Becoming Free Indeed

I saw Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear by Jinger Duggar Vuolo advertised somewhere and was intrigued so got it on audiobook from Libby. It is a memoir about Jinger's faith journey as she separated herself from the beliefs of Bill Gothard (the religious leader who guided her family's beliefs when she was growing up) and centered her life based on the Christianity of the Bible.

This was an interesting read. It made me sad to read about how much of her childhood and teenager years were founded in fear (being scared of God punishing her for various things that really weren't a big deal). I found it interesting to follow her thought process as she disentangled her faith and figured out what she truly believed as an adult. The book was a good reminder about focusing on what truly matters in Christian faith (following Jesus Christ) and teaching your children about God in a way that is not based in fear.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

Good Different

I found Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt on display at the library with new books and thought it looked like one I'd enjoy. The book description says, "Selah knows her rules for being normal. She always, always sticks to them. This means keeping her feelings locked tightly inside, despite the way they build up inside her as each school day goes on, so that she has to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall until she can calm down. So that she has to tear off her normal-person mask the second she gets home from school, and listen to her favorite pop song on repeat, trying to recharge. Selah feels like a dragon stuck in a world of humans, but she knows how to hide it. Until the day she explodes and hits a fellow student. Selah's friends pull away from her, her school threatens expulsion, and her comfortable, familiar world starts to crumble. But as Selah starts to figure out more about who she is, she comes to understand that different doesn’t mean damaged. Can she get her school to understand that, too, before it’s too late?"

This was a nice read. I thought it gave a great glimpse into the mind of a young person on the autism spectrum, and I really liked the part of the book where she went to FantasyCon and met people like her or who understood her. At first I thought the book seemed unrealistic, like that Selah and her mom didn't realize that she had autism. But after reading the author's note, I came to understand that a lot of people struggle with certain things but don't discover till later in life that it actually falls under the autism spectrum. I thought this book could be really meaningful to kids who are neurodivergent, and I really liked following Selah's journey of self-discovery.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)