The Mystery of the Blue Ring

I received an electronic copy of this book from Open Road Media through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is geared toward children beginning to read chapter books, so around first or second grade.  This book was originally published in 1987, and has been re-released for e-readers.

It's a great book about a second-grade girl who receives a detective kit complete with disguises from her Grandmother and sets about to solve some mysteries.  I remember wanting to solve mysteries when I was a young girl too, though there wasn't really a mystery, just an over-active imagination on my part.  But Dawn has a mystery to solve, a ring is missing, and the class thinks she stole it!  Dawn puts her detective kit to use when she decides to investigate the whereabouts of this ring, and she gets some help from a boy from her class, Jason.

Patricia Reilly Giff draws you in and keeps you going throughout this book.  I would highly recommend this book to any child, boy or girl who likes adventure and mystery.  You can find this book at Amazon for Kindle  or at Barnes and Noble for Nook.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

It Couldn't Just Happen

I got this book from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.  I picked this book because I think that it's very important for my son to learn that the world didn't just happen, that God created Heaven and Earth, and us.  Lawrence O. Richards goes through all the things that kids would be interested, dinosaurs, the creation of the Earth, evolution, space, other planets, etc. and shows how God has created all things and uses Biblical support too.  He discusses Evolution (we come from plankton) vs. evolution (we change over time) as well which was one of the big reasons I wanted this book.  It bothers me that the Theory of Evolution is taught in public schools as fact now, not as a theory as it was when I was in school.

Mr. Richards also ends each chapter with a "Just for Fun" activity, which gives them ideas on how they can learn more through the Bible and research.

This book is well written and can be used either to read straight through or as a reference to look up individual topics (the book has a topical index in the back).

One thing that really impressed me is when he discussed the age of the Earth, Mr. Richards did not state that the Earth can't be billions of years ago, he said the Bible does not state when God created, just that He did.  He also only disputes the reliability of radiometric dating.  While I do believe that scientists can carbon date fossils to the billions of years ago, I respect that Mr. Richards had research that did support his argument.

Oftentimes Christian groups dispute things like when dinosaurs roamed by simply stating that it couldn't happen because God created the world in 7 days regardless of how long we conceive 7 days to be versus how long God would consider 7 days to be.

Mr. Richards' book is well-written and well researched.  It is supported both by scientific discoveries and the Bible, and it shows that even scientific discoveries support a Biblical world view.

I would recommend this to anyone who would like their children to know a Biblical view of our world.  Those who believe in Evolution as fact, not a theory and that the world was created by a coincidental merging of dust particles would probably find this book irritating.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Stealing Jake

This is my first review for NetGalley.  Though it's also for Tyndale and I have done reviews for them...but I digress.

Stealing Jake is a wonderfully written piece of Christian historical romance by Pam Hillman.  The story takes place in a rural town where Livy O'Brien has just relocated to from Chicago where her life was not that easy.  She is trying to start a new life and become a better person than she was.  She meets the town Deputy, Jake Russell, who has problems of his own and a past he wants to move on from as well.  The characters are well developed and this is not just written as a romance, there have been some robberies and some new street kids coming in from Chicago as well as the new orphanage in town.

I am not one for romance novels, as a rule I don't tend to like them.  But, as I said, this isn't just a romance.  Pam Hillman stayed true to the historical events of the Chicago area and developed characters, both main and secondary, that you truly cared about.

I highly recommend this novel.  You can find it on Amazon for Kindle.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”