All The World

 Published by Beach Lane, An Imprint of Simon & Schuster

Liz Garton Scanlon

Marla Frazee

Awards

ALA Notable Children's Books School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Horn Book Fanfare Bulletin Blue Ribbon IRA Children's Book Award Capitol Choices List (DC) CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council) NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Texas 2x2 Reading List Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award Publishers Weekly Best Books South Carolina Book Award Nominee Georgia Children's Book Award Nominee California Collections New York Times Best Illustrated Books Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner PEN USA Literary Award Finalist CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book Kirkus Best Children's Book ALA Caldecott Honor Bank Street Best Books of the Year - with Outstanding Merit It is always amazing to me, although why I don't know, that my granddaughter Meredith and I love the same books, and we always seem to pick winners! All the World, according to the publisher: "Following a circle of family and friends through the course of a day from morning till night, this book affirms the importance of all things great and small in our world, from the tiniest shell on the beach, to warm family connections, to the widest sunset sky" All the World, according to me: Oh, boy, here is a good beach book to take with us and it has "Nana" and "Papa" in it, and oh, the poetry: Rock, stone, pebble, sand Body, shoulder, arm, hand A moat to dig, a shell to keep All the world is wide and deep All the World, according to Meredith: Don't turn the page yet, look, Nana!

The Breakthrough: A Precinct 11 Novel

Jenkins, Jerry B. The Breakthrough: A Precinct 11 Novel. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. September 2012.

Dr. Jerry Jenkins is the author of more than 175 books. He has been a journalist, a writer, and an editor. Jenkins is currently encouraging and training new writers through his Christian Writer’s Guild. His books can be found regularly on the New York Times Best Sellers List.

The Breakthrough is the third Precinct 11 Novel, preceded by The Brotherhood and The Betrayal. Although promoted as the third in a trilogy, Jenkins leaves the police procedural open to follow on novels.

Boone Drake is the youngest bureau chief in the history of the Chicago Police Department. Jack Keller, Boone’s first partner, then his mentor and his boss, sponsors Drakes promotion to the head of the newly formed Major Case Squad. Following the first two novels in which like the Old Testament Job, Boone has lost everything: his wife, his son, his home, and his faith.

Now he has a new wife, Haeley, a new son, a new home, a renewed faith, and an increased passion to get gangs off the streets. Haeley won a seven figure settlement from the City of Chicago for false arrest late in their courtship and paid early in their marriage. The money was used to buy a comfortable house in a nice neighborhood, to ensure college educations for Max, who has been officially adopted by Boone, and any future siblings, and to gift Boone with the car of his dreams, with the balance given to the two churches that are important in their lives. Yet Boone is somehow waiting for the other shoe to drop.

When disaster strikes, it seems that Boone is destined to lose everything again, as tragedy threatens those closest to him. Haeley needs him desperately. Max is kidnapped, and all clues lead to a human trafficking ring from the dark and infamous Hutong district in Beijing. The plot is predictable but deftly written, keeping the pages turning. The suspense is created, not by twists and turns of plot, but by the complexity of character development.

Jenkins’s father is a police chief, and he has two brothers who are police officers. Cooperation among police departments and forces from the other squads housed at the 11th Precinct and across state and national jurisdictions is emphasized throughout the novel. Equally emphasized is the true-to-life crises of faith shaped by circumstance and cultivated through the relationships of characters that are believably flawed but redeemable.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."