Hope and Other Super Powers

Hope and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto

Author: John Pavlovitz

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publication Date: November 6, 2018

Length: 256 Pages








About the Author
John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past four years his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse worldwide audience. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities.



What Kind of Person Does the World Need Right Now?
This book is a call to action. It is a call for activism and resistance against the upside-down world we live in. Americans (in general) and Christians (specifically) no longer seem burdened to love the least, or to be agents of compassion, or to care for your Muslim, gay, African, female, or poor neighbors as yourself.

The author uses popular comic book heroes to identify ways of cultivating key traits (ordinary superpowers) that will improve our lives and our outlook on the worldwide community. 

The book warns about the weaknesses (our personal Kryptonite) that leaves us vulnerable to the adversaries and villains that we will face on the journey.

Superpowers don't work alone but in teams of other people with the ultimate goal of creating a global movement of radical goodness. This book provides guidelines for locating like-minded heroes and how to join together to achieve common goals.

Mr. Pavlovitz shares stories of some ordinary superhumans to illustrate how they triumphed against adversity, despair and opposition. These stories serve as an example to launch us into our greater purpose and destiny.

The author recently made the following plea on his blog, and this book provides guidance on how to take meaningful action.

"You and I need to pick a hill worth dying on right now, and we need to ascend it without delay. We need to speak and write and work and protest, and do all the things we’ve been waiting for someone else to do."

My Thoughts
 I read this book from cover to cover and found it quite compelling. Mr. Pavlovitz is an excellent writer and expresses his ideas, views and opinions in a very articulate and meaningful manner. He has built a huge platform of supporters on social media sites and frequently expresses his dislike for President Trump and the current political environment in our country.

However, I don't think this book is about politics, religion or liberalism. I believe Mr. Pavlovitz is sincere in his desire to make this a better world. The purpose  for this book is to inspire and motivate ordinary people to get off the sidelines and take a stand for their beliefs and convictions. He warns that there will be a price to pay for taking a bold stand on controversial social, political and religious issues. You will face the scorn and rejection of family members, co-workers, church members...your mother might think your brother/sister is better than you. 

Put on your cape and use the superpowers described in this book to turn your back on fear and pick a hill worth dying on.

I feel like our country has lowered the bar on what is morally right and wrong. I don't even like watching the news anymore. The bad news just keeps coming. This book stirs something deep inside of me. It confirms the popular quotation by Edmund Burke; "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing."
Hope and Other Super Powers will be released on November 6...election day. A coincidence? No, I don't think so. 

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5

FYI ~ I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Thank you to Simon and Schuster for making this advance reading copy available.

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Children's Book Review and Giveaway: Scribbleville

Scribbleville

Written and Illustrated by Peter Holwitz

Philomel Books, 2005

ISBN: 0-399-24303-8

 

About the Author

Peter Holwitz is a published author and an illustrator of children's books. Some of the published credits of Peter Holwitz include Scribbleville, Stick Kid, and The Big Blue Spot.

Everyone Is The Same In Scribbleville

Scribbleville is a pleasant little town where everyone and everything is scribbled. The people have scribbled houses, scribbled pets and they walk with wiggles. There is not a single straight line in Scribbleville.

One day, a stranger moves into town and Scribbleville is never the same. The newcomer is straight, not scribbled, and drives a big yellow truck that is as straight as a stick. The man builds a perfectly straight house with a white picket fence around the yard. The people in Scribbleville are shocked and upset.

Wherever he went, the people would stare.

"Look at his clothes." "Who cuts his hair?"

"He doesn't fit in. He looks all wrong.

Should someone tell him he doesn't belong?"

The Scribblers shun the newcomer with the straight house and the straight picket fence. Then a woman walks up to the straight man's fence and begins to talk to him. She has a big scribbled smile and a red scribbled dress. They soon become friends. The folks in Scribbleville are furious.

"I admit", she said, as her

scribbled head shook.

"on the outside he's odd, but

that's not where I look."

Children are often the first to accept changes. A youngster in school draws a picture that is part scribble and part straight. A teacher wears a straight tie around his scribbled neck. Soon the kids begin to wear straight lines too.

It's tough to say - to pick one day.

Things never change overnight.

But before too long, what once felt wrong,

Started to feel a bit right.

The stranger isn't strange anymore. He marries the woman in the red scribbled dress. They have two kids...one is scribbled and one is not. Now, Scribbleville is a town where everyone fits in.

My Thoughts

I really like this book. It deals with prejudice, racism, change, acceptance, tolerance and friendship. These are all social issues that children must deal with on a daily basis. This book is written in rhyme and reminds me of the way Dr. Seuss would deal with social issues in a light-hearted manner.

The scribbled illustrations are excellent and children should be encouraged to create their own scribbled drawings. These illustrations really make this book unique and wonderful.

Scribbleville is about accepting other people who are different than the majority. They might be a different race, have a disability or speak with a foreign accent. The world would be a better place if every town would follow the example of Scribbleville. I highly recommend this book for children of all ages.

Book Giveaway

Would you like to have your very own copy of Scribbleville? I found this book at a Friends of the Library sale and would like to pass along my good fortune to one of my blog readers. This is a former library book. The front blank page has been removed and the word "DISCARD" is stamped on the title page and inside the back cover. The name of the library has been marked out.

This book is out-of-print and somewhat difficult to find at a reasonable price.

You must do the following TWO things to enter this contest;

(1.) Leave a COMMENT in the Comments Section of this blog post and include your email address so that I will have a way to contact the winner.

(2.) FOLLOW this blog with Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs.

(3.) Each entrant must be at least 18 years old...Only ONE entry per person.

(4.) This contest is worldwide. I will ship the book via USPS Priority mail at my expense.

I will randomly draw a winner from all the blog comments at noon (Central Time) on Tuesday, May 15. I will email the winner and that person will have 48 hours to respond by sending me their shipping address. If I don't get a reply from the winner, I will choose another name on Friday, May 18. I will announce the winner of the contest on this blog the following week.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.