Fifteen-year-old Xander King is not happy to be moving away from Pasadena, California to live in the tiny town of Pinedale. Everything he’s always wanted was in Pasadena: his friends, his girlfriend, Hollywood. An amateur filmmaker, Xander wants to make movies someday, and living in Pinedale isn’t going to help. When the Kings… Continue Reading
Red by Ted Dekker
Review by Jill Williamson Thomas Hunter lay sleeping in a hotel room in Bangkok. Just as he’d predicted, the deadly The Raison Strain virus had been released into the world. His sister lets him sleep, though, for now. In another reality, Thomas rides a black steed over a sandy valley, leading his Forest… Continue Reading
Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney
Review by Jill Williamson Jared is annoyed. He gets that people like to be do-gooders in the world, but why his family? And why dangerous African refugees? As he understands it, there are no good guys in a civil war, so how was he supposed to get excited about sharing his bedroom with a… Continue Reading
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Asta’s son has never had a name. But now that his mother has died, a priest tells him his name is Crispin. Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Crispin flees his village home. On his journey he meets a juggler named Bear, who teaches him the ways of entertaining, self defense, and snaring… Continue Reading
By Darkness Hid: Chapter One
Achan stumbled through the darkness toward the barn. The morning cold sent shivers through his threadbare linen tunic. He held a flickering torch out in front to light his way, clutched a wooden milking pail at his side, and wove between dark cottages in the outer bailey, mindful to keep his torch clear of the… Continue Reading
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Review by Jill Williamson When Rachel Lynde sees Matthew Cuthbert wearing his best suit of clothes and driving his buggy out of Avonlea at three in the afternoon she knows something it going on. Why, Matthew should be out in the fields sowing his turnip seed. She hustles over to her neighbors’ house immediately… Continue Reading
The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner
Review by Jill Williamson Lauren Durrough, the only daughter of a privileged family, is looking to find her own way in the world, at her own expense and without her father’s help. She takes a part-time job from Abigail, an eighty-three-year-old woman who needs the diary of her ancestor transcribed. The diary belonged to… Continue Reading
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The only mouse baby to survive the litter, his mother names him Despereaux, for all the sadness and despairs in the world. His ears are too big, his body too small, and his eyes too bright. “There’s something wrong with him,” his father claims. “He will be dead soon.” But little Despereaux didn’t… Continue Reading
Hangman’s Curse by Frank Peretti
Review by Jill Williamson In Baker, Washington, three football stars fall into mysterious, hallucinating comas. Rumor is they are victims of Abel Frye, a dead student’s ghost who curses those who would pick on the less popular. Enter the Springfields, an undercover family of four who are secretly commissioned by the president to investigate… Continue Reading
Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul
Review by Jill Williamson After a lifetime of slavery, fourteen-year-old Kale is set free. She travels to The Hall in Vendela where she will receive her training as a servant. Ogres attack her. She escapes into a cave and finds seven small dragon eggs. When she comes back out, she is rescued by Paladin… Continue Reading
Black by Ted Dekker
Review by Jill Williamson Someone is shooting at Thomas Hunter. He runs for his life—zig-zagging, hiding, and executing some awesome martial arts—as men chase him through the streets of Denver. But when a silent bullet grazes his head, his world goes black and he wakes up somewhere else. In darkness. He doesn’t… Continue Reading
I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires by Cathy Gohlke
Review by Jill Williamson I couldn’t wait to read the sequel to William Henry is a Fine Name, and Cathy Gohlke didn’t disappoint. I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires hooked me from page one. Not yet eighteen (which is old enough to enlist) Robert Glover bides his time at home in Maryland.… Continue Reading