Coming Home: The Story of Manteno Saint Joseph Church and Our Lady Academy

This non-fiction history book takes readers from Kankakee County, Illinois's first inhabitants before European settlement through the era of French Jesuit explorers, fur trappers, and wandering priests of the woods. The book goes on to explore decades of mission churches, the establishment of Manteno Saint Joseph Parish and Our Lady Academy, up to the loss of the church’s bell tower in 2020. The book especially highlights the challenges and victories of twentieth century life in a small midwest farm town parish through to the twenty-first century and leaves readers to contemplate where the community and parish stand today.