Fantasy

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 ...

We round out Picture-book month at Redeemed Reader with a look at some recent comic-book adaptations of enduring literary works--even though graphic novels, technically speaking, ...

Do you believe in ghosts?  I discount many of the ghost stories I hear, but can’t quit discount the whole phenomenon.  That is, there is ...

Empire of Bones (Ashtown Burials #3) by N. D. Wilson. Random House, 2013. 448 pages. Reading Level: Middle gradesRecommended For: age 10 and up. We've ...

This fall, Zondervan Publishers is introducing a new imprint called “Blink.”  According to Zondervan marketing v-p Chrisynethia Floyd, “They are for anyone, regardless of faith ...

As Emily informed us yesterday, September is science and science-fiction month, featuring our read-along of Orson Scott Card's classic novel, Ender's Game.  To celebrate, we're ...

There's a big movie release this week, based on a best-selling series of young-adult fantasy novels.  Young-adult fantasy novels have proved enormously profitable for the ...

To Skim or Not to Skim It's seven o'clock, and you remember you have a book review due in the morning.  But alas, you haven't ...

Welcome to Week 6 of our Summer Reading Challenge!  If you’d like to see other posts in this series,

Other Lemonade and Lit posts:  Introduction, Week One: Booked, Week Two: Booked Discussion, Week Three: Beauty, Week Four: Sexuality in Booked, Week Five: Beauty Discussion, ...

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 ...

Destiny, Rewritten, by Kathryn Fitzmaurice.  HarperCollins, 2013, 335 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 (especially girls) Bottom Line: Destiny, Rewritten ...

Cake: Love, Chickens and a Taste of Peculiar, by Joyce Magnin.  Zonderkidz, 2013, 221 pages.  Age/interest level: 8-14. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended ...

Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood.  HarperCollins, 2012, 374 pages.  Age/interest level: 10-14. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: Bliss mixes ...

Since I first wrote about teen paranormal romance--the spark that became a blaze with the Twilight series and all its imitators--we’ve seen the entire Bella-Edward ...

There’s a grand slam (plus one) among children’s book reviewers: Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, ...

The Drowned Vault (Ashtown Burials #2)  by N. D. Wilson.  Random House, 2012, 447 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12 and ...

Tuesday’s post about “Twisting Mother Goose” was headed down an alley I didn’t have room to address.  So today’s post springs off YA lit-blogger Georgia ...

*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 ...

Hayley Schoeppler is a 20 year old college student, the oldest in a family of seven kids, and an astute Christian book reviewer at her ...

Readers of this blog may not believe me when I say I’m not a big fantasy fan.  Then why so many fantasy reviews?  Because that’s ...

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George.  Bloomsbury, 2012, 225 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12. Recommended for: Ages 8-14 Whenever Castle Glower ...

*Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire! by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath, illustrated by Sophie Blackall.  Schwartz & Wade, 2012, 248 ...

*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 ...

As reported by the L.A. Times only a week ago, “Young adult continues to be the literary world’s fastest-growing genre.”  There are a lot of ...

*The Dragon’s Tooth (Ashtown Burials, Book One), by N. D. Wilson.  Random House, 2011, 482 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages ...

Or for you parents, will your kids be going to see the final Harry Potter movie released to theaters this week?  If so, for what ...

*Entwined, by Heather Dixon.  Greenwillow, 2011, 472 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-15 Bottom Line: Entwined is a fairy-tale romance ...

Heartless, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.  Bethany House, 2010.  Age/interest level: 14-up (first in a series) Princess Una is a romantic sort, indulged by her father and ...

Rebel by R. J. Anderson. Enclave Publishing, Reprint edition, 2015. 308 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, 12-15. Recommended for: Ages 12-15 Bottom Line: Rebel, a story ...

The main problem with Christian fantasy may be, what do you do with Christ? Honestly: can it be "Christian" without him?  But it's not easy to ...

*The Charlatan's Boy, by Jonathan Rogers.  WaterBrook Press, 2010, 305 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up Bottom Line: ...

*Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (graphic novel), by Barry Deutsch. Abrams (Amulet), 2010, 139 pp. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: Ages 8-10 ...

The Emerald Atlas (#1 in the Books of Beginning series), by John Stephens. Knopf, 2011, 432 pages. Reading level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ...

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: ...

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 ...

The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud.  Hyperion/Disney, 2010, 398 pages.  Reading level: Middle grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 One-line Summary: The witty narrator ...

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief (Hyperion/Miramax,2005), The Sea of Monsters (2006), The Titan's Curse (2007), The Battle of the ...