This is our sixth week in The Do Not Read Report and today’s book series is one that came out of left field for me. You don’t really expect to find issues in a faith based adventure book for kids, but we sure did! To be precise, my horrified kids asked me to stop reading after we were only a few chapters in to the story. My daughter was certain that it really was a harlequin romance novel in disguise, and frankly, I agree.
Let me introduce the book first.
THIS WEEK’S BOOK SERIES:
Shepherd, Potter, Spy–and the Star Namer by Peggy Consolver
Summary: The story takes us back to a time when the Amorites were controlling the area of Canaan. A young Gibeonite boy and his family live in the envelope of civilization between the Amorites with their hideously evil king and the Hebrews. There is reason to fear harm from both groups but one young Gibeonite shepherd befriends a child of the Hebrews and a son of the Amorite king. We watch as the boy transitions from shepherd to potter and then to spy, as he monitors the feared Hebrews in the Jordan valley.
THIS FAITH BASED BOOK WAS INSPIRED BY A TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND, BUT THE WRITING EVOKES MOST UNHOLY IMAGES.
I read this book aloud to my kids, and I think you might miss the issues with the story if you just scanned the book yourself, but here are the phrases and words you are handing to your child if you give them the book to read:
- “Guttural grunts and groans of would-be soldiers locked in battle, mixed with commands from their teacher.”
- “Keshub licked his lips and grinned as he leaned into their crossed swords. With lowered brow, he sent a silent challenge to blink and paused. He sprang to his right like lightning and thrust his sword to his cousin’s vulnerable left side…”
- “…felt the sting on contact burn to the hilt of his hand…”
- “…with attempts to touch for a kill…”
- “…cross-stepped in the opposite direction for a thrust and kill…”
- “Gravel bit into his elbows and hind side as he fell to ground with a helpless “A-argh.” “
Selections from the first two pages of Chapter 2 of “Shepherd, Potter, Spy–and the Star Namer”
The real issue is that your child will not just read one sentence at a time, out of context. They will read the whole book and each successive mention of thrusting and licking and touching collects in the readers consciousness as they read this book until it spills over around about the third chapter and you feel dirty for having read it.
THE WRITING QUALITY IS POOR, THE CHARACTERS ARE MODERN IN AN ANCIENT STORY, AND DETAILS ARE DISTURBING
- The writing is really un-good, as my father-in-law liked to say. It will not teach your child grammar or story structure. But the over-arching issue with the author is her choice of adjectives that could easily be out of a harlequin romance novel. If you just take one sentence at a time, out of context, all you can really say is that they writing is poor and she is making a valiant effort towards writing a story for kids after an inspirational trip to the Holy Land.
- Finally the characters in this story tend to speak and behave as modern day families plopped down into ancient times. This aspect made the story hard to read.
- Some details in the story may be disturbing for younger children so I think the optimal age would be 14-16 year olds who still enjoy intermediate-level chapter books.
I think the real problem is that you cannot trust any author. You need to read each book all the way through before your child gets to open a page of it. That is why I am writing this Do Not Read Report – to save you time by sharing the mistakes we made and the books we discovered.
