In our family, we love anything that can help make the Bible and the accounts of the people and events mentioned more real to us. We also love reading historical fiction. When I learned of the book “The Heart Changer” by Jarm Del Boccio, Author, I knew it could be a great addition to our home library!
About the Author
Jarm (‘J’ pronounced as a ‘Y’) Del Boccio finds her inspiration in everyday life, but in particular, when she travels the globe, observing the quirky things that happen along the way. Focusing on lives of characters from the past, she is devoted to breathing new life into the pages of history.
– from author’s website https://www.jarmdelboccio.com/about.html
Jarm has a background in elementary and high school education, and served for seven years as a school librarian. Grateful for the opportunity, she taught three missionary kids in an isolated area of Papua New Guinea.
Her professional memberships include SCBWI, American Christian Fiction Writers, Word Weavers, Independent Writers of Chicago and Children’s Book Insider. Jarm has published two articles in “The Old Schoolhouse” magazine, and designed a High School HomeKeeping curriculum for homeschoolers.
“The Heart Changer,” her debut MG historical fiction, releases with Ambassador International April 26th 2019. Jarm is content with the journey God has placed her on, and lives with her husband, adult daughter and son (when he lands at home) in a tree-lined suburb of Chicago.
About her book, “The Heart Changer” the author shares…
It is a book that is sharable within a family, with a teacher’s guide on the Ambassador International’s website. The story is purely Jewish in nature from the old testament, but applicable to readers who need hope and healing…”
– Jarm Del Boccio
About the Book
“The Heart Changer” expands on the story of Naaman and Elisha found in the Bible in 2 Kings chapter 5 of the Old Testament. The author has painstaking researched and consulted with experts to recreate what might have happened in more detail within the pages of this historical fiction book.
At a short but sweet 112 pages divided into 25 chapters, the book is easy to read and extremely descriptive – a feat that is hard to accomplish within the same work! The main character (who isn’t named in the biblical account) Miriam struggles throughout the story between doing what she feels and doing what she knows is right.
Miriam is taken captive by a Syrian commander, Naaman, to serve his wife, Adara, whom she eventually bonds strongly with. As she steps out in faith and obedience, a chain of events is set into motion that will change her life and the lives of those around her forever.
It is difficult to share about “The Heart Changer” in more detail without giving away the entire story – so I will urge you to read it yourself! I read through it in about 2-3 hours easily.
My Thoughts
While I have not yet been able to share this book with my children (we are already in the midst of another book), I can’t wait to do so. The free, downloadable Teacher’s Guide is a great resource and includes historical, biblical, and geographical background information, discussion questions, and fun extension activities to share as a family.
The author is an extremely skilled writer and does a great job of painting a picture for the reader without doing so in a way that is too “wordy”. She does an excellent job of drawing the reader in and establishing strong characters that you find yourself relating to and rooting for. “The Heart Changer” is appropriate for all ages as a read-aloud, but could easily be read independently by any child who is able to read short chapter books. I am giving this book a strong star rating. Once I have been able to share it with my children, I know that they will agree!
Make sure you click the graphic below to read what other crew members have to say about this wonderful book!
Thank you so much for this wonderful review, Cassandra. Glad you are excited to share it with your family. Blessings on your upcoming homeschooling year!
My pleasure!! Ty for the opportunity 😊