Book Review – Ten Girls Who Changed The World by Irene Howat

Ten Girls Who Changed The World

Ten Girls Who Changed History In by Irene Howat

Synopsis:

Isobel Kuhn questioned whether God even existed. Mary Slessor grew up in a slum with an alcoholic father. Joni Eareckson broke her neck during a diving accident and Corrie Ten Boom just lived with her family in a little watch shop in Harlaam, Holland.
What is so special about these girls and how did they change their world?

Isobel Kuhn believed in God and then obeyed his call to travel to Asia to tell the Lisu people about God. Mary Slessor, put herself through evening classes and eventually became one of the first white women to venture into the interior of Africa. Joni Eareckson struggled through her treatment and endless hospital visits to become the inspiration to many Christians. Corrie Ten Boom spent most of her life just living in Holland until the Nazis started killing the Jews. Corrie Ten Boom put her life on the line to save the lives of many Jews in the hiding place, a hidden room behind her wardrobe in a little watch shop in Haarlem, Holland. Mary Slessor (Missionary in Africa), Corrie Ten Boom (hid Jews in Nazi Germany), Granny Brand (Missionary in India), Joni Eareckson , Gladys Aylward (Missionary in China), Jackie Pullinger (Missionary in Hong Kong), Amy Carmichael (Missionary in India), Elisabeth Fry (Worked among the sick, prisoners and homeless), Catherine Booth (Co-Founder of The Salvation Army) and Isobel Kuhn (Missionary in Asia)This is a wonderful book – in fact it’s a wonderful series. Irene Howat writes with a real warmth and insight. People that you have never met come alive on the page. Christian legends and unsung heroes all become friends you can understand and look up to. In a world where role models of real integrity are few and far between the Lightkeeper’s series fills the gap! (Taken from Amazon page)

Review

The fourth entry into the series has some hits and some misses (pun intended) that tend to be a weakness in the girls’ entries of the series. However, continuing the importance of providing some heroes of Church history, this continues to be a series worth reading.

In this volume, ten girls which include Mary Slessor, Corrie Ten Boom, Evelyn Brand, Joni Eareckson, Gladys Aylward, Jackie Pullinger, Amy Carmichael, Elisabeth Fry, Catherine Booth, and Isobel Kuhn follow a similar story pattern of about 15 pages each. The sections starts off with a childhood and family setting and move to either some early important events or through to teenage and college-age and then into adulthood of what they’re known for. The stories include mostly fictional conversations so as to give young readers more than just facts to remember. The conversation are in the spirit of learning about the person. Each person also has a focus on their Christian faith and it usually inspires the conclusion of the story as a way to glorify God. At the end, there is a “FACT” of the story expanded upon, a “KEYNOTE” that focuses on the aspect of the story to think about God, a “THINK” area in which a challenge question is presented for discussion, and a “PRAYER” section.

A lot of the focus is on women who did some amazing and backbreaking missionary work. Of course, you have the famous Corrie Ten Boom with hiding Jews from the Nazis but there are lesser-known people like Elisabeth Fry who did some phenomenal work in her local prison. Catherine Booth and the founding of the Salvation Army was also really interesting. The biggest disappointment is with Isobel Kuhn who seems to be mostly about her husband and I’m still not exactly sure what was done in her story.

Coming to the final collection of books, these ones are still just as important and just as interesting as the series has been. The more I’ve read them the more I’ve recommended them to others.

Final Grade

B+