Adventure/Thriller

Retro Reads: Lloyd Alexander’s Vesper Holly Series

Readers will have a hard time forgetting Lloyd Alexander's plucky heroine, Vesper Holly. Ginger-haired, green-eyed, and very determined, 16-year-old Vesper Holly is ready for anything, ...
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Far as the Curse is Found: Two Novels Dealing with Death

This seems like an odd time of year to talk about death, but the joy of the Christmas season wouldn’t be joyful at all if ...
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Call of the Klondike: a True Gold Rush Adventure by David Meissner

This middle grade history uses original letters and contemporary news accounts to recreate the drama of the Alaska Gold Rush.  Call of the Klondike: a ...
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Journey by Aaron Becker. Candlewick, 2013. 26 pages

Journey, by Aaron Becker.  Candlewick, 2013, 26 pages.  Reading Level: Picture books, 4-8 Recommended for: ages 4-8 and up Bottom Line: Journey uses luminous illustrations--and ...
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The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer

The Reluctant Assassin (W.A.R.P., #1), by Eoin Colfer.  Hyperion, 2013, 352 pages.   Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Appropriate for: ages 15-up Bottom Line: ...
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Beowulf: Legend, Worldview, and Contemporary Narratives

When I used to teach high school British Literature back in the day, Beowulf was always our first big study. It's first chronologically, and it's ...
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Good Old Fashioned Adventure

The False Prince (2012) and The Runaway King (2013), by Jennifer A. Nielson.  Scholastic, about 350 pages each.  Age/interest level: 10-up. When we first encounter ...
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The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3), by Rick Riordan.  Hyperion, 2012, 608 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages ...
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Zeus, King of the Gods by George O’Connor

Zeus, King of the Gods, (#1 in The Olympians graphic-novel series) by George O’Connor.  First Second, 2012, 80 pages. Reading Level: Picture books (graphic novel), ...
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Solomon Kane, Puritan Avenger

We're closing out Halloween week with something a little different.  About two years ago, I began hearing of a new movie called Solomon Kane, based ...
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Swash and Buckle: the Chronicles of Egg

Deadweather and Sunrise, by Geoff Rodkey.  Putnam, 2012, 296 pages.  Age/interest level: 10-up. Thirteen-year-old Egbert Masterson, or Egg as he will soon be called, is ...
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Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Coming up on Friday, an interview with Andrew Klavan himself!  And we have a copy of Crazy Dangerous to give away!!  Read on ...
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Bad Trips

Summer is the traditional time for road trips, and road-trip novels traditionally roll out in the spring.  A title from this year and one from ...
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Kingstone Part 2: Interview and Babylon

By Redeemed Reader intern Jack Mertens Today I continue my series on Kingstone Comics, begun on Monday with reviews of two of Marvin Olasky's graphic ...
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Kingstone Part 1: 2048 and Echoes of Eden

Today's reviewer, Jack Mertens, is a 17 year old high school student living in Louisiana where he is, among other things, an avid reader and ...
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Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George.  Harper Collins, 1972 (paperback reissue 2003).  208 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Young adult, ...
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*Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck

*Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, illustrated by Kelly Murphy.  Dial, 2011, 239 pages.   Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-10 and ...
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Lord of Light

They had guessed before that this was an island: clambering among the pink rocks, with the sea on either side, and the crystal heights of ...
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Homelanders Series by Andrew Klavan

Homelanders, by Andrew Klavan.  Published by Thomas Nelson in four parts: The Last Thing I Remember (2009), The Long Way Home (2010), The Truth of ...
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God-Haunted

The death of God has been announced since the beginning of time (see Ps. 14:1), but God doesn't seem to stay dead--not even with Darwinism and nihilism ...
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The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg

*The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg

*The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg.  Clarion, 2011, 241 pages with author note. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages ...
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The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield, illustrations by Keith Thompson.  Simon Pulse, 2009, 434 pages plus historical note. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages ...
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Peak by Roland Smith

Peak by Roland Smith

Peak by Roland Smith.  Harcourt: 2007, 246 pages.  Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up One-line summary: Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello's ...
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The Perilous Gard

*The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001, 288.  Age/interest level 12-up. Reading Level: Teens/Young Adults Recommended for: Ages 15-18 Bottom line: ...
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The Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud

The Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud

The Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud: The Amulet of Samarkand (Hyperion/Miramax, 2003), The Golem's Eye (2004), Ptolemy's Gate (2005). Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-14 ...
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