Book Review: Dungeon Runners Level 1: Hero Trial

Hero Trial by Kieran Larwood

Hero Trial (Dungeon Runners #1)
by Kieran Larwood (Goodreads Author), Joe Todd-Stanton (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Kit is half-gnome and half-dwarf, making his whole family “gnorfs” – a small race of people in this magical land. In fact, only one gnorf in history has ever entered the dangerous Dungeon Runner games, but Kit is determined to put together a team and try to complete the trials so that he can compete. His teammates are a sea hag who can only do one spell, and a vegan vampire. Kit is supposed to be the fighter in their group, but he only has a useless wooden sword. Everyone laughs, thinking that this team is too small and too young to survive the dangerous competition, but Kit and his new friends discover that the Dungeon hides more surprises than anyone bargained for.

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Book Review: Charlie Bone and the Hidden King

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King by Jenny Nimmo

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King (Children of the Red King, #5)
by Jenny Nimmo

5 out of 5 stars

Charlie is dismayed to see that the Shadow in the Red King’s portrait has escaped from the frame. The Shadow is actually a powerful dark sorcerer who is putting the whole city under his spell. Charlie’s mother is a target, and Charlie must discover how the Shadow escaped and find a way to defeat or control him. A magical mirror has been stolen, and Charlie hopes that it could help him find his father, but first he must find the Red King and beg for his help.

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Book Review: Passing the Torch

Passing the Torch by Louis Markos

Passing the Torch: An Apology for Classical Christian Education
by Louis Markos

5 out of 5 stars

This book examines modern philosophies of education and compares them to classical education and especially to Christian education. We begin with the question of the nature of mankind. The entire preface establishes that we are incarnational beings with both body and soul, we have a dualistic nature of both good and evil possibilities inside us, we are moral agents responsible for our own choices, and we are habitual beings who are capable of learning and changing. Therefore, one of the main objects of education is to train people to have the habit of virtuous living and right thinking, so that we react properly to good or evil. We are also subcreators, so we create stories and narratives to explore truth and define our place in the world. We are builders, so we have a desire to create order in a chaotic world. We are political, meaning that we function inside a community, and the purpose of education is to train citizens who are self-regulating within their society.

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Book Review: Ghost Abbey

Ghost Abbey by Robert Westall

Ghost Abbey
by Robert Westall

4 out of 5 stars

Maggi is delighted when her father takes a job restoring an old abbey in the country. The family, including her two little twin brothers, move into the habitable parts of the mansion, along with Miss MacFarlane, the secretary overseeing the restoration of the abbey. Maggi cleans out the bedrooms and sets up the kitchen, since she has been used to doing all the housekeeping since her mother’s death. But there are many mysterious things happening around the abbey, and Maggi starts to wonder if the house itself is sentient. An ethereal voice sings in the garden, bells ring to call servants that are long dead, and Maggi sees a vision of a man from history. Could the house be trying to protect itself from intruders, or is the house welcoming them and asking for help?

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Book Review: The Wide, Wide World

The Wide, Wide World by Susan Bogert Warner

The Wide, Wide World
by Susan Bogert Warner

4 out of 5 stars

Ellen’s mother goes abroad hoping to improve her health in Europe, and Ellen is sent to live with her grumpy aunt. Her mother encourages her to look to Jesus for help and guidance, and Ellen’s temper is sorely tried when her aunt is unjust and mean to her. But Ellen has some help from Alice, a neighbor lady who is the daughter of a local preacher. Although Ellen’s aunt won’t send her to school, Alice agrees to help Ellen with her studies in French and English grammar and they pray and read the Bible together too. Alice’s brother, John, also agrees to help with Ellen’s education, and teaches her history, science, and horseback riding. Through many difficulties and setbacks, Ellen learns to trust in God and finds peace in His providence.

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Book Review: George Goodwin Dragon Slayer

George Goodwin, Dragon Slayer by Candace Lee

George Goodwin, Dragon Slayer: A Scouting Legend (Order of the Dragon Slayer)
by Candace Lee, Eric Newman, Bear Grylls (Foreword)

George is determined to prove that there are diamonds in the old coal mine just as his father declared before his death down in the mine. George explores the mines looking for proof, and his Boy Scout friends follow him, but they all get into trouble when they realize that an ancient dragon has been awakened in the depths of the caves. They encounter a mysterious man who claims to have knowledge of dragons and the weapons to kill them. They will need all their Scouting survival training to escape the mines with a dragon hunting them.

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Graphic Novel Series Review: The Nightmare Brigade

The Nightmare Brigade: The Girl from Déjà Vu (The Nightmare Brigade, #1)
by Franck Thilliez, Yomgui Dumont (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Esteban and Tristan help their dad at his sleep clinic, entering the dreams of patients and helping them to fight the monsters in their nightmares. If the patients can understand the underlying issues behind their dreams, they can release their fears and find healing. When Sarah becomes a sleep patient, Esteban has a weird feeling that he has seen her before. They enter her dreams and find that things are much more complicated than they thought. Just like Esteban, Sarah has no memories of her life before a few years ago when she was adopted by her parents. Could their memory loss be connected in some way?

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Picture Book Review: Enough Elizabeths

Enough Elizabeths by Heather Harris Bergevin

Enough Elizabeths
by Heather Harris Bergevin (Goodreads Author), Lexi Hall (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Princess Elizabeth is too scared of heights to sleep in her tower room in the castle, but she is too embarrassed to admit that to her family. When a dragon moves into the tower room, the family assumes that the dragon must have eaten Elizabeth or is holding her captive! They beg the dragon to give them Elizabeth, but the dragon misunderstands with some hilarious results.

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Book Review: Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors (Children of the Red King, #4)
by  Jenny Nimmo

5 out of 5 stars

Charlie’s friend Billy has finally been adopted, but Charlie worries that Billy’s new family are more like jailkeepers than loving parents. Billy is being held in a gloomy place called the Passing House, and it’s up to Charlie to break him out and find a safe place where Billy can hide. They think they can hide at the legendary Castle of Mirrors since it used to belong to Billy’s ancestor from hundreds of years ago, but they find something in the Castle of Mirrors that they didn’t expect and it changes everything for Charlie.

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Book Review: The Shadow Thieves

The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu

The Shadow Thieves (Cronus Chronicles, #1)
by Anne Ursu

2 out of 5 stars

Charlotte’s cousin Zee comes to visit from England, and he is terrified that a mysterious illness has followed him across the ocean to America. When their friends at school start getting sick, Charlotte and Zee are determined to find out what is wrong. Their search leads them to the evil plans of a demi-god from Hades who is stealing shadows to create an army and take over the underworld. Charlotte and Zee have to journey into the underworld and find a way to stop the shadow army before all their friends die!

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