A friend in need is a friend indeed

Mo Wren loves her neighborhood with all its flaws.

Jennifer Minicus | May 25 2017 | comment

What Happened on Fox Streetby Tricia Springstubb
written for ages 9-12 | recommended with reservations
published in 2011 (2010) | Balzer + Bray | 240 pages

Mo Wren has a lot more responsibility than most girls her age. Since her mother died, she has had to look after her younger sister while her father works at the water company.

Still, summer is always fun because Mo’s best friend, Mercedes, comes back to stay with her grandmother on the street where Mo lives: Fox Street.

Mo assumes their friendship cannot change, but Mercedes’ mother has recently married, and Mercedes has grown accustomed to a lifestyle that makes Fox Street seem even more run down than ever. Mo loves Mercedes, but she loves her neighborhood too. When rumors of a buy-out begin to circulate, Mo is afraid that life is going to change for the worse. Can she rely on her best friend to be there when she needs her the most?

Tricia Springstubb’s simple chapter book includes family loyalty, a good lesson in tolerance and a heroine with heart. Readers cannot help but sympathize with Mo who places a high value on relationships. One caveat for parents of younger children: Mercedes is born out of wed-lock, and this may be a confusing point for the younger children in this age bracket.

Jennifer Minicus is a former teacher currently living in Ridgewood, NJ.

- See more at: https://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/a-friend-in-need-is-a-friend-indeed/19858#sthash.pJU2zDsh.dpuf

May 25, 2017

In an important article today Dr Philippa Taylor highlights a new British poll showing that an overwhelming majority of Britons want to make it harder for women to get abortions - not easier, as certain professional bodies and politicians claim. What is more, women are more in favour of restrictions than men -- the opposite of what we hear from the media. Says Dr Taylor:

It is particularly striking how much support there is amongst women for lowering the time limit for abortion, which currently stands at 24 weeks. Of the 70% of women who want the limit lowered nearly six in ten are in favour of a limit of 16 weeks or fewer and 41% actually want it 12 weeks or less.

Read her article.

One other highlight today: Martin Luther remains theologically controversial after five centuries, but, as Chiara Bertoglio writes, his musical legacy has a universal appeal. When it comes to popular hymns we are probably all Lutherans to some degree, wittingly or no. It is interesting to read, too, that Luther preserved the Catholic tradition of Latin and plainchant alongside the new repertoire of German songs he fostered. A faith that cannot express itself in song must surely die out, so at least Luther had that right.