Setting Our Children Apart

by Oletta Branstiter What does it mean to be set apart? How do we set our own children apart for a greater purpose? The Apostle Paul admonished: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true […]

A Forger’s Life – Book Review

by Oletta Branstiter Rebel With a Cause Sarah Kaminsky’s revelations of a rebel with a cause have finally been translated into English. Originally published in French in 2009, this focused biography of her father peels back the layers of a serial criminal whose forgeries spanned almost three decades. The actress and screenwriter was born in […]

Pssssst! Read Any Banned Books Lately?

by Oletta Branstiter A School Library should challenge students. As an Intermediate public school Library Specialist, intimately acquainted with over 9,000 books in circulation, I can attest to the fact that over two dozen of the books on the American Library Association list of frequently challenged children’s books are either checked out or resting comfortably […]

Art Should Reveal Uncomfortable Truths

by Oletta Branstiter Should art be created to make us feel comfortable? The school district in Biloxi, Mississippi recently decided to eliminate To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, from the 8th-grade reading list. The reason? “Language in the book makes some people uncomfortable.” Was the complaint based on the historical and contextual use of the […]