A Long Awaited Post

Things are finally beginning to settle down a little bit, just as things are beginning to get busy.

Even if I haven't finished everything I wanted to, it feels like life has fallen back into a managable pattern...at least for a couple more days!

And now for the review I have been intending to write/post for the last TWO MONTHS!!

An Amazing High-Wire Balancing Act

The stakes couldn't be higher as the members of Daggett and Bartlebee's circus recover after a terrifying accident on the rails. With busted cars, injured performers and lions on the loose, Daggett and Bartlebee's have little time to spare if they want to catch up to their rivals, Clark's Incredible Show, whom some believe caused the accident.

In the best installment of the Caleb Pascal & the Peculiar People series, Kersten Hamilton packs A Gathering of Brothers chock full of everything one would hope for in a children's book. I was most impressed by Hamilton's ability to incorporate complex ideas, in simple language, within the driving plot of the story. Not once did I feel as if the story dragged because of dialogue, nor did I ever feel as if the ideas were treated only superficially. There is great depth and drama contained within this slim book.

This is quite a feat for any author, but especially for one in the book market that Hamilton finds herself in. Very rarely in the Christian children's market does one find such a daring and talented author (at least in my experience). Often, we find books that are heavy on "Christian Themes"- whether that comes in the form of dense apologetic or heavy-handed allusion. In many cases, even the theology is watered-down in order for the books to be either understandable, or palatable to a wider audience, and in doing so these books sometimes border on bad theology.

Kersten Hamilton's Caleb Pascal books are none of these.

I could say much more, but I won't. Instead, I'll allow you to discover the world of Caleb for yourself.