--About the Book--
Jeremy is an average 7th grader. He deals with common issues, including cruel bullies that break his new iPod and the fact that his family has little money and is separated. However, Jeremy's life is about to get much better--or worse--depending on his perspective. How would you react if you realized one day that you could fly? Imagine that you suddenly have several unusual powers. And to top it off, Jeremy will begin to realize the very real dangers of evil--and the very real power of God's love.
--My thoughts--
Children of Angels is a fun, fast-paced, encouraging read. Most intriguing were the spiritual parallels, particularly the way in which Kathryn Dahlstrom integrated the Christmas story into the end of her tale about angels (and half-angels). The Christmas setting backing the whole of the plot gave the book a serious undertone, emphasizing the reality of God's love that Christmas and angels truly hold--below the greeting-card-obvious surface.
I couldn't help comparing this book to the Dragons in Our Midst series by Bryan Davis, which also places Nephilim as major characters. Children of Angels did not give as much Biblical background, but the fictional-historical mesh of background for the characters' existence was extremely fascinating, and one of my favorite components of the book.
The only issues I had with the book were fast, no-background information needed pace (which is probably not something that the target audience of this book would be bothered by); the slight thread of romance underlying Jeremy's encounters with another character (again, I am rather picky about such things, and it's merely my opinion) that, although purely innocent, seemed more grown-up than the age group needed; and finally, the general treatment of adults (slightly less than complete respect was shown in a few instances [e.g. trying to run away from home]).
Aside from the above, I found the story to be entirely appropriate for the juvenile fiction audience. Though the story is light-hearted, it has serious spiritual emphasis to inspire, intrigue and provoke deeper thought. I would recommend it to pre-teens and above looking for a supernatural fantasy novel to capture and cultivate imagination.
I received this book for free from Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for my unbiased review.
Click this link to read more about Kathryn Dahlstrom and this Litfuse blog tour!
