The Promise and the Light by Katy Morgan

An engaging and thought-provoking retelling of the Christmas story through the eyes of biblical characters.

The Promise and the Light by Katy Morgan. The Good Book Co., 2021. 128 pages.

Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12

Recommended For: Ages 12-15 (and some mature younger readers)

Mary is a teenager who loves singing, telling stories to her younger sister, and looking forward to her new life with Joseph. Joseph is a hard-working teen who is building a room onto the family’s home, getting ready to bring his future wife home. Both Mary and Joseph have troubled older brothers who are ready to fight for the Jews’ rights and bring about revolution. Zechariah can’t speak, but he saw an angel! And both Mary and Joseph see angels, too. Those announcements changed their lives (and the rest of humanity’s) just as much as Zechariah’s angel visitation changed his.

Biblical fiction is a tricky genre. We are wise not to infer what various characters in Scripture might have been thinking or feeling; our 21st century experiences have conditioned us to react in ways that Old Testament Jews would find completely foreign. But Katy Morgan does a good job in this retelling, saturating her writing with references to Old Testament stories and prophecies. Back matter includes specific information about what Morgan takes from Scripture, what she invents, and what she includes based on archeological and sociological evidence of the time period’s customs and lifestyles. All in all, this is a winsome look at what might have been going on between the lines of the story we have heard so often. If the Christmas story is so familiar to your family that eyes are glazing over, this might be just the ticket to help your teens grasp anew how dramatic the Nativity narrative was and is, how revolutionary!

Considerations:

• There are 25 chapters, so this could be read as an Advent reading; it can also be enjoyed simply as a story in whatever chunks you want!
• Mature middle schoolers will do fine with this, but Mary and Joseph do (discreetly) ponder the implications of Mary’s pregnancy and how it will reflect on them.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

• Worldview/Moral Rating: 5 out of 5
• Literary/Artistic Rating: 4 out of 5

Read more about our ratings here.

Related Reading From Redeemed Reader

• A Review: Preparing for Jesus by Walter Wangerin (for older teens; a similar, imaginative look into the thoughts of the Christmas characters)
• A Resource: Family Advent Devotionals (updated every year!)
• A Reflection: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a great read for families with kids in the 8-12 range who might not be ready for a book like this.

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