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Classics in Comics

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 26, 2013

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, ...

Veterans Day: The Warrior’s Heart

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 11, 2013

The Warrior’s heart: Becoming a Man of Compassion and Courage, by Eric Greitens. Houghton Mifflin, 2012, 263 pages. Age/interest level: 15-up. You stand in freezing ...

Middle-Grade Losers, or, What Hath Greg Heffley Wrought?

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 1, 2013

The Wimpy Kid phenomenon keeps on going, and so far has outlasted the dystopia phenomenon, the vampire phenomenon, and the zombie phenomenon. Volume 8 in ...

Empire of Bones (Ashtown Burials, #3)

By Betsy Farquhar | Oct 24, 2013

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 ...

The Dogs of History

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 22, 2013

Duke, by Kirby Larson. Scholastic, 2013, 229 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 Boy loves dog; boy loses dog. That’s what ...

Anselm: An Interview with Simonetta Carr

By emily | Oct 16, 2013

Anselm of Canterbury (Christian Biographies for Young Readers) by Simonetta Carr. Reformation Heritage Books, 2013. 64 pgs. Ages 8-up. Simonetta Carr recently published Anselm of ...

Fun But Not Fantastic: Mr. Lemoncello and the Family Whipple

By Janie Cheaney | Oct 1, 2013

The American tradition of the “tall tale,” which you may think died with Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill, is alive and well in a genre ...

More Favorite Science Books

By emily | Sep 23, 2013

Welcome back to Science September at Redeemedreader! Last week, we heard from Janie on Science Biographies, as well as Betsy on some of her favorite ...

Solving Mysteries with Science (and a disappointing collective biography)

By Megan Saben | Sep 19, 2013

One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! by Eric Yoder and Natalie Yoder. Science Naturally, 2013. When I was growing up, ...

The Secret Lives of Scientists

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 17, 2013

On a Beam of Light: a Story of Albert Einstein, by Jennifer Berre, illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky. Chronicle, 2013, 50 pages. Age/interest level: 6-9 Despite ...

Space Odyssey for Little Ones: An Interview with Kevin Luthardt

By emily | Sep 11, 2013

THE BOOK REVIEW When Edgar Met Cecil. Peachtree Publishers, 2013. 32 pgs. Ages 4-8. Kevin Luthardt is an author-illustrator who has had a pretty big ...

*Little Britches by Ralph Moody

By Megan Saben | Sep 5, 2013

*Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers by Ralph Moody. Bison Books, 1991. 260 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10, ages 10-12 and upRecommended ...

How to Skim a Book: The Lost Medallion by Bill Muir and Alex Kendrick

By emily | Aug 16, 2013

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 ...

Kids at War

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 13, 2013

If we were picking favorite periods of history, World War II would be near the top of the list. Though it's fast fading from living ...

Lemonade and Lit, Week 6: The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavan

By emily | Jul 20, 2013

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, ...

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 19, 2013

*The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, 40 pages Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 4-8 and up (especially ...

Summer Reading Challenge, Week 6: The Lightning Thief

By Hayley Morell | Jul 15, 2013

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

Boy + Dog = Good Read

By Betsy Farquhar | Jul 11, 2013

Boy + dog is a solid formula that's been in play in the literary world for decades. How many of you read Old Yeller in ...

Three Days in July

By Janie Cheaney | Jul 2, 2013

One hundred and fifty years ago, two great armies collided in a small Pennsylvania town. The actual site of the battle was not planned, but ...

Two Ways to See the World

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 24, 2013

Geography, like Grammar (and God), is a neglected subject in today’s public school system. Too bad—I well recall my sixth grade teacher Mrs. Nelson, a ...

Summer Reading Challenge, Week 3: Mr. Popper’s Penguins

By emily | Jun 18, 2013

Introduction We've added a Summer Reading Challenge tab at the top of our website, to help you keep up with the posts as the summer ...

Summer Reading Challenge, Week 2: The Middle of Somewhere by (our very own) J. B. Cheaney

By Betsy Farquhar | Jun 10, 2013

If you're new to our Summer Reading Challenge, welcome! If you started our Around the World adventure last week with us, congratulations and let's continue ...

Whalesong: A Review by Nathan Huffstutler

By emily | May 30, 2013

Earlier this year, when I first heard the name Robert Siegel doing research for these book reviews last April at World Magazine, I learned Siegel ...

Throwing Strikes with R. A. Dickey

By Janie Cheaney | May 28, 2013

Throwing Strikes: My Quest for Truth and the Perfect Knuckleball, by R. A. Dickey. Dial, 2013, 296 pages. Age/interest level: 12-16. Last year Dickey’s autobiography, ...

Interview with Judah Ben: Kai’Ro, Christian Rap and the Progress of Urban Pilgrims

By emily | May 2, 2013

Introduction There are very few modern books that I see as really significant. But I see the Kai' Ro series--an urban interpretation of Pilgrim's Progress--by ...

A Novel in Verse and Verse in a Novel

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 26, 2013

We're rounding out our Poetry Month coverage with three books for middle-graders: Gone Fishing: a Novel in Verse, by Tamera Will Wissinger, illustrated by Matthew ...

Good Old Fashioned Adventure

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 18, 2013

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 ...

Poetry Anthologies

By Megan Saben | Apr 10, 2013

A good poetry anthology is like going to a friend's house with a basket, and being told, "Oh, you must read this one, and this one, and ...

The Real Sherlock Holmes

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 9, 2013

Arthur Conan Doyle published the first Sherlock Holmes story in a British periodical in 1887, to moderate interest. Three novels and fifty-odd short stories later, ...

Final Four (Plus One)

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 5, 2013

This post should have gone up during March Madness, but even if the NCAA tournament is over this weekend, the NBA has few months to ...

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 3, 2013

NIV Boys' Bible. Zonderkidz, 2012, 1504 pages. For ages 9-13. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 (obviously, boys) Bottom Line: The ...

Proverbs, Tricksters and Fools

By Megan Saben | Apr 1, 2013

The book of Proverbs is full of instructions for the simple to obtain wisdom and avoid disaster. Stories about tricksters demonstrate common-grace examples of using ...

New Nonfiction: Titanic, Moonbird, and Bodyguards

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 12, 2013

These three books have nothing in common except their general category and the fact that the first two won honors in the ALA Youth Media ...

The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 8, 2013

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 8, 2013

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), ...

Metaphysics, Graphics-Style

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 19, 2013

For some folks, graphic novels are actually a discipline to be learned—their eyes don’t know where to go first and they tend to jump from ...

Legends Told and Re-told

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 5, 2013

Robin Hood, by David Calcutt, illustrated by Graham Baker-Smith. Barefoot Books, 2012, 112 pages. Age/interest level: 9-up. Everyone knows—or do they?--how the hooded stranger showed ...

Unstoppable by Tim Green

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 31, 2013

A middle-grade boy's football ambitions crash against a cancer diagnosis in this frank tale by NFL star Tim Green. Unstoppable, by Tim Green. HarperCollins, 2012, ...

On All Fronts: New Nonfiction of World War II

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 15, 2013

My sister, who serves at a docent at a prisoner-of-war museum in Texas, says that her most eager listeners are pre-teen and teenage boys. When ...

The Wimpy Kid and His Imitators

By Janie Cheaney | Jan 8, 2013

Jeff Kinney currently sits at the top of a $550 million empire, and it all started with a web comic. When Kinney’s ambition to write ...

A Very LOGOS & Parnassus Christmas, Part One

By emily | Dec 6, 2012

One Hip Town. Two Bookstores. And Lots of Great Books for Kids! Here in Nashville, we have at least two exceptional bookstores: Logos Bookstore and ...

Spunky Siblings

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 16, 2012

Brother-Sister duos are a staple in children’s publishing ever since the Bobbsey Twins—a way of stretching the appeal, I suppose. These new series try to ...

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 6, 2012

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 ...

Solomon Kane, Puritan Avenger

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 2, 2012

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

*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 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 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

To The Avengers…and Beyond!

By emily | Apr 30, 2012

COMICS: Guy Kryptonite? Why do guys like comics so much? Especially the super-hero variety? It's an enigma I spent quite a lot of energy trying ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Africa: A Literary Adventure and Podcast!

By emily | Feb 16, 2012

This month my local public library is offering a marionette show of African folktales starring Anansi the spider. It's a unique way to celebrate Black ...

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 | 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 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 | 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 ...

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 25, 2011

Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica. Penguin, 2009, 244 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: Mike Lupika's young hero ...

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 25, 2011

Home Field Advantage by Justin Tuck, illustrated by Leonardo Rodriguiez. Simon & Shuster, 2011, 22 pages. Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages ...

Thankful for Cheryl Harness

By Janie Cheaney | Nov 15, 2011

*The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish, by Cheryl Harness. National Geographic, 2006, 143 pages. Age/interest level: 8 and up. Thanksgiving means a raid on the ...

By Janie Cheaney | Sep 2, 2011

The Brixton Brothers, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex, published by Simon & Schuster. The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (2009), 179 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Aug 5, 2011

*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 ...

Covenanters: Then and Now

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 28, 2011

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 ...

*The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers

By Janie Cheaney | Jun 9, 2011

*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: ...

By emily | May 12, 2011

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 ...

The Airborn trilogy by Kenneth Oppel

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 28, 2011

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 ...

The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 28, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 28, 2011

Example of Clanker technology from the 1914-ish world of "Leviathan." According to Wikipedia, the term was probably coined by science-fiction writer K. W. Jeter as ...

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 7, 2011

Supposedly, one of the most-asked questions in children's publishing divisions is, "Will boys read it?" Will boys read anything? Or only books that have "butt" ...

Peak by Roland Smith

By Janie Cheaney | Apr 7, 2011

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 ...

90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 31, 2011

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 ...

Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 31, 2011

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 ...

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

By Janie Cheaney | Mar 15, 2011

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 ...

*The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 24, 2011

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 ...

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 22, 2011

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 ...

The King of Mulberry Street by Donna Jo Napoli

By Janie Cheaney | Feb 14, 2011

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 ...

By emily | Dec 16, 2010

You’re a new parent. You’ve got the baby crib with a fancy name, the swing, the bouncer, the burping pads. Now it’s time to choose ...

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