Preview Shelf -- another Wabash author

"American Providence: A Nation with a Mission" by Stephen Webb tells the connection between America and Christianity that was contested on September 11, 2001. American Christians have been forced to think about the relationship of their faith to present day politics. Webb defends the idea that American foreign policy should be seen as a vehicle of God's design for history. This Professor or Religion and Philosophy at Wabash College is the author of seven books, and several of them, like this new one, are available at the Crawfordsville District Public Library. Here is more new nonfiction. "After Elizabeth" gives Leanda de Lisle's story about the rise of James of Scotland and the struggle for the throne of England. In "At All Costs" Sam Moses tells how a crippled ship in the hands of two heroic American Merchant Mariners turned the tide of World War II. "Gandhi on Non-Violence" contains selected texts from his "Non-Violence in Peace and War" edited by Thomas Merton. "The End of America" is a letter of warning to a young patriot by Naomi Wolf and it "will shock, enrage, and motivate - spurring us to act, as the Founders would have counted on us to do in a time such as this, as rebels and patriots - to save our liberty and defend our nation". "Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life" by Father Robert Spitzer is a practical guide to prayer for active people. "Bizarre Books" is a compendium of classic oddity book titles by Russell Ash and Brian Lake, with comments about some of the titles. Here are some new Young Adult fantasy novels that are popular for summer reading. In her series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Michelle Paver offers "Wolf Brother" about a 12-year-old and his wolf-cub companion, researched in forests of Finland and Lapland. Her second episode that follows the team is "Spirit Walker" where an illness afflicts the clan. In Australia, a fifteen-year-old must deal with magic travel while supposedly living with her grandmother in the first volume " Magic or Madness" by Justine Larbalestier. The sequel, "Magic Lessons", shows her and her friends learning about the danger of using their magical gifts. "Infernal Devices", a part of Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve, finds a trio of lost boys in the distant future battling ancient enemies after Anchorage is settled on the shores of the Dead Continent of America. T. A. Barron's third book in The Eternal Flame series, "The Great Tree of Avalon" shows three unlikely heroes, a wilderness guide, a brave priestess, and an eagleman, needed against a warlord bent on conquest of the wondrous world of Avalon. Book Seven of D. H. MacHale's Pendragon is called "The Quillan Games"; to triumph in the games is to live the life of a king, but to lose is to die. Two of Chris D'Lacey's books, "The Fire Within" and "Icefire" explore the connection between dragons, the Arctic, and ancient secrets. "Murkmere" is Patricia Elliott's fantasy manor, a world between history and myth. Jane Curry's "The Black Canary" is also fantasy, for while visiting London a twelve-year-old discovers a portal back to the year 1600, where he can use his musical gifts.Life today is also a popular subject for Young Adult fiction. "Tyrell" by Coe Booth is a boy caught living in a shelter who devises a plan to save himself toward something better. Paintball warfare goes underground in "Sewer Rats" by Sigmund Brouwer. "The Possibility of Fireflies" by Dominique Paul finds a 14-year-old experiencing her summer to "grow up".