How Strong Women Pray by Bonnie St. John
By Dera Williams • Sep 20th, 2008 • Category: Book Review •
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Bonnie St. John is a contributor as well as editor of How Strong Women Pray published by Faith Works, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group. The book consists of first person essays by women of renown and some maybe unknown to readers. It tells of the hills and valleys of their lives, pivotal moments that defined their faith and spirituality and how they overcame the odds against them.
In a series of pieces woven throughout the book, St. John deftly writes what amounts to a memoir. St. John was the first African American woman to take a medal in the Olympics. She is now a motivational speaker and writer. To get to this point, she went through insurmountable odds; sexual abuse, having her leg amputated at an early age and her struggles with maintaining her faith and spirituality in the world of business.
Vonetta Flowers was apart of the 2002 gold medal winning women’s bobsled team. Her story of a black girl from Alabama transitioning from track and field to the predominately white winter sport of bobsledding is indeed an interesting one, but her son’s medical problems and her journey to faith is her most self-affirming story. Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., formerly of the Grammy winning group, The Fifth Dimension have been married for over 35 years but it was their faith and Marilyn’s unfailing belief that helped Billy through a crisis that could have ended their marriage. Kathie Lee Gifford, Johnetta B. Cole, Kathie Ireland, Susan L. Taylor, and singer Amy Grant all have stories of trials, tribulations and remarkable acts of redemption that sustained their prayer lives.
There is a cross section of women from varying professions, careers and celebrity life. This book is a great volume to have as one can read stories at will and rejoice with the author of each story. This is an ideal gift for a sister friend that might need a little uplifting and reaffirmation of faith.
Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub
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Dera Williams is a writer and lives, works and plays in the Oakland/Bay Area where she works in curriculum at a local community college. She has contributed to several anthologies and journals including Life Spices from Seasoned Sistahs and Honoring Our Black Fathers and has written academic profiles for Greenwood press reference books. She is a reviewer/editor for APOOO Exchange Team and Affaire de Coeur magazine and active in literary events. Her book club affiliations include Marcus Book Club, East Bay Page Turners Book Club and Women of Words Book Club. Her other interests include genealogy, Black history and culture and travel.
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