I LOVED Grace Adams! With all my heart! As a woman of a certain age she was so relatable. She could have been me. I could have been her. She was funny and frank, forthright and feisty. But as the story unfolds and her layers are shed you realise that there is so, so much more to this remarkable woman. Her rivers run deep and I felt my heart breaking for her as the circumstances of her life are slowly revealed. Basker, James (2002). Amazing Grace: An Anthology of Poems About Slavery, 1660–1810, Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09172-9

Amazing Grace Adams tore me up, touched my heart, and resonated with me like no other book has in a long time. It's sad, edgy, heartbreaking, and yes, there's a little bit going on in this story. But who doesn't have a lot of stuff to deal with at some point in their life when one more thing may put them over-the-edge? From this simple sentence Mary Hoffman goes on to write an inspiring and positive picture book for young children. It is full of optimism; a book with a message. And the message is, to follow your dreams. If you stay true to yourself, you can be whatever you want to be, regardless of what other people say. Flavour of New Zealand – search listener". Archived from the original on 13 August 2016 . Retrieved 13 July 2017. The day of Lottie’s 16th birthday is brilliantly done, it’s full of drama and emotion but we are left feeling optimistic. I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next!

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William Phipps in the Anglican Theological Review and author James Basker have interpreted the first stanza of "Amazing Grace" as evidence of Newton's realisation that his participation in the slave trade was his wretchedness, perhaps representing a wider common understanding of Newton's motivations. [30] [31] Newton joined forces with William Wilberforce, the British Member of Parliament who led the Parliamentarian campaign to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire, culminating in the Slave Trade Act 1807. But Newton did not become an ardent and outspoken abolitionist until after he left Olney in the 1780s; he is not known to have connected writing the hymn known as "Amazing Grace" to anti-slavery sentiments. [32] So Grace wins the role of her dreams. And when the day of the performance comes, Grace is a real star, making a truly amazing Peter Pan. Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both religious and secular purposes. Round and round and round we go-alternating between the THREE timelines, throughout the entire book.

Not only is Grace amazing I think Fran Littlewood is too. It’s hard to believe this is a debut so accomplished is the storytelling and the creativity in some of the phrasing. This is a clever novel as on one level it’s about motherhood, family dysfunction and individual fears which is so well done it’s emotionally raw at times. They have to face huge difficulties and surmount enormous obstacles. On another level it’s about language which is what brings Ben and Grace together, it’s about a different and often secretive language of Lotte’s generation and it’s also about the inability to find the right language, the right words at the right time. There are some beautiful foreign language words regularly scattered in the narrative. These were fun to learn. Aitken, Jonathan (2007). John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, Crossway Books. ISBN 1-58134-848-7 After the performance Grace is inspired. She becomes Juliet in her mind and imagination. "'I can be anything I want,' she thought. 'I can even be Peter Pan.'"I listened to this as an audiobook and Claire Skinner does a fantastic job at capturing Grace and all she is going through. Swiderski, Richard (1996). The Metamorphosis of English: Versions of Other Languages, Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-89789-468-5 a b c "Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound", Dictionary of American Hymnology. Retrieved 31 October 2009. Grace also makes up stories in her own head. Can you make up your own story or work within a group to make up a story?

The New Testament served as the basis for many of the lyrics of "Amazing Grace". The first verse, for example, can be traced to the story of the Prodigal Son. In the Gospel of Luke the father says, "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found". The story of Jesus healing a blind man who tells the Pharisees that he can now see is told in the Gospel of John. Newton used the words "I was blind but now I see" and declared "Oh to grace how great a debtor!" in his letters and diary entries as early as 1752. [37] The effect of the lyrical arrangement, according to Bruce Hindmarsh, allows an instant release of energy in the exclamation "Amazing grace!", to be followed by a qualifying reply in "how sweet the sound". In An Annotated Anthology of Hymns, Newton's use of an exclamation at the beginning of his verse is called "crude but effective" in an overall composition that "suggest(s) a forceful, if simple, statement of faith". [36] Grace is recalled three times in the following verse, culminating in Newton's most personal story of his conversion, underscoring the use of his personal testimony with his parishioners. [27] Of course, the protagonist of a good novel need not be likable. The problem with this book is that there isn’t any indication that the author realizes that the present-day Grace is annoying, not amazing. Never did I see coming the emotion that permeates Fran Littlewood’s debut novel. I went into Amazing Grace Adams expecting an almost absurdist, satirical portrayal of a middle-aged woman on the verge of snapping, and though I did find some of that, I was also rewarded with a thoughtful and sensitive story of a mother fighting to regain her family and her life.Some songs that could be paired with this hymn in a worship service are “Grace Unmeasured” by Sovereign Grace Ministries, “Your Grace Is Enough” by Chris Tomlin, “When I think about the Lord” by Hillsong United, and so many more songs that speak about Christ’s redemptive work in us. Noll, Mark A.; Blumhofer, Edith L. (eds.) (2006). Sing Them Over Again to Me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America, University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-1505-5 Grace loves to act in pantomimes most of all. Have you ever been to a pantomime? Can you describe what it was like? Could you act out a scene from a pantomime? The illustrations in this picture book are stunning. The artist Carol Birch has produced beautiful and realistically detailed watercolours. They are very expressive, authentic and true to life. The glimpsed spontaneous moments we have of these characters are full of life and emotion. Carol Birch's work on Amazing Grace was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1992. Ask your child why Nana might have taken Grace to see the ballet, Romeo and Juliet. What effect does this experience have on Grace? How do you think this moves the story forward?

Amazing Grace Adams follows Grace and her daughter, Lottie. Throughout the whole book, both of them are tested in some of the most heartbreaking ways. Grace is known to be chaotic, and I believe the author used this character's trait to further make the book chaotic. This is an enthusiastic hagiography, an easy-breezy read with a strong Christian perspective. It’s a little preachy, actually, with corny jokes thrown in to keep the congregation engaged. I enjoyed the book pretty well, but I didn’t know Metaxas was primarily a writer of religious works or I’d have chosen a more scholarly, objective biography. This has a bibliography but no index or cited sources. Buuuuuuut that didn’t happen and as a woman of a certain age who always feels like she might be on the cusp of a quality Menty B I found a new best friend in Grace. Sutton, Brett (January 1982). "Shape-Note Tune Books and Primitive Hymns", Ethnomusicology, 26 (1), pp. 11–26.

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This is an exceptional book about an exceptional person. The observation is made in the text of the book that it's amazing how little is known about William Wilberforce today. His name should be as well known as any of the giants of history that school children can (or should be able to) name. It seems in many ways that he succeeded so well that the very ideas and REALITY he struggled against is one that "we" in the modern world have trouble realizing. Watts had previously written a hymn named "Alas! And Did My Saviour Bleed" that contained the lines "Amazing pity! Grace unknown!/ And love beyond degree!". Philip Doddridge, another well-known hymn writer, wrote another in 1755 titled "The Humiliation and Exaltation of God's Israel" that began "Amazing grace of God on high!" and included other similar wording to Newton's verses. Newton biographer Jonathan Aitken states that Watts had inspired most of Newton's compositions. (Turner, pp. 82–83.)(Aitken, pp. 28–29.)