Two coming of age stories that celebrate faith and family

Heart of a Shepherd tells the story of “Brother,” a 12-year-old boy living on a ranch in Oregon. With his father deployed to Iraq and his four older brothers away at school, the operation of the ranch falls to him and his grandparents. He likes the ranch well-enough but does the work more for his father’s sake than for his own. 

Brother is a determined and kind-hearted kid with concerns about school, friends, and how to make his family proud. In addition, he struggles with the emotions related to his father’s absence, the morality of war, and his tender heart that feels the death of each ranch animal deeply. 

Brother’s story feels both familiar and foreign. Each chapter features a month of Brother’s life while his father is absent, which also brings the reader on a celebratory journey of farm life through the changing seasons. Though the setting is the mid-2000s, not so long ago, the remote landscape gives the story the feel of a slower, simpler time. While Brother is perhaps more introspective than the average 12-year-old, his “normalness” draws the reader to relate to the growing challenges he faces throughout the story. 

What I liked best about this book was the author’s attention to detail. Brother is an altar server in a small parish that’s part of a tri-parish cluster. It’s clear that the author writes with some familiarity with Catholic parish life and paints an accurate and positive picture of it. The faith of Brother’s family is discussed frequently, and Brother’s growth in his own faith was quite moving and thought provoking. I was pleasantly surprised how the author was able to express the faith of a child so deeply. 

Heart of a Shepherd is a classic coming of age story with discussions on war, fear, family, and searching for one’s calling in life. It’s appropriate for its target audience and deep enough to keep adults interested. 
 
My Family and Other Skaters follows the life of a family with six children living in England who are all competitive skaters. They have a busy life juggling practice times, school, friends, and taking care of their chickens and pet alpaca. The book reads almost like a series of episodes, each chapter nearly standing alone as its own story, while leading into the bigger picture of the novel. 

The main character, Rosaria, is loyal, spunky, and blunt. Her bluntness is often the source of humorous antics. At Christmas dinner, one of Rosaria’s aunts casually asks her how she’s enjoying school, and she responds, “I hate it. I don’t want to go to school anymore.” Her mother initially reprimands her for being so negative at Christmas, but the moment later sparked an important conversation between Rosaria and her mother about Rosaria’s priorities and future. The book features several open and honest conversations, showing a healthy family dynamic. 

I especially liked the mother of the family who clearly has a charism for hospitality and expresses it in eccentric and humorous ways. The youngest of the family are 5-year-old twins with dwarfism, which leads to discussions about celebrating and respecting all people. Ice skaters will enjoy the scenes of Rosaria and her siblings’ practices and shows and the attention to detail for the names of individual skating moves. 

Like all families, Rosaria’s family isn’t perfect, but they strive to listen and encourage each other through the joys and challenges of life. Their Catholic faith is clearly important to them despite their busyness, and throughout the story, the family goes to Mass, prays the rosary, celebrates Advent and Christmas, and Rosaria prays for St. Jude’s intercession for the success of her innocent schemes. 

The target age for both Heart of a Shepherd and My Family and Other Skaters is 8 to 12, but don’t let that stop you if you’re older than that. Both books are a quick and uplifting read for any age.