ve seen a few episodes of the TV series and have been interested in this book since I learned it was being released. Of course there were some differences, but it was all very familiar to the show. It wasn’t a favorite book by any means, but it was an enjoyable one that talked about the reality of orphans that were hoping to find new forever homes and how that was unfortunately not always the case. :(

I do have one issue with how Lillian and Grace didn’t talk with each other much. I do believe in the power of siblings having connections and able to just pick up from when they were last together, but I wish Lillian and Grace would have talked more about themselves and their lives to each other. Their lack of conversation became noticeable when about halfway through, a guy entered the picture with Lillian. Later another friend of Grace’s entered the picture. Both sisters responded in a “who’s this and why didn’t she tell me about him?” way which was kind of sad to see. Personally, I understand that unless the male friend was a special friend she wouldn’t have told her sister about him. But yet both girls acted weird with each other when these fellows entered in and it distracted from the plot of the book about caring for the children. It gets cleared up right at the end, but I couldn’t help thinking that these sisters could have saved themselves stress and worry if they had just talked about it all.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.