Drita: An Albanian Girl Discovers Her Ancestors' Faith ...
Renee Ritsi, author
Cameron Thorp, illustrator
Conciliar Press
PO Box 76, Ben Lomond, CA 95005-0076
9781888212945, $10.95 www.conciliarpress.com 1-800-967-7377
Written by former long-term Orthodox Christian missionary Renee
Ritsi and illustrated by award-winning artist Cameron Thorp, Drita: An
Albanian Girl Discovers Her Ancestors' Faith ... is a flat-spined,
Christian children's picturebook about a young Albanian girl who
learns about the worship her ancestors practiced after the end of
communism in the 1990's enabled the populace to practice their
religion more freely. The shaded color illustrations reveal moments in
her day-to-day life as well as illuminating the joy she feels through
discovering God's love, concluding in her bapitization at the end
of the story. "When Drita greeted Papa Kristo, she reverently
kissed his right hand as she remembered her grandparents doing every
summer. Drita's joy seemed to fill her whole heart. She was
thankful for the people who had secretly kept the faith during the years
when it had been illegal to be Christian in Albania. She was thankful
for Archbishop Anastasios, who was leading the Orthodox Church in
Albania into a new time of religious freedom." An especial treasure
for Sunday School children's libraries.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Midwest Book
Review Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.