Gianna: Aborted, and Lived to Tell About It || Book Review

Gianna: Aborted, and Lived to Tell About It is an interesting biography of abortion survivor Gianna Jessen, authored by Jessica Shaver Renshaw and published by Focus on the Family. Focusing not on issues, but on Gianna’s story, Jessica relates the pain, fear, determination, hope, joy, and humour of this heroic woman’s life. I barely put this book down before finishing it!

Gianna entered the world crying, like most newborns. But she wasn't supposed to. Feeling alone and vulnerable, her 17-year-old mother listened when Planned Parenthood told her she couldn't raise a child because she lived with her mother, who was already on welfare. Remarkably, Gianna survived the saline abortion with only mild cerebral palsy.

Although Gianna’s determination served her well in learning to live with her disability, it didn't make life easy. Becoming frustrated one day as a 12-year-old, Gianna asked her adoptive mother the reason for her cerebral palsy. This wasn't the first time Gianna asked, but it was the first time she got the answer she was looking for. On finding out, Gianna thought for a few minutes before saying, “Well, at least I have cerebral palsy for an interesting reason!”

Soon after, Gianna filled her first speaking engagement, and shared her story at Crusade for Life’s Mother’s Day Banquet. And thus began her speaking career. Being an aspiring musician, Gianna’s answer when asked to speak was, “Yes, as long as I can sing!” She now travels the world, speaking (and singing!) at various pro-life events. Her music career also included singing for October Baby, a Christian film inspired by her story.

This book was written to share Gianna’s journey, and not to argue on issues. I think this purpose was achieved in this inspirational biography.

Book Review || Growing Up Duggar

Growing Up Duggar: It’s All About Relationships is by Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger Duggar, the four oldest girls in a family of nineteen children. These stars of TLC’s popular reality show, 19 Kids & Counting, share never-before told stories of growing up in the Duggar household and offer readers a closer look at who they are and what they really believe in their first book.

As the subtitle indicates, the theme of this book is relationships, and each chapter focuses on a different one: relationship with yourself, your parents, your siblings, friends, guys, culture, your country and the world. The girls chose not to have a separate chapter on your relationship with God because that is fundamental, not in addition, to every other relationship.

The first chapter covers your relationships with yourself. Jessa shares about a time when she continually compared herself to others and felt she didn’t measure up. “I had friends who were really beautiful, and whenever we were together I compared myself to them and always came up lacking something.”She goes on to tell how she learned there are ten unchangeable things that we each must accept about ourselves, and that when we reject ourselves we ultimately reject God’s creation.

Known for their conservative views, the Duggars harbor plenty of questions about their views on dating. Disagreeing with society’s norm of casual dating, the family follows a practice called courtship, or dating with a purpose. Several principles of courtship are shared, such as getting to know someone in real-life settings: “Getting to know the special young man we’re interested in within a family setting is one of the biggest differences in dating and courtship. . . . We want to see how he reacts to normal family events.” Then, after sharing some of the character qualities the girls look for in potential life partners, older brother Josh and his wife of five years, Anna, share their courtship story.

: : Jessa, Jinger, Jana, Jill : :

Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger wrote this book to help answer some of the many questions they receive from curious fans in letters and emails, and to empower, hopefully, readers to use their own lives to benefit others. With a ministry schedule longer than even their tv show seems to evidence, these girls are sure to inspire readers to make a difference in the world themselves.

Both thought-provoking and entertaining with stories of the younger kids’ antics, I found this book an enjoyable read and would recommend it, along with the Duggar parents’ books The Duggars: 20 & Counting and A Love That Multiples, both to those who have just heard of this family and are curious, and to long-time fans.