Will Northaway and The Fight For Freedom

The events narrated in Will Northaway and The Fight For Freedom, written by Susan Olasky, take place during the summer of 1765, the historical period just before the American Revolution.

The story begins in Boston where Will Northaway, the central character, is apprenticed to Mr. Spelman, who is a printer. Mr. Spelman is loyal to the British crown, even though he doesn’t agree with everything the British are doing to the Colonists, especially when it comes to the Stamp Act.

The people in Boston are angry about the new tax and protests erupt throughout the town. Will and Mr. Spelman decide to move to a different town to escape the violence. But, the trouble follows them there, too.

When the story begins, Mr. Spelman doesn’t talk much about God or the Bible, but as the tales progresses, he turns more and more to the Bible to guide his actions. Not having been raised in a Christian household, Will doesn’t have a belief in God. He is spiritually conflicted about what he sees going on around him and how people are acting. But by witnessing his master’s need for spiritual guidance, Will is forced to consider his own views on the subject and must give serious consideration to what he believes and doesn’t believe in.

What I Like: I like historical fiction. The historical time period just before the American Revolution began was both a dangerous and exciting time in our country’s history. The story is told from Will’s point of view, providing the reader with a young person’s perspective on the time period.

What I Dislike: The book is very well written. However, although I realize the book is part of a series with Will as the central character throughout, the ending to this story still seemed a bit abrupt or unfinished, when the apprentice and master part ways. I would have liked a bit more closure for this book, as most books in a series can serve as stand-alone titles.

Overall Rating: Very good.

Age Appeal: 9-12.

Publisher Info: Crossway Books, 2004; ISBN: 9781581344769; Paperback, 112 pages, $5.99.

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Special Info: This book is part of the publisher’s Young American Patriots series. Read our reviews of other books in the series.

Spine Chillers Mysteries

I am not sure how I feel about Christian horror books, but if you are looking for a faith-based alternative to the Goosebumps series, Fred E. Katz's SpineChillers Mysteries is for you.

The book has a shiny, alarming, three-dimensional clown image on the cover, and includes three separate books in one volume. Dr. Shiver's Carnival, Attack of the Killer House, and Birthday Cake and I Scream all feature heroes who are between eleven and thirteen years old. The children are Christians who don't believe in ghosts, but are capable of being terrified, nonetheless. In each adventure,the children deal with fear by praying and remembering Bible verses they learned at youth group. There is a logical explanation for each scary mystery, and Katz is sure to emphasize ghosts are not real, and God is bigger than anything frightening the children.

In Dr. Shiver's Carnival, Kyle and his friends visit Kyle's uncle in Hollywood. Kyle's uncle, a well-known movie producer, secretly arranges for the children to visit a spooky carnival. Kyle and his friends become more and more afraid, the longer they are at the carnival. They have no idea Kyle's uncle is filming them for an upcoming movie trailer, until they finally escape the carnival.

In Attack of the Killer House Jonny and Anna are chased by heat-sensitive appliances in the "smart house" their father designed. A lightning storm causes the appliances to malfunction and target people. When their dad's creepy, new computer screen saver begins popping up on televisions all over the house, Jonny and Anna are even more afraid.

Birthday Cake and I Scream tells the story of MacKenzie's birthday party at a local pizza place. When MacKenzie and his friends stumble across a chapter in an old history book telling about hauntings at the pizza place, they are a little concerned. However, unbeknownst to them, their party gets mixed up with a booking for the "National Horror Movie Fan Club." In the end, Mac is relieved to make it to the age of thirteen!

What I Like: I like the way the children all pray and trust in God through their fear. In the books, the children have friends of both genders, several of whom are from church. The books provide a healthy, positive, non-romantic view of friendship for junior-high students.

I also like the way Katz includes Bible verses throughout the books. The characters show a believable balance between remembering verses and knowing what is true, and allowing their imaginations to run away with them.

Just when I was starting to identify with the characters enough to get worried or feel trapped, Katz provided a way out.

What I Dislike: Horror is not my favorite genre, in general. These books really are scary, and will definitely cause shivers.

I didn't like the way Kyle's uncle tricked him in the first book. I think you need to be able to trust the adults in your life. For some reason, Kyle's uncle told one of his friends the carnival was rigged, but didn't tell Kyle.

Overall Rating: Very Good, if you like horror! (Also, you can't beat the Amazon price.)

Age Appeal: 10 and up (but not before bed)

Publisher Info: Tommy Nelson, 2010; ISBN: 978-1-4003-1643-7; Hardcover, 3-in-1, 378 pages, $14.99

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Special Note: The book is also available in audio version.

Brave Young Knight

Best selling author Karen Kingsbury is back with another excellent picture book, and like her children's book The Princess and the Three Knights, Brave Young Knight is well worth adding to your child's bookshelf.

In this fairy tale, a young knight is considered the finest in his village. He is strong, can run fast, solves puzzles, and shows kindness to others. So when the King announces a contest to determine who will be called prince of the land, many are certain he will win. But when the young knight sees his competition, he's not so sure. He learns one knight is able to outrun a horse, another is strong enough to carry a horse under each arm, and another is smart enough to solve any puzzle. The young knight tries to practice each of these feats, but admits to his father he's not the fastest, strongest, or smartest knight in the land. His father always replies with words of wisdom about God giving him what he needs.

At last, the day of the contest arrives. The first test is a race, and while all the other knights cheat and find a shorter route, the young knight follows the rules - and comes in last. The next test is to see how many logs each knight can carry. The other knights find hollow logs, so they can carry more, but the young knight carries a solid log - and can only carry one. The final test is a puzzle. The other knights pay a smart man in the village to give them the answer, but the young knight figures out the problem himself, although his answer comes in last.

The King, however, is wise, and he discounts the other knights because they are dishonest. He titles the young knight prince.

"So the brave young knight of the west village became prince and, with God's help, ruled the kingdom with character, kindness, and truth."

What I Like: Gabrielle Grimard's illustrations are gorgeous; the cover of the book really doesn't do them justice. They are full of rich colors and life, adding a great deal to Kingsbury's well written tale. And for parents who long to raise children of character in a world where people of good character are so hard to find, this book is a gentle and fun way of showing that it's always better to live God's way. The Brave Young Knight is an excellent book for either boys or girls.

What I Dislike: Nothing
Overall Rating: Excellent.
Age Appeal: 4 to 8
Publishing Info: Zonderkidz, 2011; ISBN: 978-0310716457; hardback, 40 pgs., $4.99.

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Special Info: To see illustrations from this book, and to watch Karen Kingsbury discuss it, visit the author's website.

You Were Made to Make a Difference

If you are looking for a positive, uplifting and challenging book to encourage teens to be their best for God, You Were Made to Make a Difference would be an excellent choice. Father-daughter team Max and Jenna Lucado speak to teens who love Jesus and are ready to take the next step.

The Lucados encourage teens to be who God made them, and inspire teens to reach out and share Jesus' love with the world. Each chapter includes biblical teaching, personal testimonies from Jenna and Max, real-life stories of teens making a difference, space for readers to record their thoughts, and practical suggestions for action teens can take. The chapters close with a passage from the Bible and a prayer. The book would be perfect for youth groups or teen small groups to read together. It would also work well for families to read together.

The focus of the book is on meeting the needs of those around us, as Jesus did. The book begins by looking at ways to reach out to family, friends, and schoolmates, and moves on to look at ways teens have influenced the world. The chapter, "Stand up for the Have-Nots," highlights organizations such as Heifer International, which fights global hunger; Do Something: Teens for Jeans,which sent jeans to people in Haiti and "Loose Change to Loosen Chains"(LC2LC) which fights slavery around the world.

The end of the book includes a four-page list of ways teens can help various people, starting with daily random acts of kindness. The Lucados also invite teens to sit down with their family members and discuss ways they can change the world together.

What I Like: This book does an excellent job of treating teens as intelligent, capable people who really can make a difference in the lives of others. The plethora of examples used throughout the book is truly inspiring. Time and again, Max and Jenna show us ordinary teens who acted on a simple idea, and achieved extraordinary results.

I also like the way Max and Jenna constantly remind readers of the gospel. We learn, without a shadow of a doubt, in order to truly change lives, we must first rely on the power of Jesus Christ.

Max and Jenna use a conversational tone, and write about relevant issues in teens' lives. They use lots of factual quotes and highlights to support their ideas. End notes with references are included at the back of the book.

What I Dislike: It took me a little bit to get used to the format of the book. Chapters have lots of charts, quotes, text boxes and lists scattered throughout. The chapters are long and don't have clear breaks. It worked best for me to read the entire chapter at once, and think about it the rest of the week.

The sections where Max and Jenna speak directly are clearly marked, but it isn't obvious who wrote the rest of each chapter.

Overall Rating: Excellent (despite above remarks). I just wouldn't plan to use it as a daily devotional.

Age Appeal: 12 and up

Publisher Info: Thomas Nelson, 2010; ISBN: 978-1-4003-1600-7; Paperback, 209 pages, $14.99

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $9.99

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Special Note: Read our reviews of other books by Max Lucado or Jenna Lucado here.

This book is based on Max Lucado's adult book, Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference. There are also several adult study guides, a DVD series and worship CDs available to complement the book.

Flight of the Eagles

Flight of the Eagles, written by Gilbert L. Morris, is the first book is a 10-book Christian sci-fi series.

This first book sets the tone and storyline for the rest of the series. Seven people, the Sleepers, find themselves waking up to a strange new world 50 years after being placed inside special capsules to sustain them while they sleep. They have slept through a nuclear war and the world they wake up to totally is different from the one they remember.

Josh is the first Sleeper to awaken and it is his task to find the other six and release them from their capsules. Then, the Seven are to join with Goel to battle the wicked priests of the Sanhedrin in an effort to save the world.

Not only must Josh survive the battle to save the world, he must also survive the inner battle he has with himself when he loses faith and hope in his mission and the future.

A few black-and-white pencil sketched illustrations are scattered throughout the text.

What I Like: I like science fiction, especially books in a series. There are 10 books in this series, so there are plenty to read.

What I Dislike: Unfortunately, this first book isn’t very well written, so I would not be inclined to read any more books in the series.

There are many inconsistencies in storyline. For instance, when the Sleepers wake up after 50 years, you would think they would be all cramped up from not moving for so long. But, not one of them seems to have any problems with that particular issue.

Also, when they wake up, they are hungry. One of the Sleepers, Sarah, wants steak and potatoes to eat. The land they wake up to is desolate and barren, yet, somehow, the survivors manage to find steak and potatoes to eat. Where did it come from?

And, when Sarah wakes up, she isn’t a bit curious as to why things are so different from the way they had been 50 years ago. She doesn’t ask any questions at all.

And, I could go on and on. There are just so many things about the storyline that don’t ring true or don’t make sense.

Overall Rating: Ho hum.

Age Appeal: Young adults.

Publisher Info: Moody Publishers, 1994; ISBN: 9780802436818; Paperback, 192 pages, $6.99.

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Special Info: This is book #1 in the publisher’s The Seven Sleepers series.

Baby's Bible Friends (Baby Blessings)

Kids love animals, and the Bible is full of them! Baby’s Bible Friends, a sturdy board book with thick foam-filled pages, highlights different animals in the Bible. For example, we see Jonah’s whale and Peter’s fish swimming in a sea made with shiny blue stripes. Of course, animals from Noah’s ark, a camel, and our manger friends show up! Illustrated by Mandy Stanley, the simple, friendly pictures accented with colorful foil-wrap are sure to capture youngster’s attention. Each page holds only a few lines of large-print text—enough to briefly draw attention to the featured animal.

What I Like: The version I read had foil-wrap accents, which I found beautifully mesmerizing. I appreciate the durability of the book too. The concepts are very simple in presentation, yet can be used by parents explore the Bible story where the animal is found.

What I Dislike: The book does not give Scriptural references to coincide with the animals. Parents wanting to provide more information may need to have a Bible handy!

Overall Rating: Very Good

Age Appeal: The publisher lists 4-8, but I think the simple text and book format is better suited for the baby-preschoolers group.

Publisher Info: Standard, 2010; ISBN:978-0784729465; Board Book, 8 PGS., $8.99.

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $7.19
OR Buy it at Amazon.com for $8.99.
OR Buy the cloth version at Amazon.com for $11.69.

Special Info: Read other Baby Blessing book reviews by CCBR.

Psalms for Kidz: Psalm 23

Psalm 23, another positive volume in Sherri Trudgian's Psalms for Kidz series, is just as sweet and appealing as her other books. The emphasis of the book is stated in the subtitle, "The Lord is my Shepherd./I am His lamb."

Throughout the book, we see a multi-colored, friendly-looking lamb in modern-day settings, such as the beach and the park. The settings correspond to Psalm 23, with pastures and cool waters, and danger in the form of a bear. The shepherd is a young boy in a t-shirt and shorts. Each section concludes with the words, "I'm as happy/ as can be--/My shepherd takes/Good care of me!"

Trudgian includes a "Note to parents" at the beginning of the book, and the entire text of Psalm 23 at the back of the book. Melanie Moreland's watercolor illustrations include various road signs early readers will enjoy identifying.

What I Like: As always, I like Trudgian's positive message, and desire to make the Psalms accessible to even the youngest children. Her repetitive rhyme provides an excellent message for children of all ages to internalize.

What I Dislike: I do have trouble with Trudgian's sometimes awkward rhyme and use of dashes within words. For example, she writes, "Shepherd takes/His rod and goes--/W-H-A-C-K-S brown bear/Across his nose." The use of dashes is confusing. Trudgian would be better off simply using bold or colored font. Also, although the word "goes" rhymes with "nose," it doesn't make sense within the verse.

The lamb looks sweet, but my children both found a rainbow-colored lamb odd.

Overall Rating: Good

Age Appeal: Preschool-1st grade

Publisher Info: Little Sprout Publishing House, 2007; ISBN: 978-0-9779194-1-3; Paperback, 32 pages, $7.99

Buy it at Amazon.com for $7.99.

Special Note: Read our reviews of other books in the Psalms for Kidz series here.