For Middle School Readers: 

• The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler (A True Story!) by John Hendrix 
  "In his signature style of interwoven handwritten text and art, John Hendrix tells the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to free the German people from oppression during World War II.”   
  
  This book has won several awards. Recently it was named one of the best books of 2018 for middle grades by Kirkus Review, as well as the Gold Medal from Society of Illustrators in the book category (that’s a big deal in the illustrators’ world). 
• The Day the Angels Fell by Lancaster resident Shawn Smucker.
  Winner of a 2018 Christianity Today Book Award. "It was the summer of storms and strays and strangers. The Summer that lightning struck the big oak tree in the front yard. The summer his mother died in a tragic accident — and young Samuel Chambers would have done anything to bring back time. Even today, he can hardly believe it all happened… Prompted by three strange carnival fortune-tellers and the surfacing of his mysterious and reclusive neighbor, Sam begins his search for the Tree of Life — the only thing that could possibly bring his mother back.”
  
  Shawn Smucker is following in the tradition of great authors of literature for young people. Mr. Smucker was a speaker at VeriTalks 2018. This book is a captivating story, with brilliant sentences. 
• The Edge of Over There by Shawn Smucker.
  The sequel to The Day the Angels Fell “Abra Miller carries a secret and a responsibility she never expected. Before the Tree of Life, everything in Abra Miller’s life had been predictable, Safe. Normal. But after the tree, everything has felt fragile… like holding a soap bubble in the palm of her hand. After years of fruitless searching for the next Fee, she begins to wonder if it was nothing more than a vivid dream.”
  
  Discover the world on the Edge of Over There. Mrs. Bustard could not put this book down and kept thinking about it for days after she finished it. 
• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.
  Everyone should read at least one Kate DiCamillo book. "A classic tale by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo, America's beloved storyteller. One summer’s day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries – and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie.”  Mrs. Bustard read this book in one sitting because it was so good.

For High School Book Lovers

• The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin 
  Pete Peterson of The Rabbit Room says, "A book that nearly defies categorization - equal parts Watership Down, Lord of the Rings, Animal Farm...and The Canterbury Tales. It’s the story of Chauntecleer the rooster, Lord of all he surveys until the twisted and evil Cockatrice sets his eye and his armies upon the land. In the end Chaunticleer and his farmland subjects must stand together in the face of the destruction of the earth and the wakening of Wyrm. It’s a story that’s both intimate and epic, horrifying and humorous, dreadful and hopeful. I’ve never read anything else quite like it. “ One of Mrs. Bustard top ten favorite contemporary books.
• The Chosen by Chaim Potok
  "Anyone who finds it is finding a jewel. Its themes are profound and universal.” --Wall Street Journal
  "It is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither they will never retreat from again….” A favorite of Mrs. Bustard’s.

• Kirsten Lavendatter I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset and translated by Tiina Nunnally.
  This story interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century. The trilogy, however, is more then a journey into the past, it is the story of one woman, Kirsten, living as daughter, wife, and mother and learning to live with the choice she made.  This book won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928, and is yet another favorite of Mrs. Bustard
• Emma (graphic novel) adapted by Nancy Butler and illustrated by Janet Lee
  Jane Austen’s most precocious heroine, Emma Woodhouse, comes to life in this fun adaptation.
• The Mission of the Body of Christ by Russ Ramsey
  Jesus sent his followers into the world. Through dynamic narrative and great story telling, Russ Ramsey traces the journey of the early church with thirty-one daily readings through the book of Acts. 
• Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist by Karen Swallow Prior.
  The enthralling biography of the woman writer who helped end the slave trade, changed Britain’s upper classes, and taught a nation to read. 
• On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books by Karen Swallow Prior and illustrated by Ned Bustard.
  Dr. Prior "takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians through history have identified as the most essential for good character and the good life.” This book was named A Best Book of 2018 in Religion by Publishers Weekly.