Young Adult Fantasy, Middle Grade Christian, YA Fairy Tale Retelling, Kid Lit Animal Fiction
Vivid #1, T is for Antonia, The Orphan's Wish, The Storm
Vivid (Color Theory #1) by Ashley Bustamante
5 STARS (synopsis on StoryGraph or Goodreads) Young Adult Fantasy, Christian Author, My format: paperback
Ava, a student of Red magic, finds Elm, someone gifted in the banned Yellow magic, and the fun ensues from there.
Personal Review:
This book was a ton of fun for me. It has a soft magic system plus a feeling of a dystopian world. I have to admit that Ava (the main character who is an Elite student at the top magic school) was kind of annoying for a while, like she was just a robot and she was boring to read. But there was a moment where her true colors (pun intended) were revealed in a subtle way and it was almost like she started to come alive. Her internal struggle was so well done and interesting to read. I loved the idea of breaking out of a system you’ve known your whole life and testing it, but not completely giving it up. A very post-modernist thing to do ;).
I really enjoyed how the story almost forced me to keep jumping from team Elm (the “scary” Yellow man) to team Selene (Ava’s mentor) and back again. I loved that. I was nervous and confused and worried (all in good ways) without ever feeling scared (not a fan of that) so it was the perfect kind of suspense for me! The ending really wrapped everything up and provided a welcome sense of hope.
There also seems to be an underlying message to this book that harming others for the greater good is not an acceptable way to live. I’m not sure if that was intended but I really appreciated that. It was a clever and fun way to show that we can’t judge people just by the label society gives them.
I will save this book for my daughters, but the romance is just a little too mature for the younger teen age group (in my opinion). Elm is written as quite mature, at least for a while, so I’ll probably wait until my girls are 15 or 16 to recommend this to them.
Content Warnings:
murder (using magic), torture, watching horrific things happen to a set of parents, manipulation, blurred lines of good and evil (makes for a great story, though)
“T” is for Antonia (TrueGirl Series) by Dannah Gresh
4 STARS (synopsis on StoryGraph) Middle Grade Christian Fiction, My format: read-aloud to 8-year-old
Antonia (Toni) is a young girl who loves...football! But her parents think she's getting too old to play with the boys. So she tries several different other hobbies, making friends along the way.
Personal Review:
I was surprised by the main story of this book. I had assumed, having read Dannah Gresh's other works, that Antonia would find her "girly" hobby and be happy about it. But Toni ended up discovering a new talent and also being allowed to be herself! Even if it was a little unconventional.
This is written about a girl entering junior high age but the writing is simple enough that my 8-year-old could have easily read it on her own. I also had no problems with content for her to read on her own as well. I did read this aloud to her as this term’s “read-aloud date” just so we could talk about what happened.
Toni started out frustrated and upset with several people. But a strong character in her older brother, her parents, and a teacher helped her grow throughout the story.
Content Warnings:
nothing that bothered me
The Orphan’s Wish (Hagenheim #8) by Melanie Dickerson
3 STARS (synopsis on StoryGraph or Goodreads) Young Adult Christian Fairy Tale Historical Retelling, My format: e-book
Kirstyn is the duke’s daughter and has formed a lifelong close friendship with Aladdin, who was brought to Hagenheim as an orphan. This is their story of finding their paths in life and falling in love.
Personal Review:
Through this whole series my Dickerson I've been wishing for a slower romance with a character that is not the "strong knight" M.O. and this book did that! But, unfortunately, it was really boring to me. I’m not sure if it was the predictability of it or all of the flashbacks to childhood, but the plot seemed lacking and dry.
I have to say that I think there was more Christian content in this story than her other Hagenheim books, and that the characters’ struggles were more in line with what I would believe children would be like who were raised in a Christian home. Meaning, there were no extreme behaviors and the struggles were more with issues of the heart (like perfectionism and despair).
But because the main characters were so familiar with each other, there was also more caressing and kissing than I like for teenagers. There were no detailed descriptions (thank goodness) but I would recommend this for older teens because of all the touches and the thoughts about/actual kissing.
Content Warnings:
abusive relationship, kidnapping, panic attacks, flashbacks of abuse (PTSD), touching of arms, a few “deep” kisses (not detailed)
The Storm (Lighthouse Family #1) by Cynthia Rylant
3.5 STARS (synopsis on StoryGraph or Goodreads) Kid Lit Animal Fiction, My format: paperback
Pandora the cat is lonely but loves her job as a lighthouse keeper. But soon more animals enter her life to give her a family!
Personal Review:
This story is super sweet and the writing is whimsical but I am so conflicted about the ending. There is a growing friendship of Seabord (a dog) and Pandora that is lovely and enjoyable. There is nothing strange about that.
**Spoiler: But things get a little weird for me when they find some mice who they are so excited to welcome because they are children, and apparently finding children makes them a family. My kids are going to ask me the same questions I had: does that mean Seabord and Pandora are married? I don't know. Are they friends? If just friends, why does bringing children to their home make them a family? Why weren’t they a family before they found children? Will the children call them mom and dad? I'm just confused by this bit. End Spoiler**
I am going to read the second book in the series (The Whale) before I recommend this to my children. If the family dynamic doesn’t continue to weird me out, I would let my 7+ year-olds read this (there are some exciting storm scenes that would scare the younger kids in my house).
Content Warnings:
storms by the sea, near-death sickness
Have you read any of these? What did you think?