As 2020 draws to an end, we know we’ve added a lot of new readers. So, just in time for last minute Christmas ideas, here is Meet the Team, Christmas 2020 edition! Hayley plays interviewer to introduce the Redeemed Reader team. Today we’re starting off with our editorial advisor and senior staff writer, Janie B. Cheaney. 1. What are some books you’d like to give this year? Picture book: I’m not giving any for Christmas, but last spring I gave my youngest granddaughter a copy of Hank Finds an Egg–one of my favorite wordless picture books. A beautiful picture book for Christmas is Julie Berry’s Long Ago on a Silent Night. Middle…

Wishes andWellingtons is a light-hearted Victorian fantasy about being careful what you wish for. Wishes and Wellingtons by Julie Berry. Sourcebooks, 2020, 363 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-1 To call Maeve Merritt “feisty” is an understatement. She’s the terror of Miss Salamanca’s School for Upright Young Ladies, and most particularly of Miss Salamanca herself. Not that Maeve isn’t upright in her own way, but she’s obstreperous to a fault and won’t back down even when she could be a little more conciliatory. Her best friend and roommate Alice Bromley is a perfect foil, tempering some of Maeve’s excess. Unfortunately Alice isn’t around when Maeve…

Are you looking at another holiday stuck at home? Do you have family members scattered across the country? Megan and I both are looking at another holiday spent in our own homes without our beloved family members. Thanksgiving was one day. Christmas, though, usually means days and days of fellowship and family time with our loved ones. But you know what? Our family members are also looking at the same scenario: many of them won’t be traveling either. So, Megan and I are sending “Quarantine Boxes” as Christmas gifts this year: boxes full of treats, activities, and cheer that will offer “at-home” enjoyment and memories. What’s included in a Quarantine…

Books for aspiring writers abound. Books for teen writers are a little harder to track down. But many teens are aspiring authors, writing reams of stories or maintaining a lively blog. Thanks to NaNoWriMo, more teens than ever are trying their hand at writing an actual novel. This is fantastic! Below are some books for teen writers that will help them catch a vision for the writing life, ponder the place of art in their life and community, think about the responsibilities an author has, and gain some practical writing tips to boot. These are not “young adult” books, but they are accessible and helpful for young adults (even as…

The Epic Bible tells the entire story of the Bible in graphic format and dramatic style, with some embellishment. The Epic Bible: God’s Story from Eden to Eternity edited by Art Ayris. Wander (an imprint of Tyndale), 2020, 840 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grade, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 12-up Readers of Kingstone Comics’ The Book of God will recognize the scholar who introduces The Epic Bible. In the first 8 pages he summarizes the scope of the Bible, the influence of the Bible, and why the Bible is different from any other book. Then on to the story itself, beginning in Genesis and the six days of Creation. There’s…

Courageous World Changers briefly covers the lives of 50 women throughout the world and history who lived for Christ. Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God by Shirley Rae Redmond, illustrated by Katya Longhi. Harvest House, 2020, 110 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-up You’ve heard of Elizabeth Elliot and Fanny J. Crosby. But what about Ni Kwei-Tseng Soon or Pandita Rambabai? Or did you know Rosa Parks was motivate to stay seated on that Montgomery bus by her Christian faith, or that Sabina Wurmbrand encouraged her husband to stand up to communism when he was tempted to waver? To cover…

A debut MG novel tackles eating disorders from the unique perspective of a younger sibling. What Happens Next by Claire Swinarski. HarperCollins, 2020. 256 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grade, ages 11-13 Recommended For: Ages 11 and up Summer won’t be the same in one Wisconsin town. As a narrator, twelve year-old Abby is bubbly, passionate about astronomy, yet also grieving the absence and loss of her loved older sister. The story unfolds in Abby’s voice with flashbacks that slowly fill in her present perspective. The Blaire she grew up adoring is gone, away being treated for her anorexia —and what will happen next?  In the meantime, an improbable summer adventure unfolds centering…

Redeemed Reader exists to “shed a gospel light on books for children and teens.” But you know what? We read books for grown-ups, too! We asked a few friends of Redeemed Reader to help us curate a dynamite list of books for grown-ups that would make great gifts this year. You might also consider this list a “books-to-check-out-at-the-library-for-Christmas-vacation-reading.” Or, perhaps you just need to forward this list to the people buying YOU presents, hmm? You’re welcome. Please note: these are books written for adults. They may contain more mature themes, language, or situations than the books we typically recommend for teens; we think they’re worth reading, but they might not…

A Hopeful Heart engagingly presents the life of one of America’s first best-selling authors: Louisa May Alcott. A Hopeful Heart: Louisa May Alcott before Little Women by Deborah Noyes. Schwartz & Wade, 2020, 267 pages. Reading Level: Teen, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12-up She was an all-American girl, even though few American girls had the interesting, enriching, challenging, feast-or-famine childhood she did. Born to not one, but two idealists, raised among the cream of American intellectuals, she had unusual advantages. But, because of her father’s supreme impracticality, she was often so poor that she and her sisters slept on the floor and survived on a diet of oatmeal. Her…