This story sets the stage right up front by teasing the reader with a long riddle that is full of really interesting ties back to the biblical narrative. It grabs interest right away. We really love when books show right up front that they will be unapologetically Christian (and exciting).
One of the best things about this story is that it brings all of the positive aspects of the ‘fantasy’ genre that so many readers love without the negative (i.e., not dark, weird, etc.). To make it even better, the setting is in our world in a setting that its target audience will be able to place themselves in. Several references to scripture are woven throughout.
It also has another great thing we see less and less in secular books… great characters. The main characters and the adults that surround them are so ‘good’ and likable. For example, the main character notices the following about his teacher, “The ease at which he talked about God seemed so unusual”, later noting a Bible verse in his email signature (1 Peter 2:19). His friend is a young lady who is a known Christian. The Dad has a plane he uses to bring Bibles to missionaries who smuggle them into closed countries. We hear comments like, “May God be praised” and “Your faith has saved us both!”. We hear wisdom such as, “Do not envy what is gained by evil means… true strength lies in wisdom”. These characters pray for help throughout. Even better, they see God take direct action to save due to prayer and faith. There is even a prayer that ends with, “they must find their salvation through the Light of the World”.
There are a couple of seemingly small things we want to bring up as well that are really refreshing. He takes care in several cases to not let the fantasy lean heavily into “magic”, which some characters are uncomfortable with. He also has several moments where normally in stories children would have snuck out or taken some very dangerous-in-the-real-world action, but instead the author has them get permission or something similar. There is also no romance or focus on crushes between the boy and girl main characters, instead focusing them on a really awesome friendship.
We personally met this author at a recent homeschool convention. He took the time to share an amazing story of early in his writing journey where God taught him about trust and contentment. It was a great reminder that behind each of these Christian stories that we take effort to find and highlight on this site there is a real-life Christian, a follower of Christ, that God has given a unique story to share. These authors and stories are out there. Now God asks us if we, as Christian parents, will be intentional enough to seek them out for the young readers we have been entrusted with.
