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
Based on the experiences of the author’s mother, this is the story of a Canadian MK who grew up in Taiwan in the early 1900s. The book follows her from her early childhood in Taiwan, to Canada where she grows up with her siblings and her mother’s relatives and afterwards her mother returns to Taiwan to rejoin her father in ministry. Her reentry experience is especially poignant, as she is given the responsibility to take care of her brother in a foreign world. But is there anyone to take care of her?
Reading level: age 10-14
Part of the Trailblazer series, this is the story of Joy Ridderhof of Gospel Recordings written from the perspective of Alastair Sutherland, son of Scottish missionaries on the Philippine island of Palawano in 1949. Alastair’s parents have longed for years to give the gospel to the local tribespeople in their own language, but since it is not written they do not have a way to do this. Then Alastair reads about Joy Ridderhof who with her portable recording machine makes records of the gospel message in tribal languages. The family is excited when Miss Ridderhof agrees to come to their island, especially because Alastair’s friend, Lastani, is chosen to translate. But when a series of problems jeopardizes both the making of the recordings and Alastair’s long-awaited trip to Manila to begin boarding school, Alastair finds it hard to follow Joy’s advice to view the roadblocks as “good rejoicing practice.”
Reading level: age 8-12 years
“The sound of her brother’s scream echoed on and on in her head as though it would never end. “Let me go!” she demanded stupidly in English. The African boy dug his nails into Keri’s arm and brought the knife closer to her face.”
A dramatic adventure set during Mozambique’s civil war, The Wooden Ox follows young TCK Keri as the war becomes more and more real to her and her missionary family. Surrounded by fear and loss, Keri begins to question if she can trust anyone to protect her, even her own father or her God. Many of the events of this story are actually based on the author’s real childhood experiences from when she lived in Mozambique during civil war in the 1980s.
Reading level: 10-13 years
Dean, and his friends, Matt, Dave and Jon, live on the same mission station. Together the four boys, who call themselves the Rugendo Rhinos, spend their afternoons and weekends exploring in the bush. When they stumble across two Kenyan boys, one dead and one very sick, they find themselves involved in a dangerous dispute. The father of the dead boy, certain his son died from a witch doctor’s curse, seeks a similar revenge. The boys, their families, and the African believers face the reality of spiritual forces, yet seek to distinguish what events are naturally v.s. supernaturally caused. The boys’ normal (but fun) activities at school balance the intensity of the spiritual warfare in the story. Still, this book might be too intense for younger kids.
The “Rugendo Rhino Tales” feature fourth-sixth grade boys, and are written for late elementary/ middle school boys. The original books are out of print (though still available on Amazon), but they were re-issued as Kindle books (with a few new additions to the series). In the Kindle series, Matt (a western MK in the original books) is replaced by Mato, a Kenyan boy, who also plays a more central role.
Aimee is a missionary kid living in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) where it always seems like it’s going to rain but it never actually does. On her birthday she runs through the village inviting friends to her party who tell her that the rain is finally coming. They move her birthday party inside just before the rain comes pouring down. This was actually written by an MK from Zaire and she portrays the sights and sounds beautifully.
Reading level: age 3-8 years
