Book Review: Unlikely Spiritual Heroes

I received Unlikely Spiritual Heroes from The Catholic Company to review.  I really enjoy reading biographies and books about inspiring people.  This was definitely in that category.  Brennan R. Hill gives us 8 short biographies ranging from laypeople to John Paul II.   The biographies are pretty complete in themselves, but they give just enough info that you want to search out more information.   I like that many of the people were missionaries.  I’ve had a hard time in the past finding books about Catholic missionaries to share with my children.  This book wasn’t written for children, and some of the stories (Jean Donovan immediately comes to mind) are definitely not for children.  But, it’s nice to know enough about them that I can retell the jist of the story to my children.  It would make good reading for a high schooler though.

From the back of the book:

“No one is born a hero”

Jean Donovan – a Harley-riding businesswoman, turns missionary and martyr.

Helen Prejean – a religious sister, befriends and advocates for murders on death row.

Dorothy Stang – a religious sister and schoolteacher, champions the environment and loses her life doing so.

Pedro Arrupe – a medical school dropout and priest, survives a nuclear holocaust and becomes a great Jesuit leader.

Thomas Merton – a party-going ladies’ man, becomes a Trappist monk and peace activist.

Maximilian Kolbe – a sickly, eccentric Franciscan, turns publisher and dies in Auschwitz, trading his life for a Jewish prisoner.

Joseph Bernardin – a bookish, shy son of Italian immigrants, becomes one of the most outspoken prelates of our time.

John Paul II – a young Polish poet and actor whose election to pope changes history.