® REVIEWS
BOOKLIFE, AUGUST 28, 2017
with her husband and others still bleeds
through despite her claim of transformative
forgiveness, and she occasionally gets lost
in emotive but meandering descriptions.
But as a candid look at end-of-life decisions,
Magargle’s memoir will help others
approach the issue with more hope and
empathy.
Transparent:
How to See Through the Powerful
Assumptions that Control You
David W. Richardson Jr. Clovercroft, $15.99
trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-942557-56-2
According to Richardson, founder and
president of the Assumptions Institute
ministry, assumptions are crucial elements
of human nature that control thought processes and actions on a daily basis. Writing
extensively about what he describes as different types of assumer personalities, he uses
the Lewis and Clark expedition as a simplistic analogy for his quest to map the psychological effects of assumptions.
Richardson introduces the Critical
Assumptions Test, a tool to help visualize
where assumptions come from, such as news
stories and movies. He takes the reader
through exercises to learn how to better use
the CAT in evaluating assumptions and
seeing how “God truly gives knowledge,
wisdom, and guidance.” At times, the book
becomes bogged down in theory, but
Richardson achieves his goal of explaining
how the CAT tool can be beneficial to those
looking to deepen their faith.
Children’s/ YA
Riding with the Hides of Hell
Stacia Leigh. Espial Design, $10.70 paper
(256p) ISBN 978-0-692-79727-3
Alternating between tough Miki Holtz
and easygoing Will Sullivan, both 17,
Leigh’s uneven tale of family and motor-
cycle clubs suffers from a frustrating lack
of communication. After Will wipes out on
his motorcycle while drunk, his father
forces him to come along on a bike rally in
the Pacific Northwest as a final memorial
for Will’s mother, who died in a car acci-
dent the previous year. Will winds up
sharing a bike with Miki, the daughter of
the acting president of the Hides of Hell
motorcycle club, who is head over heels for
Will despite his seeming lack of interest.
Then the two make a decision that puts
them in the middle of a conflict between
the Hides of Hell and a rival club. Leigh
(Dealing with Blue) creates rounded charac-
ters in both Will and Miki: his inability to
move on from his mother’s death and her
self-confidence are highlights of the novel.
However, Leigh glosses over the unsavory
parts of the club, including its illegal activ-
ities, and most of the obstacles the charac-
ters face, both physical and emotional,
could have been avoided by having conver-
sations. Ages 14–up.
Malika: Warrior Queen, Part One
Roye Okupe, illus. by Chima Kalu. YouNeek
Studios, $14.99 paper (144p) ISBN 978-0-
9966070-5-6
As the queen of the empire of Azzaz—a
nascent, fictional 15th-century West
African nation—Malika grapples with
internal rebellion, Chinese invaders, and
mounting insurrection from her Council of
Five, the representatives of the country’s
five provinces. On the battlefield, Malika
can take out five rebels with a single swing
of her sword (and a jaguar with a well-placed kick). And she’s just as assured when
facing questioning from her council,
though readers also see her struggle with
how best to show strength, which comes to
a head with the arrival of the king of Atala,
Malika’s secret husband, who possesses
supernatural wind-based powers. Okupe
balances exposition, plot progression, and
action within each chapter, providing a
smooth introduction to the machinations
and mythologies of this world (interspersed
notes touch on the real-life inspirations
behind Azzaz). Befitting the story of a
fierce, confident queen who rules from the
front lines as much as from her throne,
Kalu’s cinematic artwork is dominated by
battle scenes but also highlights the
empire’s landscape of sand, rocks, and forests, as well as the cultural diversity of its
people. Ages 12–up.
10 Steps to Girlfriend Status
Cynthia T. Toney. Write Integrity, $13.99 paper
(202p) ISBN 978-1-938092-64-0
This second book in Toney’s Bird Face
series, after 8 Notes to a Nobody, is a thinly
woven tale that combines a family ancestral
mystery, a degenerative disease, and
romance. Louisiana native Wendy
Robichaud is about to become part of a
blended family with her mother, her close
friend Alice, and Alice’s father and brother.
Now a high school freshman, Wendy is also
beginning to attract boys, including pop-
ular David Griffin. Meanwhile, her next
door neighbor and surrogate grandmother,
Mrs. Villaturo, is showing signs of dementia,
which alarms Wendy. While looking
through a photo album, Wendy questions
Mrs. V. about a picture, which sparks
Wendy’s curiosity about her own family his-
tory, and a quest for answers begins.
Unfortunately, Wendy comes off as an odd
combination of empathetic, presumptuous,
and unintentionally harsh (“His voice
sounded almost normal. Or maybe I was
getting used to it,” she says of Mrs. V.’s
grandson Sam, who is deaf). The intercon-
nected relationships between characters get
to be overly convenient, sometimes overlap-
ping to the point of confusion. Although
Toney’s writing is solid, the book winds up
short on substance. Ages 12–up.
A Little Radical:
The ABCs of Activism
Danica and Jason Russell. Broomstick Engine,
$20 hardcover (60p) ISBN 978-0-692-82451-1
The Russells (Jason Russell directed the
viral short film Kony 2012, about the child
soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army)
bring a focus on activism to a picture book
audience in this rhyming alphabet book. In
an attractive book-within-a-book setup, the
spreads consist of photographs of a handmade, zine-like guidebook filled with collaged images, pasted-in text, and hand-drawn or painted cartoons, all thematically
tied to the words being introduced. The
word action is formed from red yarn that is
“held” in place by a trio of cartoon figures
(“A is for action./ It all starts with you./ Talk
won’t do a thang./ Without follow-through”). The guidebook is photographed
against a backdrop of rocks on the D pages
(for defend), spray paint and safety pins
bring a punk aesthetic to the R spread (for
radical), and torn b&w photographs of hands
introduce xerography for X (“Print posters.
And fliers. Be seen and heard./ You can say
a lot without saying a word”). The cartoon
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