Joanna Wiebe

My Mennonite Weekly Review arrived today — my first issue of a new subscription, a Christmas gift from my mother, Katie Funk Wiebe. Page six contains the announcement that “Mennonite Brethren author Rhoda Janzen has a second book in the works”. Holt is going to publish this one too.

Backslider.

That’s the title.

When I was growing up in the MB church, being called a “backslider” was a pretty serious insult. I am curious to see Rhoda’s spin on it. (Rhoda’s current confessional is called mennonite in a little black dress…no caps.)

In the meantime, Mom’s book, You Never Gave Me a Name, is doing pretty well. Not reviewed in the New York Times, like Rhoda’s book, but pretty impressive stat from Tower Books: #242 in Ethnic Cultures – General. Rhoda didn’t even place in that category! Not that I’m competitive.   Mennonite Weekly Review is giving away a copy of You Never Gave Me a Name with gift subscriptions or gift renewals, along with Robert Rhodes’ Nightwatch: Alone on the Prairie with the Hutterites.