book reviews

The History of Faith: Wiliam Boekestein’s and Simonetta Carr’s New Books for Kids

By emily | Oct 25, 2012

This week in our library month theme, Janie took us back to the 8th century in a review of Hand of Vengeance by Douglas Bond. ...

Hand of Vengeance

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 23, 2012

Tomorrow we have a real treat for you: two Christian dads, one a pastor and one a teacher, who both happen to write books for ...

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing: Savoring Sally Lloyd Jones’ New Book

By emily | Oct 20, 2012

This October, the team that brought you The Jesus Storybook Bible released a unique new book, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing. At 224 pages, ...

Quiet Time for Kids

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 19, 2012

“Thy word have I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin . . .” (Ps. 119:11) More than anything, Christian parents want ...

Burdens of the Past

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 9, 2012

Seventy-three years ago, on September 1, German tanks rolled across the border of Poland and the conflict that soon became known as World War II ...

God’s Time to Make a Change

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 2, 2012

I was alive during the Civil Rights struggles of the mid-50s and 60s, but wasn't personally affected by them. So the history of those years ...

Flannery O’Connor & The Terrible Speed of Mercy: A Book Review

By emily | Sep 28, 2012

Our book reviewer today is Autumn, one of our current interns here at Redeemedreader.com. She is a sophomore at a small liberal arts college here ...

Before the Boxcar

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 21, 2012

The Boxcar Children Beginning: the Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm, by Patricia MacLachlan. Whitman, 2012, 121 pages. Age/interest level: 7-10 The Boxcar Children have had ...

Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 17, 2012

Keeping the Castle: a Tale of Romance, Riches, and Real Estate, by Patrice Kindl. Viking, 2012, 261 pages. Age/interest level: 13-up. Althea Crawley, age 17, ...

Crying Hard: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 14, 2012

Another popular YA novel is soon to be a "Major Motion Picture," opening next weekend. It's not likely to be a blockbuster like Twilight or ...

Kids and 9/11

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 7, 2012

To our children it’s already history, but to us it seems like “only yesterday.” Too soon, really, to come to an informed conclusion about what ...

Dangerous Journey: Shepherding A Child’s Imagination

By emily | Sep 6, 2012

Pilgrim's Progress Party? Next week, I've been asked to lead a Pilgrim's Progress event at a church in South Carolina. One of our devoted readers ...

Survival and Rescue

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 4, 2012

Rescue from certain destruction is the great theme of the Bible. When it happens in real life, it should remind us of how blessed we ...

The Invasion of Fairyland

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 31, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Aug 30, 2012

A Few Recommendations Last year Janie and I put together a post on football books for kids and young adults, Tim Tebow to Justin Tuck: ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 28, 2012

We have something to look forward to this fall: a new publishing house called Month9Books which will specialize in fantasy fiction. First title, due in ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 24, 2012

Captain Awesome (series), by Stan Kirby, Illustrated by George O’Connor. Little Simon, 2012, approx. 110 pages. Age/interest level: 5-7 According to many K-3 teachers I’ve ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 21, 2012

In keeping with our back-to-school focus: if you haven't met little Rocket, you really should. As for Charlie Joe, well . . . How Rocket ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 10, 2012

Our 50 Shades of Gray discussion this week demonstrates how our sin nature turns God's gifts into perversions. But sex is still a gift, and ...

Swash and Buckle: the Chronicles of Egg

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 3, 2012

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 ...

By emily | Jul 30, 2012

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 27, 2012

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 24, 2012

Remarkable, by Lizzie K. Foley. Dial, 2012, 325 pp. Age/interest level: 9-13 Jane is remarkable in her town for being unremarkable. In fact, she and ...

Hoping Against Hope: Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 20, 2012

Doug Swietek finds a new life in his new town, despite his boorish father. Perfect for fans of The Wednesday Wars. Okay for Now, by ...

By emily | Jul 19, 2012

This summer I've been on a mission to find books with specifically Christian content for my kids. We get plenty of great literature from the ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 17, 2012

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy (drawings by Todd Harris). HarperCollins, 2012, 436 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 17, 2012

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 ...

Dystopia, Junior

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 13, 2012

Dystopian fiction for middle-grades isn't new: Lois Lowry's The Giver is a classic of the genre. The success of The Hunger Games means similar titles ...

Hard Science

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 10, 2012

God particle, Higgs boson—it's been news since Independence Day (no relation to said holiday) and most of us scratch our heads. It’s too hot to ...

We Hold These Truths

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 3, 2012

“If men were angels,” wrote James Madison in The Federalist #51, “government would not be necessary.” While understanding what Madison meant, he wasn’t quite accurate. ...

American Originals

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 29, 2012

Those delegates to the Second Continental Convention probably had no idea what they were creating when they signed a certain document back in July of ...

The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 26, 2012

The Glorious Fourth, as they used to call it, celebrates the birth of a nation whose independence was only declared with the signing of a ...

Mystery Under the Stars

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 22, 2012

. . . In which we crack the spines of two middle-grade novels that have been getting a lot of favorable press: both are mysteries, ...

Crazy Numbers

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 19, 2012

Some kids like numbers and are good with them; others aren’t. Though no longer a kid, I fall in the latter category,but these two books ...

By emily | Jun 14, 2012

Over the past 16 months since launching this website, Janie and I have the opportunity to interview a number of authors and cultural critics who ...

Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 12, 2012

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 ...

The Great Outdoors

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 4, 2012

Your kids may be packing for camp this month--or maybe not. (Watch for my post on Bible/Christian camps later this week.) While the weather's warm ...

Summer Vacation Audiobooks

By emily | May 31, 2012

Last year about this time, I did a vacation audiobook post. I'm actually on vacation myself right now, so I can't do as thorough a ...

The Bible in Brickbats

By Janie Cheaney | May 29, 2012

The Brick Bible: A New Spin on the Old Testament, as told and illustrated by Brendan Powell Smith. Skyhorse Publishing, 2011, 270 pages. In his ...

In Memory – Picture Books For Memorial Day

By Janie Cheaney | May 25, 2012

Memorial Day, like Veterans Day, is one of those overlooked observances that to government, library, and bank employees means a chance to catch up or ...

Saturday Review: Among the Fairies

By Janie Cheaney | May 19, 2012

Tagging along after yesterday's post, here are two relatively new (and one older) titles in that perennial genre, the fairy tale: Small Persons with Wings, ...

“Do you believe in fairies?”

By Janie Cheaney | May 18, 2012

The Fairy Ring, or Elsie and Frances Fool the World, by Mary Losure. Candlewick, 2012, 168 pages. Age/interest level: 10-14 When Frances Griffith arrived in ...

American Girls: Meet Rebecca

By emily | May 17, 2012

Meet Rebecca (American Girls Collection: Rebecca 1914). by Jacqueline Green. American Girl, 2009. 96 pgs. Ages 8-up. Candlelight for Rebecca (American Girl) by Jacqueline Green. ...

The Secret Lives of Animals

By Janie Cheaney | May 16, 2012

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. HarperCollins, 2012, 304 pages. Age/interest level: 8-up. Last week, a little bluebird appeared in our wood stove. ...

Thinking Different(ly)

By Janie Cheaney | May 15, 2012

I'm way behind on my Saturday reviews, so it's time to catch up—with a Tuesday review tagging off of last Friday's Steve Jobs post. Jobs ...

Steve Jobs: American success story?

By Janie Cheaney | May 11, 2012

Steve Jobs: Thinking Differently, by Patricia Lakin. Aladdin (Simon & Shuster), 2012, Age/interest level: 10-14. Who Was Steve Jobs? by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso, ...

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire! by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath

By Janie Cheaney | May 8, 2012

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

Huddled Masses and Deadly Desperados

By Janie Cheaney | May 4, 2012

City of Orphans, by Avi. Atheneum, 2011, 350 pages. Ages 10-14. New York, 1893: “Look at someone on the street and you may never see ...

Bad Trips

By Janie Cheaney | May 1, 2012

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 ...

Cowboys and Other Guy Stuff: Poems by David Harrison

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 27, 2012

The title is a misnomer; poetry is for girls, too—and humans in general. In spite of my lazy attitude toward it, poetry is the highly ...

The Splendor of the Ordinary

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 24, 2012

I have a confession to make: I’m not a fan of poetry. For someone who loves literature, I see this not as a mere preference ...

Not-So-Secret Gardens for Kids

By emily | Apr 23, 2012

This week kicks off a fun week here at Redeemedreader: Poetry Week. April is National Poetry Month, after all, and there are some great poetry ...

How Our Gardens Grow

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 21, 2012

Planting a garden is an exercise in faith—the assurance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. Young children are fascinated with ...

Podcast 14: American Girls, Dangers and Delights

By emily | Apr 20, 2012

What are the dangers and delights of the American Girls series of books? I gave you guys an intro to this subject in an American ...

Detectives: Hard Boiled and Four-Legged

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 18, 2012

Ever since Edgar Allen Poe, one of the most reliable publishing genres has been the mystery or detective novel. I'm not a huge fan myself, ...

May B by Caroline Starr Rose

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 13, 2012

May B., by Caroline Starr Rose, Schwartz & Wade, 2012, 225 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, Ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up Bottom Line: ...

American Girls

By emily | Apr 12, 2012

The American Girls books are in some ways the premier girls' reading series for girls who are emerging readers. Among conservative families, at least, they ...

Wonder

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 10, 2012

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio. Knopf, 2012, 320 pages. Ages 8-up August (Augie) Pullman obviously doesn’t remember the day he was born, but in the ...

Dealing with Death: Bridge to Terabithia

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 5, 2012

The first time I ever heard my father cry was when my uncle, the brother closest to him in age and disposition, was dying of ...

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 3, 2012

As Jesus takes us to the cross this week, I’d like to spend some time looking at recent and classic children’s literature that addresses the ...

R.C. Sproul’s New Picture Book: A Review by Desiring Virtue

By emily | Apr 2, 2012

Today's post is by Jessalyn Hutto, a book reviewer and blogger at her lovely website, Desiring Virtue. Be sure to click on over to her ...

Blue Like Jazz

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 30, 2012

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts On Christian Spirituality, was published in 2003 by Thomas Nelson. Since then it has become a staple of Christian college ...

Kingstone Part 2: Interview and Babylon

By emily | Mar 29, 2012

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 ...

RR Podcast 12: Simonetta Carr on Pinocchio and Christ in Italy

By emily | Mar 28, 2012

Introduction A few weeks ago, I posted a written interview with Simonetta Carr on her novel for young readers, The Weight of a Flame: The ...

Kingstone Part 1: 2048 and Echoes of Eden

By emily | Mar 26, 2012

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 ...

A Children’s Guide to Pilgrim’s Progress

By emily | Mar 20, 2012

Last October, Janie and I celebrated Reformation Day with a read-along of Pilgrim's Progress for families. Janie covered the original book for older kids, while ...

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 19, 2012

The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary E. Pearson. Holt, 2008, 265 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, 15-18 Recommended for: ages 15-18 and up Bottom ...

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 19, 2012

Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Simon & Shuster, 2007, 352 pages Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 15-18 Bottom Line: Unwind presents a ...

Saturday Review: Books for Beginning Readers

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 17, 2012

I read a lot of books for this blog. All the ladies at the circulation desk at the Greene County Library (bless their hearts!) know ...

Hungry

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 13, 2012

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games, Scholastic, 2008, 374 pages. Catching Fire, Scholastic, 2009, 391 pages. Mockingjay, 2010, 387 pages. Age/interest level: 14-up. READER ADVISORY: This ...

By emily | Mar 8, 2012

“It is to be broken. It is to be torn open. It is not to be reached and come to rest in ever. I turn ...

Cities and Gardens

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 7, 2012

As mentioned last Friday, some professional worriers have noted that children's picture books are displaying a decided preference for cityscapes as opposed to natural landscapes. ...

The Poetry of Nature

By emily | Mar 5, 2012

Contest: Do you have a favorite kids' poem? Would you or your kids like to write your own? Post your new or favorite poems in ...

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 2, 2012

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, ...

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 2, 2012

Gary Paulsen's classic survival novel Hatchet offers a realistic--as opposed to romantic-- view of nature and what it takes to survive in the wild. Hatchet ...

Parents’ Guide to Environmentalism in Kids’ Literature

By emily | Mar 1, 2012

What is Environmentalism? With the movie version of The Lorax hitting theaters this weekend, man's role in shaping and caring for the environment is back ...

By emily | Feb 29, 2012

This Friday, The Lorax opens in theaters nationwide. It's a movie based on Dr. Suess's book by the same name, and it deals with issues ...

Soldier Bear

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 28, 2012

Soldier Bear, by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2011, 145 pages. Age/interest level: 9-12 World War ...

Christ in Literature: The Anansi Stories

By emily | Feb 27, 2012

We started our February series on African folktales with an interview with a Christian from the Congo and a stack of books. We followed that ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 24, 2012

Countdown (the Sixties Trilogy) by Deborah wiles. Scholastic, 2010, 377 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) and up Bottom ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 24, 2012

The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy. Putnam/Penguin, 2011, 353 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 5 (ages 12-14) Bottom Line: The Apothecary is ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 21, 2012

Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys. Penguin/Philomel, 2011, 338 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) and up June ...

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 21, 2012

Breaking Stalin’s Nose, written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. Henry Holt & Company: 2011, 154 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 5 ...

Happy Presidents’ Day! No, really…

By emily | Feb 20, 2012

Better Than Little Obama Debbie Cakes Let's go ahead and admit it. Nobody really cares about Presidents' Day. I mean, maybe a few history buffs, ...

Heart and Soul

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 17, 2012

Heart and Soul: the story of America and African Americans, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. HarperCollins, 2011, 108 pages (including bibliography, index, and chronology). ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 14, 2012

Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos, FSG, 2011, 341 pages. Age/interest level: 10-13. (2012 Newbery Medal winner) Norvelt, PA, 1962: a depression-era-town that’s slowly ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 7, 2012

My first exposure to Charles Dickens was the original Classics Illustrated edition of A Tale of Two Cities. The last panel of Sidney Carton climbing ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 6, 2012

We're kicking off Dickens week with a fun excursion into the heart of Victorian London. Be sure and enter our Dickens trivia contest for a ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 27, 2012

So, last Friday the whole boys-and-reading subject came up, and why boys seem to prefer non-fiction. I think this generally true, though there are plenty ...

By emily | Jan 23, 2012

When The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats first came out in 1962, it broke the mold in a number of ways. Besides the charming ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 20, 2012

Everybody likes stories. But a significant number of bodies prefer their stories to be true, or at least factual. I’ve long heard it rumored among ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 13, 2012

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, by Alan Jacobs. Oxford University Press, 2011, 150 pages. Age/interest: adult. Heads-up: Watch for our interview ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 12, 2012

*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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 9, 2012

Last August saw the 50th anniversary of The Phantom Tollbooth—has it been that long already? We’re a little late but wanted to observe the occasion ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 5, 2012

A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home by Henry Cole. HarperCollins, 2010, 336 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ...

By emily | Dec 26, 2011

Last Wednesday, I sat down with a friend at the Regal Cinema nearby to watch "the feel bad movie of Christmas." For the uninitiated, that's ...

By Janie Cheaney | Dec 23, 2011

The Invention of Lefse: a Christmas Story, by Larry Woiwode. Crossway, 2011, 63 pages. Age/interest level: 8 and up. “Lefse? What’s lefse?” is the epigraph ...

By Janie Cheaney | Dec 20, 2011

War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo. Scholastic, 2011 (originally published 1982), 192 pages. Age/interest level: 8 and up. Michael Morpurgo was already established in the UK ...

The Word of God for Kids

By emily | Dec 19, 2011

ESV Seek and Find Bible. Crossway Bibles, 2010. 1, 888 pps. Ages 5-up. The Action Bible. David C. Cook, New edition 2010. Illustrated by Sergio ...

By Janie Cheaney | Dec 16, 2011

The December 21 opening of The Adventures of Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn, should focus attention not only on the boy from Belgium ...

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