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At first glance, Edge of Sadness by Edwin O’Connor is a walk down memory lane. A memory of the American Catholic church before Vatican II, before the priest scandals. A lovely, nostalgic read.

But the thing that makes this book worthy of the Pulitzer Prize it won in 1962 is the fact that O’Connor’s story is truly ageless. The characters are drawn from humanity, painted with the author’s word-brush so lovingly and carefully that by the end of the book you know each of these folks intimately. And, you like them, in spite of their less-than-virtuous actions.

The story centers around a native Bostonian priest, Father Hugh Kennedy, a recovering alcoholic who guides us through the joys and troubles of his life in late 1950s Irish Catholic Boston. Seeing all through the eyes of this humble pastor, the reader is introduced to a wealth of characters: self-made first-generation Irish folks, political hopefuls, fellow priests and “outsiders” such as his Polish curate and a non-Irish, non-Bostonian bishop. The prejudices unveiled are humanely drawn; there's something redeeming in every character, something that Father Hugh finds regardless of their overt actions. Through the book winds a thread of Father Hugh’s own self-examination, a thread that is tested and strengthened by every encounter; encounters which lead Father Hugh just to the brink of despair, to the edge of sadness. But, grace pulls him back from the brink each time.

This book, although a hefty 600-plus pages, grips the reader from the first page. It reads quickly and elegantly as the humor and pathos of Catholic American life transcends the era and location in which the story is set. This book is a great read because it shows how American Catholicism was and how it can still be; how the Church is run by humans (who sometimes make mistakes) trying to minister to humans (who sometimes make mistakes) – all with God’s grace and beneficence helping us through.

Loyola Classics has added ten provocative questions to the end of the book for the edification of the reader or to facilitate discussion within a book club. These would make for a wonderful “study guide” if used with a teen reading club or individual book study.

It’s often the little things that make a resource stand out from the myriad of great products out there. Maybe it’s color pictures instead of black and white; or maybe it’s the typeface used; or maybe it’s the weight of the paper.

There are many reasons why I like the Catholic Heritage Handwriting series more than the many other options available for practicing writing, spelling, even grammar and punctuation. For this review, I’ll be referring to Level 2 (about a 6 or 7 year old level – basically 2nd grade).

With the revised handwriting series written by Nancy Nicholson, a big plus is the spiral at the top. I’m left-handed, my husband is left-handed and two of my children are left-handed. The one who will be using the Catholic Heritage Handwriting Series – Level 2: Finding the Way is one of my lefties. Being a boy, he already has to work so hard on his manual dexterity without also having the encumbrance of the spiral always in his way! Believe me, it makes for stress that can be easily avoided by placing the spiral at the top. THANK you, Nancy Nicholson!

The organization of this handwriting series is great for a multi-aged home learning family. Each lesson is titled with the week and the lesson number – making it extremely easy to schedule the handwriting practice into a four-times-a-week time slot. Additionally, the lessons are short – maybe taking a total of 15-20 minutes (which is about the concentration span of a very active 6 or 7 year old).

I like too that Nicholson has woven in Catholicism in the practice sentences and phrases. If this book was used during First Sacraments preparation, the words could be incorporated into spelling practice while the phrases could be memorized for recitation practice.

Another cool thing is the subtle shrinking of the lines as the student progresses, from 3/4-inch uppercase to 1/2-inch uppercase!

The lessons build bit by bit until, by the end of the year, the student will be copying out full prayers, poems and thoughts. These are all geared toward receiving the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion; however, even if your student is not yet ready to receive (or has already started receiving), these sentiments are still worthwhile for learning.

The one down side is that for these longer copywork exercises, the author turned the page to allow more writing space. I’m sure though, that by the time my son gets to those longer lessons, he’ll be confident enough and his manual dexterity will have improved enough to avoid the despair the spiral unnecessarily engenders.

This is a concise guide for parents of young people who are preparing to be confirmed. Questions and answers about confirmation names, sponsors and service projects are brought up, along with suggestions for family discussion and scripture readings.

The seven gifts as well as the twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are highlighted with explanatory notes for the youth.

After receiving the new Catholic Heritage Curricula (CHC) lesson plans a few weeks ago I was so excited I dropped the program that I had designed for our younger daughters and began using the CHC plans. They are thrilled and I'm overjoyed to find such complete, yet flexible, plans that are thoroughly Catholic.

Are you looking for a program to keep you on target yet one that is flexible? These are the plans for you. Do you use an educational approach that focuses on living books and the beautiful in life or do you prefer the classical approach with a solid grounding in the basics suitably arranged by the child's ability with a focus on memory work? These plans will work for you too. If you prefer textbooks and workbooks the CHC lesson plans includes all the core assignments in an easy to use format. Not only are these plans complete and flexible, but they contain dozens of ideas and tips from experienced Catholic homeschool mothers that make teacher preparation and the learning experience exciting yet simple. I'm so impressed with these plans that I'm ordering a set for my godson and will be modifying the first grade plans again next year to use with my older children (they are that flexible!)

CHC surveyed dozens of families to determine what they wanted in lesson plans and then they designed plans that are simple, but at the same time deep and inspiring. The plans are easy to follow and use low cost, high quality material. The authors have done an impressive job integrating the material around science or social studies topics, the liturgical year or an approaching holiday. Not only are these plans easy to work with (including space to fill in your own assignments if you wish) but they are attractive to the eye, charming, quaint and best of all thoroughly Catholic. I'm amazed! These are not plans you'll dread using because they don't reflect the drudgery that often goes along with lesson plans, but rather they offer a spark of excitement through wonderful ideas, charming illustrations to raise the spirit and reflections that offer hope and encouragement.

The CHC Lesson Plans for both Kindergarten and the First Grade contain all the necessary features to help the parent/teacher quickly and easily make use of the plans. The "Frequently Asked Questions" section addresses common concerns with answers that are fresh and inspiring. "Educating For Eternity" follows the Q/A section and includes a typical course of study, goals, and a subject guide (overview of the material and it's best use.)

The lesson plans themselves include a weekly teacher's guide followed by the assignment plan. The Teacher's Guide in the First Grade lesson plans cover two pages for each week. Each core (and some non-core) subject heading is followed by innovative suggestions and tips for not only teaching the material but also ways in which our Holy Faith can be naturally woven into the teaching of that subject. These two pages also contain quaint illustrations that can be included as part of the students learning experience, illustrated hands-on religion projects, space for the teacher to note daily practice work, a brief excerpt from spiritual writings to set the tone for teaching religion that week, and a weekly goal chart with the overall assignments broken down by subject. This weekly goal chart provides flexibility for families who prefer to use an approach other then day-to-day assignments.

The Teacher's Guide is followed by a two-page daily assignment table (day of the week by subject) for those who prefer assignments broken down by page number. Core subjects are shaded so the teacher can quickly determine what material is essential. This feature makes personalizing the plans simple as non-core subjects can be done on the day assigned or saved for later. The assignment table set-up is unique in design with lined space available around the table allowing extra work, enrichment activities, appointments, etc to be added. The Kindergarten plans have similar features with the exception that the teacher's guide occurs alongside the daily assignment table.

Finally, the lesson plans are followed by appendices which include supplemental activities (I wish I had used these with my older children), monthly planners, chore charts (illustrated for non-readers), certificates (beautiful), and resource lists.

The materials used within these plans are all excellent products used by many families (including our own) for years. I am so very impressed by the plans that I will be permanently dropping the lesson plans I designed for our children to use CHC plans. These plans are worth two or three times the price and are truly unique.