Finlay, Lizzie. LITTLE CROC’S PURSE. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans for Young Readers, 2011 (30 pages, $15).

Children are generous until we teach them not to be. This lovely tale says it all: spend, share, save.

Flinders, Carol Lee. ENDURING LIVES: PORTRAITS OF WOMEN AND FAITH IN ACTION. New York: Orbis Books, 2006 (277 pages, $19.85).

Inspiring women’s lives spark one’s own courage to “throw your life as far as it will go” as Mary Daly advised. This collection including Helen Prejean, Jane Goodall, and others shows the way.

Harmon, Katherine E. THERE WERE ALSO MANY WOMEN THERE: LAY WOMEN IN THE LITURGICAL MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, 1926-59. Collegeville, MN: A Pueblo Book by Liturgical Press, 2012 (412 pages, $39.95).

An impressive in-depth study of women’s leadership in the liturgical movement. Harmon reveals the creativity and agency of American women in shaping Catholic Church history during these thirty-three pre-Vatican II years. This scholarly work can inspire both individuals familiar with this time period and those just discovering it.

Kiome-Gatobu, Anne FEMALE IDENTITY FORMATION AND RESPONSE TO INTIMATE TRAUMA: A CASE STUDY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN KENYA. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2013 (234 pages, $26).

Using social-cultural, psychological, and religious method, this work explores the effects of intimate partner violence on female self-concepts through a West African case study. It includes critical inquiries into the paradoxical function of religion as both creating the framework for domestic violence as well as providing elements for eradicating it. This engaging and nuanced research is relevant for those caring for women in any intercultural or indigenous context.

O’Dell, Darlene. THE STORY OF THE PHILADELPHIA ELEVEN.  New York, New York: Seabury Books, 2014 (264 pages, $28).

A theological page-turner about an important chapter in church history, this volume is a treasure. Darlene O’Dell brings an historian’s rigor and a storyteller’s talent to the world changing ordinations of the first Episcopal women in 1974.

Peppard, Christina Z. JUST WATER: THEOLOGY, ETHICS AND THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS. New York: Orbis Books, 2014 (240 pages, $28).

In this prescient volume, Christina explores ethics, eco-justice, plurality, gendered politics and economics to create a theological basis for fresh water as a human right, and provides religious framework for policy creation. Significantly, she calls for grand religious theorizing to become more accountable to embodiment. The world needs more books like this.

Rapley, Elizabeth. THE LORD AS THEIR PORTION: THE STORY OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS AND HOW THEY SHAPED OUR WORLD. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2011 (337 pages, $24).

A comprehensive history of religious orders of nuns and brothers that reveals how intricately tied their story is with the story of Western civilization as a whole. Lots of solid information about Church history here.

Rosenberg, Madelyn. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TREE! : A TU B’SHEVAT STORY. Albert Whitman and Company, 2012 (24 pages, $15.99).

Madelyn Rosenberg has written an engaging story about what we owe to the Earth. Delightful for children and adults, whether or not they celebrate the Jewish holiday of the birth of trees.

Schaaf, Kathe. WOMEN, SPIRITUALITY, AND TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP: WHERE GRACE MEETS POWER. Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2012 (269 pages, $24).

Smart women leaders listen and collaborate. This practical guide shares many insights and extends the reach of creative women’s spiritual projects including the work of Joan Chittister, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Musimibi Kanyoro, and Karma Lekshe Tsomo, among others.

Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. EMPOWERING MEMORY AND MOVEMENT: THINKING AND WORKING ACROSS BORDERS. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Books, 2014 (480 pages, $49).

This stunning combination of memoir, history, theology, exegesis, and social analysis showcases Elisabeth’s genius and her deeply humanitarian goals. She is an engaged scholar, a stalwart feminist, a committed pedagogue, and a responsible citizen of the globe. This is a book to savor, share, and use in multiple settings to bring the best of feminist religious thought to create social change.