Author: Tim Akers

T.J. Akers is going to be a multi-millionaire when he grows up and then give his wealth away to his favorite causes: churches, schools, and animal shelters. The millions have been a little slow in coming, so in the meantime he works at a state university as a computer technician, volunteers at church, and supports his local animal shelter whenever possible. He also indulges his love of writing stories to entertain people, especially younger readers. He has a grown son and lives with his wife, two cats, and a dog in Minnesota. The dog is an excellent walking and writing companion, but the cats have proven to be rather critical. He has two novels The Last Paladin and Dusty’s Adventures slated to come out in 2017.
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Ending Fear by Deanna Fugett

 

Ending Fear by Deanna Fugett is a well-written dystopian\science fiction novel for middle grade set in a world of “haves” and “have nots.” It was recently published by Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing (L2L2)  on September 23.

 

SYNOPSIS (from Amazon)

Fourteen-year-old Fear learns she was a parachute baby, dumped over the edge of the Gliding Lands as an infant. Fascinated by the floating cities in the sky before, now she’s desperate for answers.

But a slave isn’t likely to get those answers.

When her abusive Downer family throws her from their hovel, Fear takes refuge with a family who shows her love for the first time. Surely they can’t be trusted. Years of abuse and molestation has taught her that.

Then her brother discovers where she’s hiding and tries to kidnap her. Fear will never let him touch her again. Her new family conceals her at the Fallen, a ranch that hides parachute babies from the Uppers who discarded them.

Just as she’s beginning to embrace yet another home, Fear’s new little sister, Happy, is kidnapped and taken to the Uppers’ temple harem. Fear must go against her namesake, find a working hoverpod, and journey to the dreaded Gliding Lands before the little girl’s innocence is ripped from her forever.

Can she save Happy in time?

And will she find answers to the burning question of why anyone would throw her away?

PROS

  1. The first-person point of view is extremely well written and engrossing. Ms. Fugett shows excellent command of her writing craft and manages an interesting story.
  2. The story world of “Downers” and “Uppers” is thought-provoking for varying ages and reading levels. The concept of “haves” and “have nots” isn’t new to literature, but the story offers enough of a twist to distinguish it from other dystopian novels.
  3. The idea of a toxic foster family is presented in a straight-forward manner without being graphic and frightening to younger readers.
  4. The portrayal of a loving family existing outside of conventional two-parent family systems is commendable.

CONS

  1. This book will not openly engage male readers. That doesn’t make the book awful, but I was disappointed that the concepts of rape and abuse from the victim’s side weren’t presented in ways that would draw in male readers. Opportunities to present such ideas in engaging ways is always welcome, but broaching it to male readers is an important opportunity.  Since Ms. Fugett is such a good writer, my hope is that she will consider broadening her content and her appeal across gender lines.
  2. Since I do enjoy speculative fiction, I was disappointed that the setting wasn’t promoted enough, and that it took half of the book before the reader is given a substantive glimpse of the story world. That is one of the drawbacks to an extremely well-written first-person viewpoint. Giving the reader a much clearer view of the world in a way that is natural to the unfolding of the story is difficult.
  3. The biggest of my objections is the way that the topic of abuse and rape are handled. Ms. Fugett wasn’t graphic or disrespectful by any means.  The topics are difficult at best, but also important. There is no reason that the topics can’t be broached in an age-appropriate story. Since Fear is only fourteen, I’m not completely sure the topic was dealt with as well as it could. I don’t wish to imply that Ending Fear promotes anything inappropriate or is graphic,  but I was hoping for more substantive material. I will leave the final conclusion to readers.

COLORING BOOK

There is a companion coloring book available. I am not one to color pictures, but if you are, please feel free to click on the “COLORING BOOK” if you are.

 

CONCLUSION

The book is well-written and interesting, but will probably only appeal to female readers. I do wish the title character Fear would have been written a little older so that talking about abuse and rape could have been given much more context and greater spotlight.  I recommend parents read this book first to decide if their children are at an age where they are ready for the content and it’s implications.

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The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper Book 2 of 5

 Synopsis:

Will Stanton, seventh son of a seventh son is turning eleven and this birthday marks the beginning  of his awakening as the last of the Old Ones. The Dark is Rising tells how Will, met by Merriman Lyon, comes to power in the modern world and must accumulate the six “signs” to help fight the rising Dark.

Pros:

  • This is a basic story about Good versus Evil and how everyone must at some point make a stand for one or the others.
  • The pros in this book is stunning example where art and popular stories merge into one well done novel. Susan Cooper is hitting her stride after book one and doesn’t seem to look back.
  • This was one of the first fantasy novels to break into the Newbery Awards, which was no small feat back when it was originally written.
  • The story is well paced and full of suspense and creepy backdrops, but that might fall under the Con category.

Cons:

  • I really can’t think of any, but if you have a problem Arthur tales and the legends of Cornwall England, this may not be the book for your reader.
  • Like in the review for Book One of the series, I don’t find this story antithetical to anyone’s beliefs unless you’re an atheist. Since this is only fiction, I can’t imagine anyone taking a story so literally that it would cause them problems.

Final Word:

I cannot say enough good about this novel. This was one of two novels responsible for turning me into a reader.If you have any qualms as an adult, I recommend you read it first before you turn it over to your young reader.

 

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Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper: Book 1 of 5

Synopsis

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper is a  middle grade fantasy novel and the first of five in The Dark Is Rising series. It features the Drew children: Simone, Jane, and Barney vacationing with their parents in the fictional village of Trewissick.

The  children find an old manuscript with a map of the Cornwall coast in the ttic of the mansion they’re renting for the summer. When Barney discovers the map is related to King Arthur, they turn to their Great-uncle Merry. He confirms that the map is a reproduction of a much older map to an ancient relic of Britain, the children decide  to withhold the information from the adults and set themselves to treasure hunting. Merry does warn the children that there adults looking for the artifact, especially and organization called The Dark. Soon the summer activity turns dangerous as they are pursued by agents of The Dark, bent on possessing the relic for themselves.

  • Pros:

The book will be enjoyed by boys and girls since the protagonists are a sister and her brothers. The book isn’t spooky, but it is thrilling and has a lot of action that utilizes the supernatural as the backdrop of story.

Susan Cooper is a wonderful writer and took advantage of all the English folklore from the Cornwall region and uses it as a backdrop for all five  books. Of all the books, Over Sea, Under Stone is probably the weakest of the stories, but it was also the first of the series. This means that if you like book one, the next four only get better.  If you don’t like book one, try the next one because it gets better.

  • Cons:

The series is a fantasy series and will get darker as the books progress on, though in defense of Ms. Cooper, you will never find her books without hope or dreary. Some children might not enjoy the darker aspects of the story.

While the whole series takes advantage of the Arthur legend, the first book utilizes the Holy Grail legend as a backdrop.  While I don’t believe they are antithetical to Christian, or any other belief system (with the exception of Atheism), the Arthur legend does run parallel with Christian beliefs: so be warned, or encouraged.

  • Final Word

Susan Cooper is the reason I fell in love with reading fantasy as an eight year-old. Though I didn’t start with book one in the series, I still found this book fun to read. Two of her books in the series won Newberry Awards, which in the sixties and seventies, was unheard of because of the general disdain for fantasy.  Having said that, her work has continued to win acclaim and readers across the genres, which speaks volumes to the quality of her writing.