So I figured out what feels off about the cover of Wayfarer. Linden has a mop of unruly brown curls. The girl on the cover is far too calm and well-brushed to be Linden.

And the fact that I know this—the fact that I know who Linden is and I know that her hair is always a little messy (“Her head was bent, her face hidden behind her turbulence of hair.”), and I know that she’s always got a bit of a breathless look on her face—is proof that RJ Anderson has given me a character who is alive, in my mind. A character who has a definite personality. A character who feels like a real person.

Wayfarer is the story of Timothy, a missionary kid, questioning the faith of his parents and searching for truth; and Linden, youngest of the faeries of the Oakenwyld, and the one called upon to save her people.

The Oakenfolks are dwindling, the queen is dying, and Linden is charged with finding faeries wiling to share their magic. She and Timothy, faced with a common foe, end up bound to one another in a fight for survival.

Reasons I loved this book:

• I like the characters. All the characters feel real to me. More than that, I really cared about Timothy and Linden. They were brave, and honest, and loyal, and easy to love, even though neither one was perfect.
• The story is exciting and I wanted to see how the Oakenfolk would survive.
• There is real danger. I really worried about Timothy and Linden.

So the first time I read the book, I whipped through it, just enjoying the story. I liked these kids and was rooting for them from the start. I enjoyed seeing Knife and Paul again, because I loved them in Spell Hunter. And I wanted to find out more about the Oakenfolk and see if they would get their magic back.

But the second time I read the story, I picked up on something that I think is important to the author, because I’ve seen it in both books now. It’s the matter of Christian isolation. Anderson is not a fan of isolationism, I think I can safely say. She wants to see missionaries go out instead of Christians circling the wagons against a hostile world.

In the first book the faeries find out that their isolation is killing them. Killing their creativity first, and then literally killing them.

In this book the author once again speaks against isolationists (I won’t say how, exactly, because I don’t want to give spoilers.) But she adds to this book some thoughts on hypocrisy.

There are Christians who should be following the command to “let your light so shine before men that they would see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.” Instead, these people are persecuting the stranger in their midst. And so the Father is not praised. Instead, his very existence is called into question.

The book is full of false appearances—an old church that is now a place of evil and oppression, invisible islands, and beautiful antagonists. There are also faeries who disguise themselves, pretending to be something they’re not, so they can take advantage of others. There are other faeries who say they are in favor of love, but aren’t willing to do the hard work of loving.

Finally we arrive at the end, and we find the true heroes. The ones who live as they say they believe. The ones who reject hypocrisy and are willing to sacrifice to save others simply because it’s the right thing to do.

This was a very satisfying book…maybe not quite as good as the first one. Hard to say. I always do love the first meeting of a new place and a new people best, I think. But this was very good. I eagerly await the next one!

Today is the second day of blog tour for North or Be Eaten, the second book in Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga.

I’m still reading the book. Enjoying it. I’ll give my review tomorrow.

For now…Andrew Peterson is one talented fellow. Becky over at A Christian Worldview of Fiction thinks he’s writing classics. She thinks the books are timeless and scratching universal itches. I’m not sure if I agree with her since I’ve not finished the book, yet. Since I know Becky is a big fan of theme, I’m guessing that there is going to be some important theme emerge from this book. I’ll weigh in on that tomorrow.

For now, I’ll just rave about his illustrations and imagination. One of the reasons these books are working for their target audience is that Peterson was a boy and he puts in all the boy stuff. There is all kinds of action–sword fights, arrows flying, desperate flight.

There is gross stuff–stinky slimy gunk and disgusting menu items.

And there are evil, vicious, dangerous creatures with dripping yellow fangs, and milky eyes. There are big creatures with big fists and little heads, and small creatures with sharp teeth and quills. 

Plenty of terror, disgusting goop, and action to keep the boys happy.

But the book, so far, is working for the old women, as well as for boys. The guy had me crying, already, and I’m not even a hundred pages in. I won’t give a spoiler but…it’s a great book that can make you laugh and cry.

OK I have to get back to reading it. I’ll leave you with my favorite line so far:

Trolls? A shiver of fear coursed through Janner. He had never seen a troll, though Pembrick’s Creaturepedia depicted several troll races, all of which were formidable and ghastly to behold.

Today is the first day of the Kidz Book Buzz blog tour for North or Be Eaten, the second book in Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga.

If you don’t know Andrew Peterson, haste ye over to his site and get to know him. He’s brilliant.

If you’ve yet to discover The Wingfeather Saga, you can read my review of his first book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and you can also go and read at the Wingfeather Saga blog.

I will have a review of North or Be Eaten up on Saturday. Meanwhile go and visit some of the other bloggers on the tour:

The 160 Acre Woods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Book Buzz, KidzBookBuzz.com, My Own Little Corner of the World, My utopia, Novel Teen, Olive Tree, Reading is My Superpower, Through a Child’s Eyes

Every time I review a book to see if I want to put it on the blog tour, I say I’m going write the review right away while the story is fresh. And I never do. Every time the tour comes along I’m stuck trying to remember the book I read ten books ago, and I curse myself for a fool.

Here I sit, again. I read Darkwood, by M.E. Breen a couple of months ago and never did the review. The upside is that I get the read the book over and I’m enjoying it. The downside is that I don’t have a lot to say about the book today.

I will give you a few gems I’ve picked up so far. I’ll add more to this post tomorrow, probably. Molly Breen is a master of description. 

• Aunt Prim slept in the narrow slice of bed between Uncle Jock and the wall.
• The darkness roared over her, a landslide, an avalanche. The black air, heavy as earth, filled her throat and banked in her lungs.
• A hawk screamed overhead, no more than a black dash against the blue sky. Hawks loved to hunt the cutting fields at the forest’s edge, full as they were of little dazed creatures knocked from their nests.

For more on Darkwood, please visit the other bloggers on the tour:

A Patchwork of Books, Abby the Librarian, Becky’s Book Reviews, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Never Jam Today, My Utopia, Through a Child’s Eyes, Through the Looking Glass Reviews

Today is the first day of the KidzBookBuzz.com blog tour for Darkwood, by M.E. Breen.

I am lagging, I’m sorry. Still tired from my dad’s funeral.

I read Darkwood a couple of months ago. I loved the characters and the descriptions of the world. I hope to grab the book and give it another quick read and give you a review on Wednesday.

Look at this cover, though. I love the shadows of the wolves in the trees.