Age 08-12. 5 Stars. The Hobbit, like The Chronicles of Narnia, defines the standard for fantasy literature for children…. Tolkien’s works have attained classic status through their excellent story quality, deeply coherent story world, and a perceptive eye toward human nature. Christian thinkers especially appreciate that Tolkien’s stories, while not allegorical, are firmly rooted in a Christian view of the world.

Age 08-12. 3 Stars. The Westing Game is a sophisticated mystery with a lively plot and many funny moments. The multimillionare Sam Westing names sixteen heirs in his will, which turns out to be a complex riddle, and the one who solves it inherits his estate…. [It is] The Westing Game is a good yarn — a page-turning, entertaining read with a satisfying conclusion. The plot, characters, and riddle are perfectly suited to its 8-12 reading level, but its cynical portrayal of religion and its temporal focus on status and money may unduly influence immature readers. If you’re looking for a story with an ultimate theme, better look elsewhere.

Age 08-12. 4 Stars. The Wild Children is a well-written story about orphans in the Soviet Union near the time of the Bolshevik Revolution in the 1920s, who are faced with a choice between cold and hunger in an orphanage, or cold and hunger on the streets. Upon awakening in his home to find that his family has disappeared, twelve-year-old Alex flees the authorities with the help of his teacher and eventually joins a gang of street children…. This survival story is fictional, but it portrays the universal plight of orphans across the world while also capturing a period of Soviet history that is not well known. If your children are ready for this kind of story, it can help to cultivate compassion in them as well as faith in God, who is the Father to the fatherless.

Age 08-12. 1 Star. Martin is a deeply lonely preadolescent boy who earns a reputation for picking on children smaller than himself…. This book follows his muted coming-of-age, as he turns from his destructive behavior and attempts to live down his reputation…. While this story might be valuable for helping children cultivate compassion for the local playground bully, the poisonous character of Martin’s family, and the wishy-washy way in which Martin’s sinful behavior is explained, makes it an unsuitable choice for our family library.

Age 08-12. 5 Stars. Travis Coates is a 14-year-old boy, left alone to protect his mother and younger brother on his family’s 19th-century Texas homestead…. [He performs] an extraordinary act of moral courage, but it comes at the end of a story filled with ordinary acts of responsibility. In this outstanding coming-of-age story, Travis’s manhood is achieved at great cost, and in this cost he proves his worth as a man.

Age 08-12. 2 Stars. A combination of The Wild Children and The Westing Game, with a dash of fantasy added in the form of a magical merry-go-round that can bring either youthfulness or adulthood… One element of concern is that there is no a healthy family depicted in any part of the story… Another possible concern is that the homeless children are forced to steal in order to survive… It could be enjoyed with caution by readers who are discerning, but ought not to be introduced to children who will not recognize its playfully unreal qualities.

Age 08-12. 4 Stars. Mafatu, the ten-year-old son of a Polynesian chieftan, has always feared the sea…. As he approaches the edge of manhood, his fear prevents him from winning a place in his community. Realizing their indifference to him, he sets out to sea alone in his canoe, taking only his dog and a few tools…. At the end of his journey he returns to his village having proved himself a man…. No one having read this book should believe they have learned anything about the real Polynesia… [but] if a reader can accept that Call it Courage is a lesson not in history but in moral courage, they may benefit from the moral example this hero represents.

Age 08-12. 5 Stars. This is a masterfully crafted science-fiction fantasy about a widowed mouse and her young family, who live on the edge of hunger at the Fitzgibbon farm…. she discovers that an advanced rat society exists under cover of the rosebush. The rats have escaped from a place called NIMH (the National Institute for Mental Health) and are planning to end their parasitic existence on the farm, where they use the Fitzgibbons’ electricity and other resources. Their plans are disrupted by the coming of representatives from NIMH, who have been trying to recapture them since their escape…. A great science fiction premise, convincingly anthropomorphized animals, several heroic characters, a strong tenor of loyalty, friendship and family, all combine under the pen of a skillful writer to make an unforgettable story.

Age 09-12. 1 Star. In this modern-to-medievel time-travel fantasy, a family of three children and their father go to live in Wales for the winter, grieving the loss of their wife and mother. Twelve-year-old Peter finds a key which opens a portal into ancient Wales — and he and his sisters must resist a rising threat when knowledge of the key spreads to those who wish to misuse it. The book is recommended by several good sources and is entertainingly well written, with good character development and a sustained sense of magic lurking at the edges of the children’s dreary lives. Unfortunately, the dreariness of their lives seems to originate in their relationship with their father…. Although skilfully written, the bitter, secretive protagonist in this story is anything but admirable, and his father is worse. The biblical ideal of a family in which parents love, lead and train their children, is entirely absent. The magic in the story is enticing, and the interweaving of modern and historical Wales is masterful, but the detached, egalitarian family dynamic is quite poisonous.

Age 09-12. 3 Stars. In this sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum… Hannah returns with her younger sister Anne to re-open their confectionary shop in London…. Hooper builds upon the excellent historical foundation she laid in the original book, giving a sense of the period’s flavor… the detailed description of Hannah’s journey through the burning city, with all the landmarks that succumb to the fire, is nothing short of breathtaking. The character development is again rather shallow and the love story leaves much to be desired…. sentimental indulgence in the context of an undefined pseudo-courtship makes the book feel more like a modern teenage novel than a story from this time period.