Lives of the saints book recommendations

[Lady Grey, Hot]

I am looking for a collection of lives of the saints which isn't designed as a daily devotional - I'm planning to assign it in a junior high English class as part of a unit on biography. I like the idea of Meg Hunter-Kilmer's, which is arranged thematically, but I would also like to incorporate some more "mainstream" saints. Any suggestions?

[Luigi]

I don't know of any anthologies that fit your description. 

If you're looking for books in a series, I'd check with the Daughters of Saint Paul first. They probably have one or more lives of the saints series, maybe even a series aimed at junior high readers. If they don't have something that meets your needs, they'd probably know where to refer you - they're very familiar with Catholic media.

There are also older series, but you probably can't get them in bookstores these days - you used to be able to find them on eBay and places like that.
- Dujarie Press was run by the CSC's - Congregation of the Holy Cross. I knew someone who bought out the libraries of closing Catholic schools and resold these online.
- Vision Books I forget who published them, but they were affordable hardback biographies of saints, probably 6th-8th grade reading level. 
- Catholic Treasury series was similar to Vision Books but by some other publisher. 

You might also try TAN Books. They've had some controversies over the  years, but I know they used to reprint out-of-print books. It's possible that they reprint some of the Dujarie or Vision or Catholic Treasury books. 

[Xavier Perez-Pons]

The best book I know about saints, and especially female saints, is "Hypothesis on Mary" by Vittorio Messori.

[truthfinder]

When I was that age, I absolutely loved and devoured Ann Ball's two volume Modern Saints: Their Lives and Faces. It could run a bit to the overly hagiographic for some biographies (although certainly a lesson in that), and not everybody was canonized. No biography was more than about a dozen pages, there were some pictures (some were of martydoms like Fr. Miguel Pro - which, although a bit graphic, I found very edifying).

Just reminiscing on this book makes me rue the fact I don't have my copies with me.

.

[BarbTherese]

https://www.amazon.com/Between-Heaven-Mirth-Laughter-Spiritual/dp/0062024256

Available on Kindle

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“Between Heaven and Mirth will make any reader smile. . . . Father Martin reminds us that happiness is the good God’s own goal for us.” —Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York

From one of America’s most beloved spiritual leaders and the New York Times bestselling author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything and Jesus: A Pilgrimage Father James Martin, SJ, comes a revolutionary look at how you can change your life and save your spirit through joy, humor, and laughter.

Martin shares how you can strike a healthy balance between spirituality and daily life and live as a joyful believer.

In Between Heaven and Mirth, he uses scriptural passages, the lives of the saints, the spiritual teachings of other traditions, and his own personal reflections to show us why joy is the inevitable result of faith, because a healthy spirituality and a healthy sense of humor go hand-in-hand with God's great plan for humankind. 

 

 

Butler's Lives of The Saints - also available on Kindle.  Located HERE

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Butler's Lives of the Saints is the most revered Catholic book after the Bible, the Missal and The Imitation of Christ. A Saint or two for each day of the calendar. Great for a daily meditation; each life is followed by a "lesson" from the life to help us apply the virtues of the Saint to ourselves. Great for the entire family. Includes famous Saints since Fr. Butler's time; all recounted in the same beautiful, reverent spirit that was his. Impr. 463 pgs, PB