Brian McLaren (1)

Cory & the Seventh Story is a difficult book for me to rate. It’s also difficult to articulate why, but I’ll try.

Although the underlying messages of this story are the joys of harmony and strength in camaraderie, I was a little turned off by the negativity. There wasn’t sufficient balance to leave the reader with a satisfied, positive experience—especially if the reader/listener is a young child.

Too much yin, and not enough yang.

With that said, I did enjoy the characterizations of the animals—the sly fox, aggressive badger, swift horse, etc. I also loved the poetic meaning of the seventh story.

But the star of this book is the artwork. The full-page illustrations are expressive, engaging, and colorful. They provide great visuals, brilliantly showcasing the unity, rather than the discord. (If you were to view only the artwork, without knowing the story, you’d never imagine the fable focused so much on fighting, bullying, and unbalance.)

Author: Brian D. McLaren & Gareth Higgins
Illustrator: Heather Lynn Harris
Publisher: The Seventh Story
_target age: It is described as a children’s book for adults
Opening Line: There once was a young raccoon named Cory.
I received a review copy via the Speakeasy network.
#CoryAndTheSeventhStory… (more)

This anthology touches on nearly everything unjust, and everything that Christians should work to ameliorate and end. While comprehensive in its breadth, it lacks depth, though this is not a failure. The content enclosed in this book provides poignant synopses of topics from motivation and inspiration for the call of Christian Justice to injustices in desperate need of Christian attention, from reason to response.
If you are wondering about why Christians should care about justice, read this book. If you’re curious about areas in which you could be dedicating yourself to justice, read this book. Allow this book to be a catalyst for judicious studies of justice and know that this book forces you to delve deeper. It’s compelling summaries mandate that you peruse other volumes for more.
And, most importantly — since no book can make you fully aware of the injustices in this world that you are called to address — it asks you to put down the book and experience the injustice and proclaim the Gospel in word and deed against it.
“Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:9… (more)