Joshua's Family
The Long-Awaited Prequel to the Bestselling Joshua
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
This engaging prequel to Joseph Girzone’s bestselling series, which has sold more than 5 million books in the United States, describes Joshua’s early years and the first inklings of his destiny as a messenger of love in a troubled world.
Millions of readers around the world have followed the story of the gentle woodcarver and carpenter who was first introduced in 1983 in Joseph Girzone’s beloved parable, Joshua. In JOSHUA’S FAMILY, Girzone travels back in time, painting a captivating portrait of the mother and father who nurtured Joshua and of the friends and neighbors who viewed the unusually precocious child with an uneasy balance of wonder and skepticism. Joshua’s extraordinary nature and mysterious gifts come to light even as he participates in the ordinary routines of small-town life: his gentleness and loving spirit imbue his interactions with contemporaries and adults alike. As he grows from child to adolescent, Joshua gradually awakens to the knowledge that he has been placed on earth for a special reason. Leaving the comforts of family and a familiar world, he moves to the outskirts of a distant town, where he will begin to teach others how the powers of love, tolerance, and understanding can heal the divisions in the human family and bring everlasting peace to the world. This is the book so many have been waiting for, and its powerful message is a much-needed antidote to the difficulties in today’s world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This disappointing prequel to Girzone's bestseller Joshua imagines Christ's childhood in a contemporary setting. In the town of Sharon, a poor family moves into a ramshackle house. Joseph, the father, is a master carpenter; Miriam is the mother whose "whole life centered around her two men"; and Joshua is the kind, obedient 11-year-old son, wise beyond his years. Joshua realizes he is different from other boys when he turns water into wine, walks on water, heals an injured friend and mysteriously knows the best fishing spots. Girzone's characters ponder the sadness of war, the folly of taking God out of schools and rampant drug use among adolescents. These plot elements never catch fire, however. Repetitive phrases and contradictions vie with platitudes ("For people who have little, the simplest surprise fills their hearts with gladness") and ponderous observations ("That afternoon and evening was a time in their lives they would not soon forget"). Even readers who loved Joshua will be hard pressed to find this bland story worthwhile.
