Sara McDermott Jain and Andrew Miller have published new books.

McDermott Jain’s The Strength of Others tells the story of Fr. Bill Atkinson, the legendary Monsignor Bonner High School teacher, who is a candidate for sainthood.

At just 19 and studying for the priesthood, Atkinson suffered a tobogganing accident that left him almost completely paralyzed from the neck down. His dream of becoming a priest seemingly vanished overnight, but he endured to become the first quadriplegic ever ordained by the Catholic Church.

He taught at Monsignor Bonner from 1975 to 2004. The movement toward canonization formally began in 2017, when former Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput recommended investigating Atkinson's case.

McDermott Jain wrote the book in the style of a novel. Every chapter is from the point of view of a different character at a key moment in Fr. Bill's life. The work includes 30 pages of photos.

Launch parties are scheduled for September 30 at Villanova and October 22 at Neumann.

Published in July 2026, Miller’s A Church in the Valley: Saint Thomas the Apostle is the history of a local parish in Glen Mills and has references to Neumann University and the Sisters of Saint Francis of Philadelphia throughout the text.

Saint Thomas the Apostle was founded in 1729, the oldest Catholic presence in what is now Delaware County.

Miller traces the parish growth from a group of 40 in the original colony to a church of thousands today. Along the way, he connects the parish’s story to the larger currents of European, American, and Pennsylvania history.

“Three years ago, I was approached by the pastor to write a history for his church’s 300-year anniversary in 2029,” recalls Miller. “We were connected by Jerry Swiacki, a long-time Neumann employee and a Saint Thomas parishioner who knew that I had already written several books.”

There are links to the book on Amazon and the parish website.