book reviews
In Front of God and Everybody by K. D. McCrite
By Janie Cheaney |
The Confessions of April Grace: In Front of God and Everybody, by K. D. McCrite. Thomas Nelson, 2011, 390 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages ...
Read More Small Town Summers
By Janie Cheaney |
The Luck of the Buttons, by Anne Ylvisaker. Candlewick, 2011, 224 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 Bottom Line: The ...
Read More God-Haunted
By Janie Cheaney |
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 ...
Read More One More For the Road
By Janie Cheaney |
Around the World in 100 Days, by Gary Blackwood. Dutton, 2010, 358 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: ...
Read More The Living Past: An Interview With Cheryl Harness
By Janie Cheaney |
We end our extended history week with what some consider to be the purest form of history: biography. The old argument of whether great events, ...
Read More ‘Oh Say, I Can’t See’ Anyone Else But Me
By emily |
Boy Humor, and How I Came to Terms With It One of my earliest realizations of the strange, otherness of boy humor is embodied in ...
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Covenanters: Then and Now
By Janie Cheaney |
Duncan's War, by Douglas Bond (Crown and Covenant #1). P&R Publishing, 2002. 270 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 and up ...
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The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird
By Janie Cheaney |
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair, by Elizabeth Laird. Houghton Mifflin, 2011, 420 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, Ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 14 and up ...
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*Entwined by Heather Dixon
By Janie Cheaney |
*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 ...
Read More Enchanted: Three new fairy tales
By Janie Cheaney |
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 ...
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Rebel by R. J. Anderson
By Janie Cheaney |
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 ...
Read More ‘Creative’ Retellings of Paul Revere’s Ride
By emily |
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Illustrated by Christopher Bing. Ages 4-8. 40 pgs. Roughly 150 years ago, a poem entitled ...
Read More Knights in Training
By Janie Cheaney |
The Brave Young Knight, by Karen Kingsbury, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. Zonderkidz, 2011. Age/interest level, 4-7 In the spirit of Will, God's Mighty Warrior, here's ...
Read More Is Your Son ‘God’s Mighty Warrior’?
By emily |
Will, God's Mighty Warrior by Sheila Walsh, Ages 4-7, 32pgs. “This book is a favorite with my boys, 2 and 5. They really like ...
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*The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers
By Janie Cheaney |
*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: ...
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Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
By Janie Cheaney |
Prom and Prejudice, by Elizabeth Eulberg. Point (Scholastic), 2011, 227 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 and up Bottom Line: ...
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Enthusiasm by Polly Schulman
By Janie Cheaney |
Enthusiasm, by Polly Schulman. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006, 198 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 Bottom Line: Enthusiasm, a ...
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*The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg
By Janie Cheaney |
*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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*Press Here by Herve Tullet
By Janie Cheaney |
*Press Here by Herve Tullet. Chronicle Books, 2011. 56 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 0-4 Recommended for: Ages 0-4 and up Those of you ...
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Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg
By Janie Cheaney |
Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg. Houghton Mifflin, 2011, 37 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 9-12 Recommended for: Ages 4-8 On the ...
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Divergent by Veronica Roth
By Janie Cheaney |
Divergent, by Veronica Roth. Katherine Tegan Books (HarperCollins), 2011, 487 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 15-18 and up Bottom Line: ...
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*Hereville by Barry Deutsch
By Janie Cheaney |
*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 ...
Read More Thomas the Train: All Aboard for Fun!
By emily |
Today's Article is a Guest Post by Libby Minor. See more about her below. "The morality of the stories was clear and Christian: misbehaviour led ...
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Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma
By Janie Cheaney |
Beautiful: Truth's Found When Beauty's Lost, by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma. Thomas Nelson, 2009, 272 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 and ...
Read More Good Christian Girls
By Janie Cheaney |
I remember when Jeanette Oke and "deliverance" stories were about the only options teenage girls had if they wanted to read some Christian fiction. The ...
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Love Will Keep Us Together by Anne Dayton
By Janie Cheaney |
Love Will Keep Us Together, by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. Hatchett: 2010, 287 pages. (Miracle Girls series #4) Reading Level: Young adult, ages 12-15 ...
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Becoming Me by Melody Carlson
By Janie Cheaney |
Becoming Me, by Melody Carlson. Multnomah, 2010. (Diary of a Teenage Girl series #1.) Reading Level: Young Adults, Ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 and up ...
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Motorcycles, Sushi, and One Strange Book by Nancy Rue
By Janie Cheaney |
Motorcycles, Sushi, and One Strange Book, by Nancy Rue. Zondervan, 2010, 211 pages. (Real Life series #1) Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ...
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The Airborn trilogy by Kenneth Oppel
By Janie Cheaney |
Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel. HarperCollins, 2004, 355 pp. Skybreaker (2007); Starclimber (2009). Reading Level: Middle grade, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up One-line ...
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The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
By Janie Cheaney |
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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Saving Zasha by Randi Barrow
By Janie Cheaney |
Saving Zasha, by Randi Barrow. Scholastic, 2011, 225 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades (ages 8-10) Recommended for: Ages 10-12 One-line Summary: In post-WWII Russia, Mikhail ...
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A Dog’s Way Home by Bobbie Pyron
By Janie Cheaney |
A Dog's Way Home, by Bobbie Pyron. HarperCollins, 2011. 321 pp. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom line: When Abby ...
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The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
By Janie Cheaney |
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: ...
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Peak by Roland Smith
By Janie Cheaney |
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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*Dust Devil by Anne Isaacs
By Janie Cheaney |
Dust Devil, by Anne Isaacs, Illustrated by Paul Zelinsky, Schwartz & Wade, 2011. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 4-8 Recommended for: Ages 4-8 and up ...
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90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis
By Janie Cheaney |
An 11-year-old boy flees revolutionary Cuba with his brothers and learns American enterprise in this vivid, fast-paced middle-grade historical novel. 90 Miles to Havana, by ...
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Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong
By Janie Cheaney |
Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong. HarperCollins, 2010. 210 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 12-14 Recommended for: Ages 15-18 Bottom line: The experience of ...
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Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai
By Janie Cheaney |
Shooting Kabul, by N. H. Senzai. Simon & Shuster, 2011, 253 pages plus glossary and author note. Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ...
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Easter Gifts 101: ‘The Prince’s Poison Cup’ by R. C. Sproul
By emily |
The Prince's Poison Cup is perfect for young boys ages 4-8, but I think it will also appeal to many girls. It's that time of ...
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*The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
By Janie Cheaney |
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
By Janie Cheaney |
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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The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
By Janie Cheaney |
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 ...
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Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
By Janie Cheaney |
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 ...
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Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
By Janie Cheaney |
Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool. Delacorte, 2010, 342 pages plus historical notes. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom line: ...
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Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm
By Janie Cheaney |
Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer Holm. Random House, 2010, 177 pages plus historical notes. Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom ...
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One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
By Janie Cheaney |
One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia. HarperCollins, 2010, 215 pages. Reading level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom line: One Crazy Summer is ...
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*The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins
By Janie Cheaney |
The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins. HMH, 2010. 301 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom Line: Middle-grade ...
Read More *Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
By Janie Cheaney |
Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen. Random House (Wendy Lamb Books), 2007. 88 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 4 (Ages 10-12) Bottom ...
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‘A Story, A Story’: Thinking Through African Mythology
By emily |
The Anansi stories have been handed down through generations of Ashanti culture...Born in Ghana I left at aged 3, leaving much of the Ghanaian culture ...
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It’s a Book by Lane Smith
By Janie Cheaney |
It's a Book by Lane Smith. Roaring Brook Press, 2010. 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 10-12 and up Bottom ...
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The King of Mulberry Street by Donna Jo Napoli
By Janie Cheaney |
In The King of Mulberry Street a 9-year-old Italian immigrant realizes the American dream in 1890s New York through a combination of luck, ingenuity, and ...
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The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
By Janie Cheaney |
The Book Thief, a literary novel for teens and adults, explores Nazi Germany and the Holocaust through the eyes of a child, in prose that ...
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Annexed by Sharon Dogar
By Janie Cheaney |
Annexed is the fictionalized story of Peter van Pels, Anne Frank's fellow inmate, who offers a moving account of the Holocaust for teens, but no ...
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*Sneaky Sheep by Chris Moore
By Janie Cheaney |
Sneaky Sheep is a light-hearted book about two silly sheep who go astray. The illustrations are worth the price of the book. *Sneaky Sheep by Chris ...
Read More If Olivia Comes to Visit….
By emily |
We live in an age of series picture books. Which, like having 27 McDonalds in every city, makes shopping a little less complicated for tired, ...
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