Mediaculture

FILM REVIEW

The Butler (R) is a highly fictionalized account of Eugene Allen, who served as a butler in the White House during the administrations of eight presidents, from Truman to Reagan. This dramatic yet didactic film serves well those who haven’t taken the time to watch such documentaries as Eyes on the Prize or Freedom Riders.

BOOK REVIEWS

Educating All God’s Children: What Christians Can—and Should—Do to Improve Public Education for Low-Income Kids by Nicole Baker Fulgham (Brazos Press, 2013, $17.99) explores “how and why Christians have a collective responsibility to ensure that kids from low-income communities have the same opportunities for educational success that wealthier children experience.” This important book looks at the root causes and systemic factors in this achievement gap, which Fulgham calls “a nationwide epidemic,” and considers a biblical framework for addressing it.

Personal Jesus: How Popular Music Shapes Our Souls by Clive Marsh and Vaughan S. Roberts (BakerAcademic, 2012, $22.99) “examines what popular music does to people and what people do with popular music through the kinds of music they listen to and the way they listen.” The authors explore how music is used to make meaning and tap into transcendence. The book takes an academic approach but concludes with some practical consequences for the church and daily living.

A Syllable of Water: Twenty Writers of Faith Reflect on Their Art, edited by Emilie Griffin (Paraclete Press, 2008, $20), includes essays by 20 members of the Chrysostom Society, published writers who are Christian. It is “a sharing of personal insights into the writers life and craft, especially as they relate to his or her deepest convictions.” This is especially valuable to those wanting to write.