The Crescent Stone review

Book Description:

 A girl with a deadly lung disease . . .
A boy with a tragic past . . .
A land where the sun never sets but darkness still creeps in . . .
A bargain that brings life, but may cost more than anyone can imagine . . .

Madeline Oliver has never wanted for anything, but now she would give anything just to breathe. Jason Wu skates through life on jokes, but when a tragedy leaves him guilt-stricken, he promises to tell only the truth, no matter the price. When a mysterious stranger name Hanali appears to Madeline and offers to heal her in exchange for one year of service to his people, Madeline and Jason are swept into a strange land where they don’t know the rules and where their decisions carry consequences that reach farther than they could ever guess.

My Review:

 This is my first foray into Matt Mikalatos' young adult writings.  Having read Night of the Living Dead Christian, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and My Imaginary Jesus I was very familiar with his Christian works.  However, I had never read any of his young adult fantasy works. 

The Crescent Stone is the first it what looks to be an interesting series entitled The Sunlit Lands. Imagine a world divided.  One portion lives in beauty and sunlight and wealth.  And yet they are plagued with a second group that lives in darkness and crudeness and ugliness.  A war rages and this is where Madeline and her friends enter the story. 

What would you do when someone offers you life in exchange for a year of service?  Madeline barely hesitates to accept and is quickly swept into a world so different than her own along with her new friend Jason Wu.  Madeline is spellbound by the beauty that greets her, while Jason is skeptical.

Mikalatos, in this fantasy world, brings up some very interesting real world questions.  Is it ok to do something that harms someone in order to save someone else?  Is it ok to allow someone else to volunteer take on pain and hardship that should rightfully be yours?  Is your enemy necessarily your enemy, or is it a matter of perspective? 

I really enjoyed the characters and the world that Mikalatos has created in this story, and I look forward to seeing what happens next!

You can order your copy of The Crescent Stone on Amazon here.

The Lifegiving Parent Review

Book Desciption:In today’s world, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and even paralyzed by the constant flow of parenting advice. We’re flooded with so much practical information that we wonder if we’re choosing the right way. And we may be missing the one thing God really wants us to give to our children: His life. God doesn’t include a divine methodology for parenting in the Bible, but He does provide principles that can enable any faithful parent to bring His life into the life of their home.

In The Lifegiving Parent, respected authors and parents Clay and Sally Clarkson explore eight key principles—heartbeats of lifegiving parenting—to shed light on what it means to create a home where your children will experience the living God in your family. Now parents of four grown children—each with their own unique personality and gifts—Sally and Clay have learned (sometimes the hard way!) that the key to shaping a heart begins at home as you foster a deep and thoughtful God-infused relationship with each child. Filled with biblical insight and classic Clarkson stories, The Lifegiving Parent will equip you with the tools and wisdom you need to give your children much more than just a good Christian life. You’ll give them the life of Christ.

My Review:I have been a fan of Sally Clarkson since Desperate: Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breathe.  So when I had the opportunity to review this book, I quickly downloaded and began reading.  In 10 short chapters, Sally and Clay Clarkson share some great pointers on how to not only create a home where children feel loved, but where they experience God's love as well. 

I love that this book is written to parents in general, rather than just moms.  So many parenting books direct all their advice to moms who already feel the pressure of parenting on their shoulders.  There is a woeful lack of parenting books directed towards fathers.  While this isn't specific for dads, Clay Clarkson's input definitely makes this a book that stresses the truth that it takes BOTH parents to create a home that gives children a view of the Biblical concept of an abundant life.

This book is a reminder that, "Lifegiving parenting is not about changing the culture we live in but about being a counter-culture to it."  It isn't our responsibility to shelter our children from the world and isolate them, but to prepare them to live a spiritually abundant life in the culture in which we live, without compromising God's truths.  Clay and Sally lay out the wisdom they have gained from raising their 4 children in the hopes that it will help you and I to accomplish this.