Friday, October 01, 2010

Boy books: Christian historical fiction

Sometimes the best thing we can say about a Christian novel is that it's "safe."  We can hand it off to our kids without worrying that there will be inappropriate content.  But we want more than that.  We want well-written books!  Douglas Bond writes the kind of books we want. He is a prolific writer, but these related series are particular favorites of my boy. These are roughly for the 9-12 age group, though he will be 13 when reads the last of the second series.


The Crown and Covenant series is set in Scotland and follows a family of covenanters as they fight for religious freedom.   Click the picture for more information about the book.


I read the first book aloud.  I thought he'd immediately start to read the next book, but he didn't.  I wondered if he didn't like it.  Then one day he picked up the first one, reread it, and quickly devoured the rest. 





We tried to get my daughter interested but there weren't enough girls with major roles to interest her. 


I have to admit I do like being able to hand a book over and not worry that my child will encounter something I'd rather he didn't.  It is hard to find books like that as kids get older.

The Faith and Freedom trilogy follows the same family, now in pre-Revolution America as well as Scotland.


He read these very quickly.  He always has loved a good story!

 

He liked this series slightly better than the first one, but could not tell me why.  It doesn't really matter!


This is the third book in the trilogy; we don't have it yet but will get it for him soon. 

Have you found good historical fiction (Christian or not) for your pre-teen or teen boys?  I'd love to hear about it.   What adult books have you found to be appropriate for your young men?

Linked to Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon.

4 comments:

Sherry said...

Lots and lots. Sonlight is a good source for reading lists filled with good historical fiction. Some of my favorites:

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Bronze Bow Elizabeth Speare
Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
Hood by Stephen Lawhead
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell

Laurie said...

Boy books!! :) I am always on the look out for good suggestions. Sadly, even the best of books often have something in them that I would rather my boys did not read. It is tough to find good safe books for preteens/teens to read. I had this problem with my girls too.

If you are looking for some "just for fun" books, my boys love Owls in the Family and the Bears of Blue River.

Marbel said...

Thanks Ladies! I have heard of some of those books, read a few, and some are new to me. I so love finding out about new books!

And I completely forgot about Rosemary Sutcliff! She should be able to keep him busy for a while!

Leslie said...

We haven't read these. Thanks for the recommendations!