Kirkus Review
How a group of sisters is making changes in the world. If the word nun brings to mind an elderly woman in a black habit, Wall Street Journal contributor Piazza's (Love Rehab: A Novel in Twelve Steps, 2013, etc.) essays on the ten sisters she interviewed will definitely create a new image. Dynamic, vivacious, determined, peaceful and loving are just a few descriptors that could be applied to these women who have devoted their lives to God and to some of the most difficult causes in America. Sister Simone spent weeks at a time on a bus traveling across the country to protest the Republican budget that would have denied health care to the poor; Sister Megan, 82, broke into a high-security nuclear facility to protest nuclear weapons and warfare; Sister Jeannine risked the wrath of the Catholic Church to bring religious teachings to gay and lesbian Catholics. Other nuns work on saving women and children from the massive sex-trafficking market both in the U.S. and around the world. Another sister brings hope to women in prison, provides a home for their children until they're released, and continues to support the ex-cons after prison by giving them a home, food, clothing and an education. Piazza questioned each woman's motives and decision to become a nun, and many responded that they felt it as a deep calling at a young age and was the right thing to do, despite the challenges of being a nun in today's world. The women use prayer, meditation, exercise and a good diet to help them fight the negativity and stress they encounter on a regular basis, even from the church they belong to and devote their lives to supporting. Reading these stories may not convert anyone, but they should challenge plenty of stereotypes. Entertaining essays on the inspiring work various sisters are accomplishing in the world. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Piazza brings her incisive and conversational writing style to these engaging and surprising biographical portraits of 19 activist sisters in the U.S. Given the graying state of the Roman Catholic Church's female religious, not surprisingly, all of the subjects here are past 50, and several are octogenarians including one who continues to participate in Ironman racing and another sentenced to federal prison for a nuclear-site-protest break-in when she was 82. Among the other nuns profiled are a survivor of politically instigated torture in Guatemala, sisters who work with incarcerated women, and a number of nuns deeply committed to asserting women's rights in both the secular and ecclesiastical spheres. These are troublemakers, leaders, warm and devout women, and Piazza shows each in turn as a full person, shaped by experiences, beliefs, and boundless creative energy. For all women's-studies and American-studies readers as well as those wondering what the lives of nuns have to offer twenty-first-century culture.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2014 Booklist
Library Journal Review
These are trying times for Roman Catholic nuns, especially in the United States. After a sharp reproof from church authorities in 2012, relations between these women of faith and the Church have only scarcely warmed under the papacy of Francis. This affecting collection of journalistic pieces by Piazza (Love Rehab: A Novel in Twelve Steps) goes a very long way toward dispelling any notion of nuns as conformist knuckle-whackers. The author demonstrates that these women are our society's truest liberal activists-informed, dauntless, and determined-as they fight for gay and lesbian inclusiveness in the Roman Catholic Church, rescue girls from human trafficking, serve poverty-stricken communities, and even help eliminate nuclear weapons. Piazza describes their devotion, not just to their faith, but to their chosen causes. VERDICT Accessibly written, these ten portraits should speak to many students and church groups. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
