In a series of very vulnerable journal entries, 14-year-old Taylor processes her emotions of her transition to Japan when she was 9 and the difficulties and joys of life there. While on home assignment in the US, Taylor finally let herself grieve losses and name her emotions. The book is split into 2 sections: the first part is focused on her pain and in the second is able to see the joys in her experiences.
It can be hard to read about her loneliness and how desperately she wanted to fit in with the Japanese people around her. I just wanted to give her a big hug (but I don’t know her and that would be weird!). Seeing how God put caring people in her life even when she couldn’t recognize them as blessings is encouraging and a reminder that God is with all of us in our grief and transition and language learning and every difficulty.
Jon Kregel’s nonfiction, first person account of his life journey from missionary kid to professional soccer player (and teammate of soccer superstar Pele) to drug dealer and prison inmate. Jon writes about what really happens in the “glamorous” world of easy money and drugs. Against a backdrop of self-destruction and hopelessness emerges an inspiring, challenging story of the faithfulness of God and of forgiveness and reconciliation.
This is the autobiography of the best-selling British author M.M. Kaye, describing her childhood experiences in India in the early 1900s. The book is full of vivid descriptions of places and experiences that will appeal to many TCKs. Writing at age 82, she idealizes her early years in India and sees her return to England as a kind of purgatory, which some TCKs may relate to. M.M. Kaye’s autobiography continues with The Golden Afternoon, which tells of her return to India, and her sojourns in various countries as an adult.
This is the first volume of Rumer Godden’s autobiography. She was born in England but moved to India when she was a baby, where she lived half her life. This book covers the years 1907-1946 and tells the story of Godden’s enchanting childhood in India as a TCK, her marriage to a charming but unreliable stockbroker, her life after his abandonment having to raise two children poor and alone, and finally the publication and success of her early novels. A Time to Laugh, No Time to Weep shows Rumer Godden’s understanding of loss, suffering and withstanding long endurance.
From the book’s dustjacket: “Born in Pakistan to Baptist missionaries…Jonathan S. Addleton crossed the borders of race, culture, class, and religion from an early age. [This book] combines family history, social observation, current events, and deeply personal commentary to tell an unusual coming-of-age story that has much to do with the intersection of cultures as it does with one man’s life.”
The author writes with humor and deep affection of his childhood in Pakistan, his education at Muree Christian School, and his relationships with family and friends.
Pearl Buck, the daughter of US American missionaries, grows up in China but when she spends a year in the States at age 10, she discovers that she is part of two worlds. Through writing stories of the people of China, she works to increase understanding between people from both of her worlds.
This is the true story of the American novelist Pearl Buck who is famous for writing The Good Earth and being the first American woman to win a Nobel Prize for Literature. She was also a strong advocate for the rights of women and minority groups.
Reading level: age 9-12 years
