Reviewed by Rolanda Lyles for Readers' Favorite

In Junkyard Girl: A Memoir of Ancestry, Family Secrets, and Second Chances by Carlyn Montes De Oca, we find that the author grew up surrounded by a family that loved her and tried to protect her. Her parents were immigrants from Mexico who had nothing, although they fought to give their kids a better life. The family had become hoarders, filling their home with things they had collected in case someone needed them. Her mother, Mary Montes De Oca, was the defender of the family and ruled with an iron fist. As Carlyn grew older, she noticed that there were big differences between her and the rest of her family. Even her interests and talents were not like theirs. Slowly, her older siblings left their junkyard home to go to school and find jobs, but the tension between her and her mother grew. She wanted freedom, but mami held on even more tightly. It seemed as if anything she enjoyed was taken away, and she slowly began to resent and hate. Carlyn looked forward to the day she could be free of her suffocating mami and their junkyard prison, but when she discovered the reason behind her mother's overbearing actions, could their relationship be repaired?

Carlyn Montes De Oca's memoir Junkyard Girl chronicles her coming of age and discovering her lineage. Carlyn's story is about the love and protection of her family. They all come together as shields that keep her sheltered in a cocoon of secrets. The story also shows how strong a mother's love can be. Mary is a strong and proud woman, but eventually, pride leads to their relationship hitting an impasse. Carlyn's story is moving and told from the heart. No family is perfect, and all families have secrets, but one thing that I think Carlyn realized at the end is that they all loved her and only did what they thought was right. Bonds of love are more substantial than any blood ties. Join Carlyn as she relates her story of discovering her family's history and who she is in Junkyard Girl.

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Fortitude: Preserving 400 Years of an American Family's Faith, Patriotism, Grit and Determination by Dale R. Spaulding is a sprawling work that takes a deep dive into the history of the Spaulding family. Spaulding takes readers back to the ancient and medieval origins of the Spaulding name, the 'u' being added at later date, to the 17th century, sailing from England to the United States before it was the United States. The Spaulding family survived the upheaval of basically every event in American history, including the Revolution, with proof that is as comprehensive as a witnessed signature by John and Abigail Adams. Spaulding includes documents, landmarks, and photographs of the progression of the Spaulding family to where they stand today, with the author having served the country as a decorated Navy veteran.

Biographies and memoirs can be extremely tricky to review because it is rare that a book and its subject, however important it might be to the writer, are likely to be as enthusiastically embraced by a wide audience. Fortitude sets fire to this trend with a stunning, just remarkable encyclopedia of history. Dale R. Spaulding is writing more than just Spaulding history. This is a far-reaching account of American history and a name that can be argued legitimately as one of America's first and foremost families. The legacy is surreal, particularly as I am an American who moved to England a decade ago and am deeply involved in the American ex-pat community. I was in Plymouth standing on the Mayflower steps on the 400th anniversary of her sailing, to the minute. I am admittedly a history buff and so this is right up my alley. However, my daughter who has very little interest in American history was fascinated by the photographs and exhaustive detail. This is well and truly a book that will tickle the fancy of anyone with an interest in genealogy, history, and the making of America. Very highly recommended.

Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

A Century+ of Living: The Autobiography of Cora Jones “Boot” McLeod by Dr. Beverly “Eagle” Rogers presents a biographical narrative of McLeod's rural upbringing in Wake County, North Carolina, highlighting her strong family bonds, church, and agricultural life. Her idyllic childhood is shattered by the sudden death of her younger brother, Big Baby. After moving to Durham during the Great Depression, her family grapples with urban life's challenges, including poverty and Papa's death. Despite hardships, McLeod marries Buster, becomes a mother, and attends beauty school, finding joy and purpose in her new roles. The family purchases a house in North Durham and navigates the complexities of their African American identity and societal pressures, particularly during urban renewal projects. They also establish successful businesses such as McLeod's Beauty Nook. McLeod reflects on historical injustices, her family's fortitude, her love for baseball and fishing, her turbulent but resilient marriage to Buster, and a full lifetime of memories.

A Century+ of Living by Dr. Beverly “Eagle” Rogers is a compilation of both the small and large moments that together form both the good and more challenging pieces of centenarian Cora Jones “Boot” McLeod's life. I think that the hundred years that were given to McLeod were particularly special because of the landmarks she witnessed that altered the course of human history, especially with regard to technology. My wife's great-grandmother, who also surpassed the hundred-year milestone, once had her close her eyes and imagine being born when horses and buggies were still commonplace and living to see a man walk on the moon. For me, personally, as a person of color, it is the perseverance in the face of overt and extreme racism that felt most human, and the smaller moments that include happy slices of family life that were the standouts. Readers who do not know or know of McLeod, or her biographer Dr. Rogers, are definitely going to find interesting nuggets within this written time capsule. I am certain that the audience that will adore this legacy the most are the friends and family of McLeod who will treasure this comprehensive family history through the eyes of a matriarch for generations to come.

Reviewed by Edith Wairimu for Readers' Favorite

Of Providence: A Lifetime Chasing Hope by Kay Carroll is an incredibly inspiring biography that follows a mixed-race man’s relentless battles for land rights and inheritance for his family and others like him. It had been decided that mixed breeds could be added to Choctaw rolls and receive land distribution during the 1890s. However, Alex Powell, a man of Choctaw-African heritage, discovered that mixed Choctaw-African people were excluded from this agreement. In 1901, Alex Powell’s first application to the Indian Commission requesting that his family be added to the rolls was rejected. Undeterred, Powell makes several other appeals, battling many in high places to secure justice for his people. The fight is gruelling and eventually leads to him be investigated by the government, but he does not give up.

This is a powerful work about a courageous man’s struggle for justice and the challenges he encounters along the way. It includes congressional hearings that helped me better understand what Powell was up against and appreciate the brave fight for justice that he embarked on. It has informative historical detail that is barely known and is a must-read for all readers. The work lays bare the prejudice and hatred that families with African ancestry faced in trying to secure land rights for their families. It is an essential tribute to those who stood up for justice against this and other forms of discrimination. Of Providence by Kay Carroll is an extraordinary biography with invaluable historical records that inspire hope and fortitude. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Readers' Favorite

Finding the Missing Peace: A Healing Journey to Wholeness by Chris Duffy-Wentzel is a compelling autobiography you can't put down. What happens when an immuno-virologist is faced with a cancer diagnosis? It sets her on a life-or-death search for her birth parents. But something unexpected also happens, and it's a healing journey of the spirit. For almost 30 years, the author searched in vain for a way to unseal her adoption records, but conventional methods didn't work. She desperately needed her family's medical history, and then a dream revealed the key to the mystery. She needed to try a totally new approach. Her profession taught her to obey guidelines and what she could prove in a lab, and so she had to become her own private investigator of sorts in order to uncover the facts of her adoption and save her own life. Suddenly answers began to reveal themselves in a big way. As she followed the breadcrumbs, she discovered much more than just her biological history: she discovered healing for her inner self.

Author Chris Duffy-Wentzel has created a fascinating journey of self-discovery and peace, and it's all true. From the first page, you'll be hooked on her journey, and will arrive with her at the answers she's looked for, and perhaps those that you've looked for as well. The take-aways from this book are huge and impactful. Most people go through life not finding peace, but maybe they've looked in the wrong places. This author helps you get in touch with the inner you, and it takes a little peace and quiet to get there. I especially enjoyed getting to know Chris through her searching, the stories of her childhood growing up, and the people she met along the way. She didn't give up, even when it looked hopeless. There are lessons here for us all. Besides determination, her great sense of humor sparkles throughout the pages, as does her honesty and warmth. Few autobiographies are intriguing as Finding the Missing Peace: A Healing Journey to Wholeness by Chris Duffy-Wentzel.

Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Love’s Legacy: Viscount Chateaubriand and the Irish Girl by Daniel Fallon is a journey back in time through one man’s family tree in an attempt to prove or disprove a long-standing story within the family. It was always rumored in the author’s family of a familial link to the famous 18th-century French poet, author, and statesman, Viscount Francois-René de Chateaubriand. Stories of the Viscount’s brief sojourn in England, when he was penniless and ill, and his subsequent meeting with the author’s ancestor, the then 14-year-old schoolgirl Mary O’Neill, are explored in this tale. Sources throughout history and within the author’s family have always hinted at a relationship between the Viscount and young Mary that may have resulted in the birth of a child, Thomas. The author, Daniel Fallon, was left some fragments of letters when his father died, written to Daniel’s great-great-grandfather, Thomas Fallon. This sets him off on a journey of discovery to unearth the truth of the mystery. Was he indeed descended from the great author himself, Viscount Francois-René de Chateaubriand, called by many the father of modern French romantic literature?

Love’s Legacy is indeed a true-life mystery tour as author Daniel Fallon seeks evidence of a familial link in the often incomplete records of both France and England. Frequently stymied by the lack of records destroyed by war, the author is dogged and determined to finally prove or disprove the old family tale of a link to the Viscount. Although non-fiction, the author’s ability to weave his narrative like a fictional adventure makes this historical journey incredibly readable and exciting. One could feel through the pages both the author’s elation at finding a scrap of evidence and his frustration at barriers and destroyed documentation that invariably stood in his path. I particularly enjoyed the sections where the author actually visited the sites where Viscount Chateaubriand and young Mary resided in London some two hundred-odd years ago, noting that in many cases these sights and landmarks written about by Chateaubriand still existed. There was very much an air of discovery and excitement in every page that kept me totally enthralled in a story that is, in its essence, a family genealogy. For anyone who thinks history is a dry recitation of facts or that a family narrative could not possibly be exciting or interesting, this book firmly belies those premises. I can highly recommend this read.

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany by Bonnie Suchman is the story of the Heppenheimer family and their life as they lost everything in the Holocaust. The author researched and compiled all of this information after she learned that her father-in-law kept his life in Germany hidden from his family when he was alive. However, after his death, author Bonnie Suchman looked deep into his family tree and found that the Heppenheimer family came to Germany and became leaders in scrap metal dealerships in the country. Their affluent lives came to an abrupt end when the Nazis rose to power and destroyed their lives just because of differences in religious beliefs. The book recollects what happened to this family and how no one was safe from the wrath of Nazis and their misplaced rage.

I still have a hard time believing why someone’s religion can enrage a group of people to cause so much hurt and pain. The author did a great job of compiling the information and digging deep to gather all the data that goes back generations. Reading about the life of the Heppenheimer family was sad because they had a simple yet successful life before the Holocaust happened. The narrative felt like listening to a beloved professor sharing information on a topic they feel passionate about. I was surprised by how deeply the author researched. From the Heppenheimer family’s migration to Germany after the Thirty Years War and their life there from the 1700s until the Nazi regime, Bonnie Suchman held nothing back. By the time I reached page 37 and saw the pictures of the documents she uncovered, I knew this was going to be an exceptional book. She went into details about all of the ancestors, what happened to them and how drastically things changed after the Nazis came into power. I would highly recommend Broken Promises to anyone who would like to read about a more human perspective, rather than a narrated perspective.

Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

Back to Where We Came From: Our Foretold Journey by B. Lising is a Christian non-fiction guide wherein the author details the streamlined message of the scriptures in a way that makes their consistency difficult to dispute. Over the course of seven chapters, Lising breaks down misconceptions and then leads us back, using scripture in context, to the perfection of God and His control over our lives, our destinies, and our journey. Lising begins with the prophecies that are written with absolute clarity and moves to the often flipped notion that God created darkness when in fact He gave us light, and how this transitions into baptism. From there, he transitions into one, two, and three deeply convincing outlines of the constant motion of God as the Old Testament solidifies its marriage with indisputable, correlating scripture of what is to come.

It's no easy task to put together the universal truth of God's word and what it means in a way that is approachable for even those with little more than a cursory understanding of the Bible. It can feel overwhelming and uncomfortable, not so much for what it says but for what many of us seem to believe it doesn't say. B. Lising flips this coin in a way that we understand how there really is nothing that isn't said, and the scripture is only confusing because we have made it feel that way. Back to Where We Came From is the first book I've cracked open on theology where I walked away with no questions. Zero. How it took forty-three years for me to finally begin to figure this out is beyond me, but it is not beyond God. And therein lies the crux of what should never be called into question: God is in control. God has a plan. “We all have one common journey, and every stage of this journey is a representation of that message from eternity.” Amen to that.

Reviewed by Sheena Monnin for Readers' Favorite

Guns and Gods in My Genes by Neill McKee is a heartwarming and informative account of a family’s true history and genealogy over the course of generations. The author writes with wit and candor, chronicling interesting, amusing, and fascinating stories from the lives of his ancestors. Neill McKee takes the time to describe not only the setting and the people within each chapter, but he also provides insights into the traditions and cultural norms of the day, a skill that brings to life each delightful tale. He also takes care to acknowledge and discuss how indigenous peoples were impacted by the westward migration of many European cultures and peoples. By the end of the book, he has successfully taken the reader across the country and into the hearts and lives of the people connected to him and that he is proud to call his family.

As a reader who is not connected to or familiar with their own ancestry, I found myself totally drawn in by the incredible charm author Neill McKee uses to describe the people and places in his book, Guns and Gods in My Genes. I like the order and flow of the book and the use of high-quality images to illustrate and supplement the tales within the narrative. The author respectfully catalogs the reality of life for his ancestors, keeping true to the tone and restrictions of the time. The author’s way with words in this book made me smile and chuckle to myself while I was learning about different places and ways of living in decades gone by.

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

Do you wonder what skeletons lie in your closet? Have you studied your family history, or looked into genealogy to trace your roots? When William T. Packwood started looking into his family’s past, he was surprised to find his ancestors hailed from New London, Connecticut and he was a direct descendent of two prominent American Revolutionary privateers, brothers William and Joseph Packwood. The discovery led William T. Packwood and his wife, Virginia M. Packwood, on an exciting journey of discovery as they traced the history of these revolutionary patriots. It became a family project that included picnics in cemeteries where they searched for answers on old gravestones, and days spent in libraries and archives, plowing through old records. The journey opened a wealth of previously unknown family stories and two historic figures of a bygone era in American history.

The end result of all this research is William T. Packwood’s and Virginia M. Packwood’s book, Two Revolutionary War Privateers: William and Joseph Packwood of Connecticut. This is a thorough look, not only at two prominent figures of the American Revolution but also at an era of unrest and revolution, an era when the fledgling nation of what we now know as the United States of America didn’t even have a navy to fight the battles at sea. In come the privateers, the unsung heroes of these traumatic years of unrest. The book is a well-documented, thorough investigation of the lives of two of these privateers. As a historian, I appreciate all the work that goes into this type of research and I marvel at the way this book is laid out, chronologically and with considerable reproductions of letters, maps, illustrations, and important documents. This is a comprehensive study of the beginnings of the U.S. Navy, as well as U.S. trade and commerce. As one would expect with any well-documented historical account, the authors provide a concise and thorough list of sources and references. I can’t help but marvel at the intense thought, care, and research that has gone into this project. This is a marvelous contribution to the historical archives of America’s beginnings.