"The Lilies of the Field" by William E. Barrett

I loved this book even more the second time through.  Its simplicity, straightforwardness, and gentleness impressed me so much the first time I read it, and now I've added "feels like an old friend" to that list of reasons I love it.  I hugged this book more than once while reading it.

This is an uplifting and hope-filled story of how kindness can dismantle boundaries.  Black handyman Homer Smith does a day's work for a group of German refugee nuns in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, insists there's no way he will build a chapel for them, and then their faith and humility and ready friendship touches his heart, so he builds their chapel for them.  That's the whole story right there -- like I said, very simple.  And yet, so complex.  

I had my 6th through 12th grade literature class at our homeschool co-op read this, and we had a wonderful discussion of how the characters both reflected and refuted stereotypes of the 1960s, when the book was written and set.

Particularly Good Bits:

Their smiles made him welcome and Homer felt immediately at ease with them.  They did not have any color line; he was just people to them (p. 15).

He had a prayer in his own heart when he accepted food.  Nobody took food for granted when he was a child.  It wasn't always easy to get and a person learned to be thankful when it was there (p. 37).

He looked at them and his heart lifted.  These were people who needed something that he had to give (p. 60).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  It's a lovely, clean, uplifting book.