An Online Art Course with a History Connection

Note: We received free access to ArtAchieve’s Entire Level II in exchange for this fair and honest review.

Homeschool parents often freak out about subjects they are unfamiliar with. Science and math are biggies, and for the non-linguistical, it’s English. Okay, I get that. But one of the biggest freak-outs is art. Art! I hear, “I’m not crafty. I can’t do art.” I hear it all the time, people!

Never fear, ArtAchieve is here!

Art Lessons for Children ArtAchieve Review

ArtAchieve is an online video course for homeschoolers or anyone else wanting to add some real art lessons to their lives.

Learning how to do art versus learning how to draw a picture:

I’m going to ramble a little about piano lessons, but there is a relevant point, so bear with me a moment. (I almost wrote bare with me, but all that bareness would be socially awkward. Narrow escape.)

I took piano lessons as a kid, which was great. Wanting to advance, I took piano lessons in college as well. All the teacher did was find out my current ability level and teach me how to play a stinkin’ song at that level! She just wanted me to sound good for the recital. No theory, no skills training, no ear training. Major boo teacher!

That’s what I was afraid ArtAchieve was going to be like. I thought the kids would learn how to draw one thing in each lesson–a cat, a horse, a bird–but not learn how to “do art.” I thought they would want the kids to look good on the fridge.

I was wrong. Oh, they learned how to draw a cat, a horse, a bird, but they learned art techniques in the process. Major hooray!

Back to piano lessons. One thing nobody likes about piano lessons is when you get one of those teachers who spends so much time on drills and skills that you don’t get to make music. Those are the kids that burn out. Major boo teachers.

Art teachers can have the same issue. Somehow (not sure how), the ArtAchieve program blends technique with creation–the kids learn art techniques as they are creating their masterpieces.

My second daughter, Marissa, is a self-taught artist with an art business, The Art of Marissa Renee. Recently she whipped out a picture of Lucille Ball and used some of the same techniques I witnessed her younger siblings learn from their ArtAchieve lessons. Imagine my delight to see they were learning real, workable techniques.

The Art of Marissa Renee Lucille Ball

Yup, some of the techniques 10-year-old Elijah used to make the dala horse below were the same techniques 17-year-old Marissa used to draw Lucille Ball above. Cool, eh? Totally.

You said something about history:

Yes, the students also learn a bit of history and culture connected to their project.

For example, my favorite project was the dala horse. Three of my youngsters (10, 7, and 4) drew the dala horse as a gift to send to their sister. They learned a little about the Scandinavian culture and the history of the dala.

When our travels took us to the home of a Swedish couple living in the northwoods of Wisconsin, we saw dala horses and other evidence of Swedish culture everywhere! And the kids were not ignorant of it. It was a joy to see them make that connection with that couple and their heritage.

Art Achieve

A personal note:

Something about the instructor really clicked with this boy above. He’s often rushed and focuses on just getting finished, but he really took his time on this project and made it his own. It doesn’t look like the instructor’s horse (which was not the goal). It is his own creation, and it’s charming, unique, and neat…as in tidy, but also neat as in grooooovy.

I was very happy with his efforts.

A note about age:

While we did this with my four-year-old, level II was a little tough for her. She definitely participated and did great, but she got it into her head that her pieces needed to look exactly like the instructor’s, which they didn’t–shocker. Still, she was happy with the end results.

A note about the freebies:

Please try out the free lessons! You will learn some important skills necessary for all art, such as line, shading, and perspective. We already studied these in depth, being an artistic family, and the lessons here are spot on with other things we studied–the benefit is that these are on video, so if you are not artistic, which I am not, you can rely on the teacher to demonstrate instead of trying to demonstrate it yourself with your own ineptness…speaking from personal experience. Go through the beginning lessons, including the Cheshire cat–you will know if this is for you.

Please try the freebies, and then share the freebie links with others as a thank you to ArtAchieve for offering the free lessons.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

Internet

Blast it all, this course requires a decent internet connection to watch the videos. When we were touring Michigan, our internet connection rocked! Here in Wisconsin, our connection feels like we’re tapping into a rock. We’ve gotten almost all baddies here so far, which is why I can’t pull other project pictures down from the illusive Cloud to show y’all. Boo. Not boo like my college piano teacher, but boo like annoying.

This isn’t something I feel comfortable doing at, say, the libraries with their smokin’ connections, in case one of my kids decides to sign her name on the carpet in permanent marker. It happens. Test the freebies and see how your connection does.

Space

You will need art supplies to take these art classes. Duh. You can do a large number of them with supplies you probably already have on hand. If you advance to level III (that’s 3, not i-i-i), you will need more supplies. Check out the supply lists before you make a decision.

You don’t need a big fat teacher’s manual, so that’s a good thing, right? Of course right.

The end results look great plastered to your RV wall, but look even greater mailed from some random place throughout the country to grandparents and aunts and uncles. Am I right? You know it.

Hey, connect with these people:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Artachieve
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/artchieve  @artachieve
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/artachieve/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+artachieve
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnahofland/

See what other members of the Review Crew think:

Art Lessons for Children ArtAchieve Review

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15 Ways to Burn 500 Calories Without Technically Exercising

15 Ways to Burn 500 Calories Without Technically Exercising

(Random bit of entirely unrelated knowledge before continuing this post: a piece of homemade cherry pie is around 400 calories. Moving on.)

So you want to lose weight, but exercise isn’t your thing. I get that. Or maybe exercise is your thing, but right now your bigger thing is nursing a newborn or homeschooling what feels like half the community but is really your own children. I get that, too. Or maybe, just maybe, you think exercise is mind-numbingly monotonous unless it can be done in a national park or an ocean. I get that, too.

I know some studies say that weight loss is more than a simple calories in/calories out equation, but for now let’s ignore those scientific studies and stick to remedial math. Burning 500 extra calories a day will result in losing a pound a week. After a year, you will be 52 pounds lighter…if life were as easy as basic math, which it isn’t.

To make burning those 500 calories more fun, I found this article about ways to burn 500 calories. Unfortunately, many of them are basically “Exercise until you almost die.” Check them out. As for me, I’m not into near-death fitness, so I garnered the least intense, most fun, or most practical methods of burning 500 calories. In other words, I gathered the ideas that looked the least like actual exercise.

Here are fifteen fun (or at least practical) out-of-the-gym ways to burn 500 calories.

1. Play guitar standing up for 130 minutes. That’s intense, but think how good you’ll get!

2. Shop for two hours and 15 minutes. Some of us might think this is more torturous than a treadmill.

3. Give a two-hour massage. I volunteer if you need a subject.

4. Work in the garden for 90 minutes. Pretty flowers; yummy veggies.

5. Clean the house for 2 hours. You have to do it anyway.

6. Mow the lawn for 75 minutes. Ahem–that’s a push mower.

7. If you’re a gearhead, work on a car for 80 minutes. Vrooom.

8. Shovel snow for 50 minutes. Throw in a snowball fight and you’ve got extra burn. Wheeee!

9. Play with kids for an hour and a half. This ties apron strings and gets you all fitter…or more fit.

10. Ride a bike for one hour. That’s not exercise if you ride a real bike someplace fun, or ride a stationary bike while watching, I dunno, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World with your kids who share your off-beat sense of humor.

11. Smooch your hubby for six hours. Yes, that says six hours.

12. Eating for five hours will burn 500 calories. Let’s not address the logic of this weight loss recommendation.

13. Go bowling for two hours. That could almost negate the nachos you eat while you’re bowling. Woo hoo!

14. Ride horses for one hour and 45 minutes and you’re good to go. The horse is even “gooder to go.”

15. Lie still for 7 hours and 15 minutes. Hey, I do that every night. Check!

Before you call the cookie cops on me for sounding like a lazy mama who lies around eating pie in an effort to burn calories, I do exercise and don’t eat much pie or cookies–I only talk about eating pie and cookies. I walk regularly with the dog, hike mountains and canyons with a three-year-old on my back, and do basic muscle exercises with the family.

I do not go to the gym or run, unless I’m being chased by a bear that didn’t read the “Don’t run from a bear” pamphlets. And, yes, I was an A student who flunked gym in college, thank you. I just can’t do gyms. I can do trails, horses, and lying still for 7.25 hours.

I’m not sure I even want to ask for your thoughts on this post. Okay, fine–thoughts?

 

 

 

The Get Dressed Challenge

100_2926Some time ago I wrote about the importance of dressing for your man.  While I firmly believe in and try to follow through with that philosophy, I admit that I am writing this in the middle of the day in my PJs.

Life gets in the way.  It’s time to push it back out of the way.

For a little kick-in-the-pjs motivation, I have joined up with Like a Warm Cup of Coffee’s Get Dressed! challenge.  I don’t know the details, but I do know that I am required to be dressed with shoes on by 8 a.m. each morning.

Are you with me?

Echo…echo…echo.

Ha ha, you’re so funny!

Come on!  Take the challenge.  It’ll be fun…except on Saturday morning.

See you bright and early with shoes on for the Get Dressed! challenge.

The Get Dressed Challenge!

Okay, ‘fess up. What are you wearing right now?

Whether or not you participate in this challenge, hop on over to Like a Warm Cup of Coffee and read this insight from SarahMae about keeping the proper focus. These words are excellent for people who tend to be driven by guilt…like me, and whose focus has shifted from internals to externals.

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Teaching Kids to Handle Money Responsibly

There was a time when expressions like “A penny saved is a penny earned” actually meant something.  You remember this poem, don’t you?

Use it up,
Wear it out,

Make it do,

Or do without.

What ever happened to financial responsibility and resourcefulness?  They have apparently been usurped by the need for instant gratification and keeping up with the Joneses, the Browns, the Smiths, and who knows who else!

Teaching Kids About Money

In America, the average college student enters “the real world” with over $20,000 of student loans.  The average American household carries over $15,000 in credit card debt, plus a mortgage, medical bills, the aforementioned student loans, and car payments.

Where is the “simple” in being buried under mountains of debt by the time you hit 30?  There is none!

It’s time to focus on the basics, one of which is teaching our children (and ourselves in most cases) how to handle money responsibly.

Today I am writing over at Purposeful Homemaking where I offer seven strategies for raising financially responsible children who agree with Thomas Jefferson’s sentiment, “Never spend your money before you have earned it.” Go check it out and raise your kiddos right!  Someday they’ll thank you.

Click here to read 7 Tips for Teaching Kids to Handle Money Responsibly over at Purposeful Homemaking.

Click to read it now!

Photo credit

 

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High School Literary Study Guide of The Scarlet Pimpernel {Review}

Take note: We received an electronic copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel pdf interactive study guide for high schoolers by Michael S. Gilleland and Eileen Cunningham in exchange for this fair and unbiased review. Thank you, Progeny Press, for this opportunity!

Don’t you love reading a book with your kids. I know I do. Now that I have teens (four teen girls, thank you), we often read books “together” without reading them aloud, although we’re still into read alouds. We don’t often do formal literature studies, because I had the joy sucked out of reading while attaining my five-year bachelor’s degree in English. When Progeny Press sent me the study guide for The Scarlet Pimpernel, I fought my instinct and assigned the book to my freshman, Elisabeth, and my seventh grader, Emily Rose, with the intention of reading the book simultaneously, but separately, and going through the study guide together. 

I sincerely enjoyed using the Progeny Press literature study guide for the Scarlet Pimpernel with these two lovelies!

Here’s the thing about youth–they can read a book without falling asleep. Both of them finished the entire book while I was still inching my way through chapter two. Sleep–you beautiful, cursed, necessity; how I love/hate you! I did finally finish the book at 2 a.m. one beautiful night.

Regardless of my slow pace through the book, the girls still were able to work through the study without my having finished the entire thing in advance. In fact, they didn’t need me to read it at all, but it’s so much more fun to read together than alone and to share quotes and frustrations and joys and laughs, isn’t it? Plus, I can add legitimately to the discussion if I’ve actually read the book. Duh.

About That Study…

The Scarlet Pimpernel study guide contains the following:

  • Instructor’s recommended usage guide with options–I love options!
  • Book synopsis, particularly awesome if you didn’t read the book–ack!
  • Author bio–fascinating! (I am totally over-using exclamation marks here–pet peeve.)
  • Historical background, which helps make this book an excellent history study, if only to add to a timeline or book of centuries.
  • Ideas for pre-reading activities…none of which we used, I have to confess, although we did use some as post-reading activities. We started reading the book before we received the study guide link.
  • Exercises divided into groups of five chapters, containing a fun variety of vocabulary activities (which my kids enjoyed), comprehension questions (which my kids didn’t like, since they already understood the book), analyses, and digging deeper activities (some of which they liked).
  • Overview, which can be used as a final review or exam.
  • Additional essays and projects
  • Answer key, in case you couldn’t stay awake long enough to read the book and therefore are struggling to contribute intelligently to the conversation.
  • More resources, including my personal favorite, further books to read–A Tale of Two Cities,
    anyone?

 

Literature Study Guides from a Christian Perspective {Progeny Press Review}
What We Did…

We each read the book independently, but simultaneously. We bought the book on Kindle for free, and also bought a paperback copy for a little more than free. The girls (and I) prefer a real book to an imaginary one, but someone (me) had to read the digital version until everyone else was finished with the real thing.

We then dove into the study guide. I printed up the vocabulary sections for them to complete together or independently. I did not print up the comprehension or digging deeper questions. Comprehension questions are usually a waste of time on my kids, since they “get it,” so we breezed through these together. We didn’t skip them, because sometimes there are misunderstandings of the story line, so the questions do prove useful. We did, however, often have to be sneaky about our answers, because the discussion around this book made it so appealing to others in the family that they wanted to read it, too, and didn’t want spoilers. For digging deeper, we discussed the questions orally…preferably with a bowl of popcorn at hand.

I assigned them the final “exam” overview section to work on as they were working through the study guide instead of at the end. I’m not much of an examiner…except in math. I love giving math tests–bwaa haa haaa!

We dug a little deeper into the history of the time. We used the study guide, the intro in the book itself, and the internet. We also added the French Revolution and Orczy’s life to our timeline books and Orczy to our list of new favorite authors!

The Big Question…

Did this suck the joy out of the reading experience? Here are three brutally honest opinions on that matter:

Emily Rose (13): I already understood the book, so the comprehension questions were boring. It would be good if you didn’t understand it, but I understood it. [Teacher interjection: I knew this and we talk about books that we read anyway, so I breezed through these questions.]

Elisabeth (15): I thought the vocabulary was a good idea, but the comprehension questions were just kind of lame. If you didn’t understand the book in the first place, you wouldn’t understand it to answer the questions. [Teacher interjection: exact opposite answer of her sister. Hmmm.] Some of the discussion questions were interesting.

Christy (That’s me.): While I certainly wouldn’t assign a literary analysis to every book we read, I do believe it has its value. Used on, say, every fourth book assigned, a literary study guide of Progeny Press caliber is quite fun…at least for this book geek! (Oops, another exclamation point. Good grief.) I really enjoyed studying the book and time period with my two middle girls–they sometimes get lost in the school shuffle as we teach reading to littles and help olders navigate college at home. This opportunity provided scheduled time to share my love of literature with my two lovelies.

While my daughter’s reactions don’t sound very positive, they enjoyed most of our discussions. Just today I heard them chatting about the revelation of the Scarlet Pimpernel himself with another sister who just found out his identity, and {SPOILER ALERT} describing it as a “dramatic irony,” something they learned from the discussion questions. They’re “doing” the discussion questions without even realizing it.

I love that.

Additional Thoughts for My Fellow Roadschoolers

Printing vs. Interactive

While ideally you would normally print discussion questions and activity pages, those of us who live in about 25 square feet of space are a little printer-phobic, especially if you have to unbury the printer like an ancient Egyptian treasure every time you want to transfer something from the computer into the real world. That said, printing up this guide is not that big of a deal–do it all at once, throw it in the kids’ binders, and you’re done. Or you can do what we did, and just print parts of it.

If you really don’t want to do any printing, I have good news! because this is an interactive guide, the students can type the answers directly into the file, so there really is no need of printing at all! Of course, then there is need of a computer to do the work. Our computer is named The Behemoth for good reason, so lugging that baby out requires a forklift and some crow bars. (You could also load it onto a Kindle and have them write the answers on paper.) I gave the girls the option of using the interactive guide on the Behemoth, looking at the screen and writing on paper, or using printed sheets. They’ve done all three, but paper is the winner.

Internet Access

The download time was not an issue, so even if you’re stuck in that po-dunk campground with the nearly non-existent internet access because everyplace else was booked by weekend warriors, you should still be able to download the pdf guide with minimal angst. That’s good news.

Weight and Space

Many, if not all, of the books for which Progeny Press has published study guides are available on Kindle, so that is not a space issue. Of course, there’s nothing like the real thing–nothing like it. So grab the paperback and swap it out at an RV park when you’re finished…if you can bear to part with it after falling in love with the brave heroes of this treasure.

Summary

Progeny Press digital study guides are a really great option for portable literature studies without breaking your leaf springs.

A Little More About Progeny…

Follow Progeny Press on Facebook or Twitter and get to know this small family company.

Click on the banner below to learn what other homeschoolers have to say about a variety of literature studies for kiddos of all ages from Progeny Press.

Literature Study Guides from a Christian Perspective {Progeny Press Review}

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Online Bible Curriculum for the Whole Family

Note: Veritas Press gave us a one-year family subscription to VeritasBible.com in exchange for this fair and honest review. It would be ironic, don’t you think, if I would be dishonest on a review about a Bible curriculum. Ha ha. Am I the only one who sees the irony there?

People ask us what Bible curriculum we use, and I usually answer, “God’s.” We read straight from the Bible and talk about it. It works for us.

But that doesn’t mean we’re the least bit opposed to other programs in addition to getting the goods straight from God’s Book. Veritas Press’ Veritas Bible program has been an excellent supplement for my children. I’ve even learned a few things and brushed up on some rusty information.

Old and New Testament Online Self-Paced Bible Veritas Review

Veritas Press’ Bible program is an online subscription that takes you through various chunks of the Bible. You can enroll in one segment, or purchase access to all three for the whole family, which is what we have for the year. They currently offer these three segments:

  • Genesis through Joshua
  • Judges through 2 Kings
  • The Gospels

The following are coming soon:

  • Acts through Revelation
  • 1 Chronicles through Malachi and Job

The sections cover 32 events from those portions of the Bible. The students are guided through the lessons by real life people in period clothing (or possibly there was some time travel involved in the filming). They chat with the student and banter with each other.

My prudish side didn’t always like the bantering, like when the siblings were bickering, but my laid-back rough-around-the-edges side thought, “Ha, good one! I’ll have to remember that line for when I see my brothers.”

Old and New Testament Online Self-Paced Bible Veritas Review

The videos move into animated lessons, with each collection introducing the kids to different animated friends–like a big ol’ gnat. Every kid loves a big ol’ gnat, right? Wink.

They then offer games and challenges for the kids to do to reinforce the lessons. The games might just make this the most exciting way to learn the Bible. See:

Old and New Testament Online Self-Paced Bible Veritas Review

If you read it online, it must be true!

Seriously, the games do a good job of reinforcing what was learned, and it does make it fun for the kids. They’re not those horribly obnoxious loud video game type annoyances either…although they are, technically, video games.

One issue I have with all children’s Bible programs is the lack of realism, which sometimes makes Bible truths look like fairy tales–can you say cutesie little arks? Of course, children might be scarred by a video of hundreds of thousands of dead bloated bodies floating in the water, so…there’s that consideration. There must be a balance. The live people help to get across the idea that the Bible is real, and I don’t think the cartoons negate that.

What we did:

I used this program with three of my kids:

  • Elijah who is 10
  • Rebecca who is 7
  • Eliana who is 4 (I’m four and a half, Mommy.) Eliana who is four and a half

Elijah flies through lessons with no assistance whatsoever. He is completely independent, and is doing all three sections at the same time. The course keeps track of where he is so I can check in.

Rebecca needs minimal assistance, usually merely a matter of our rebellious internet connection. Unless she has a problem, she’s completely independent as well. She’s working through the Genesis through Joshua section.

Eliana needs hands-on help. She can’t read, so the challenges and quizzes require guidance. If someone is willing to help her, she can do them, but she’s really better off doing the program with someone else. She is also working through Genesis, but isn’t moving very quickly…but that’s how we roll…slo-o-o-o-o-o-wly.

The kids are retaining what they’ve learned, asking to do their lessons, and enjoying the process. I’m pleased.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

I’d love to recommend this for roadschoolers, but it is highly situational. As you know, the roadschoolers two main considerations are…you guessed it…space and internet connection.

Space

Because this is entirely online, it takes up no space whatsoever, as long as you have the necessary electronic device to use it. If you’re reading this, you have the device, I’m guessing.

Internet connection

Here’s the rub. Some of you have great internet set-ups; others, not so much. We are not so much and sometimes we are not at all. This was a pretty big issue with this program. Sometimes it wouldn’t work at all with a slow connection, and other times it would alert us to the slow connection and work slowly, or at least switch screens slowly. When we had a good to great, this program was a delight; when we had a sub-par connection, it was frustrating for the kids.

One benefit is that when we would completely lose a connection and have to quit, the program saved our progress for the most part. That was nice. Elijah experienced some repetitions, which got dull, but when I worked with Eliana, we didn’t have that problem too often.

So consider this a situational recommendation. Remember, we are in a new place every 2-3 days and usually hooked up to church, RV park, or state park wi-fi. Your situation is almost definitely different than ours. For example, I have some great pictures of my kids using this program, but I can’t get them “down” from “the cloud,” because I have a not-quite-good-enough internet connection where we are this week. See what I mean? Of course you do. So make that judgment for yourself–if you can stream videos without frustration, you should be A-OK with this nifty Bible program.

Honestly, the best thing you can do is hop on over to their site and give the free trial a go.

Connect with Veritas Press at their social media links:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/veritaspress  @VeritasPress

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Old and New Testament Online Self-Paced Bible Veritas Review
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The Glass Castle–A Book Review by Hannah

HannahThis review is written by our 19-year-old daughter, homeschool graduate, freelance writer, and literature lover, Hannah.

Hannah’s Disclaimer: I received The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins from Shiloh Run Press for free in exchange for an honest review. I am older than the target audience and thus I view the characters and plotline from a somewhat maturer prospective.

Also, The Glass Castle isn’t usually the type of book I prefer to read. The writing style, while it is not technically flawed, is not my preferred style. Readers with differing opinions in reading material may find the book more or less enjoyable than I did. I have old-fashioned taste in novels and seldom appreciate recently-written books to their full potential.

The Glass Castle–A Review

By Hannah Bagasao

Exceeding Expectations

“The setting from The Chronicles of Narnia meets the action from Alice and Wonderland…” says the product description I received along with the book. When a new book is self-ranked among two of the greatest children’s books known to humankind, you can’t help but dive into it with soaring expectations. Unfortunately, The Glass Castle’s authors didn’t quite succeed in filling the extra-large-size shoes set before them.

The description leads readers to start the story in the mindset of one of these classic novels, expecting another masterpiece likes those of C. S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll. When such a masterpiece is not provided, the reader will be more disappointed in the novel that failed to live up to its description than he might have been in the same book with little or no expectations.

Having seen my share of books that claim to be the next “great American novel” only to fall flat in the end, I wasn’t quite convinced by The Glass Castle’s claims. I went into it with few expectations, only to find myself a bit pleasantly surprised.

The Glass Castle {Shiloh Run Press Review}

The Story (Sans Spoilers)

From its apprehensive opening paragraph to its unfulfilled cliffhanger forty-one chapters later, The Glass Castle is abounding with adventure and suspense. The story centers around a community of young people—all coincidentally orphans, all coincidentally thirteen years old—who are trapped in a castle for their own safety, under the very nose, it seems, of the person from whom they are hiding. A king’s failing health, the death of his first wife and strange disappearance of his firstborn son thirteen years ago, his new queen’s mysterious intrigue—somehow this all adds up to explain why the teens are where they are. A few cryptic remarks about younger siblings being held hostage as leverage and a price on the head of every thirteen-year-old orphan in the kingdom, along with occasional threats of the inscrutable Forbidden City, are enough to keep the children inside the castle day and night. They dare not so much as glance out a window for fear, apparently, of being seen.

The young refugees (or are they captives?) follow their orders to a T, and keep the castle running with a smoothness and efficiency that you wouldn’t expect from teenagers. That is, save one.

Meet Avery, the newest addition to the thirteen-year-old community, and the protagonist of the story. She is more determined than anyone to escape and reunite with her little brother, Henry. At least, in the beginning she is. A good deal of the story revolves around Avery’s unquenchable curiosity—curiosity about the castle, about the king, about the the supposed secrets he is keeping which, if exposed, may leave his crown and his line hanging in the balance, and about the beautiful but dangerous young queen who seems to know far too much.

The Writing

The writing style of this book was clear and concise without being dumbed down. Although the target audience is between ages ten and fifteen, the style itself could appeal to almost all ages. Slightly younger children will probably be able to read through it without a dictionary at hand, while adults and older teens will find it an easy but enjoyable read.

While the description and writing style deserve praise for clarity, some of the conversations between characters felt rather awkward at times, somewhat unreal. There’s a bit of purple prose intermingled with their undeniably twenty-first-century speech.

The Thing About Suspense and Too Many Secrets

With a new mystery around every corner and another secret on every other page, the story was suspenseful enough to keep me interested—as a matter of fact, I found myself hooked on it late into the night. At times, I did feel as though the story proceeded too quickly. As it was generally portrayed from Avery’s third-person point of view, the story keeps in pace with the multi-track and distracted mind of a girl who seems to have so much to think about that she can’t seem to focus.

While the book held my interest fairly well, I wasn’t a quarter of the way through before I began to feel a trifle overwhelmed. Secrecy was everywhere. The castle abounded with secrets, and pretty much everyone residing in the castle had a terrible knack for keeping them as well. Lines such as “She isn’t ready to know the truth yet,” and “Someday I’ll tell you, but not yet,” were a little too frequent. It felt as though most of the secrets being kept were solely for the sake of secrecy, and most of the secrets were never revealed in the end. It almost brought a smile to my face when Avery finally confronted one of these secretive teens and said something around the lines of, “stop trying to protect me and just tell me what’s going on.” Of course, it was that same Avery who earlier told another character “I won’t tell you what I know unless you tell me what you know,”

Well, our lives might be in the balance, Avery, but if you want to be petty…

The Characters

The main character, Avery, was not as endearing as a protagonist should have been. I cannot speak for the target audience, who are nearer to Avery in age and may be able to relate to her, but as an adult reader I found myself continually frustrated with her as she consistently disregarded rules and reason—even risking the lives of her family and friends—for her own spontaneous whims. The worst part was that she did this regularly and was never victim to any consequences (two unfortunate strangers did meet their demise partway through the novel, however, as a result of her reckless actions).

Avery was often rude, easily annoyed, and seemed to be unreasonable at times, jumping to unrealistic conclusions on the spur of the moment. Her pride was another issue; in spite of being the newest arrival, she seemed under the actual impression that escaping the castle rested solely on her shoulders and that none of the other children knew anything about their situation. On a positive note, I found Avery’s devotion to her three-year-old brother touching and refreshing, especially in today’s media portrayals of impatient teenagers scarcely tolerating the existence of their little siblings. I appreciated her love of reading, too.

Character-wise, there were a few stereotypes that had me wondering, at one point or another, whether I was reading a fantasy novel or a teen’s high-school memoirs. Three characters in particular fit the typical description for high-school stock characters. Avery, the “new girl in school,” didn’t really fit in around the others at first, but she was made relatively popular by some unexpected combined with her becoming the male lead’s love interest.

Tuck was the typical male teenage lead: tall, broad-shouldered, and charismatic, with “captivating” eyes and, of course, a surprising talent for poetry.

Ilsa was the “queen bee” who immediately ordered Avery to “stay away from Tuck,” (the usual high school situation, in which the lead female’s romantic interest was once involved with her diva-of-an-arch-nemesis). Afterwards, she targeted and despised Avery for no reason at all other than to add a bit of forced drama to the character relationships.

When Kendrick, one of the main characters as mentioned in the description, is first mentioned by name, he gives every indication of being the typical nerd: wiry, glasses, intelligent. Fortunately, he improved significantly and I considered him, along with Kate, to be one of the more interesting characters in the story. There’s a bit of mystery surrounding both of them separately—they each have a past that I think might be revealed eventually, and both seem to know a little more than they let on—and personally I’m rather curious to see how their lives pan out.

Objectionable (or Non-Objectionable) Content

As far as content is concerned, there is no foul language or gore. The deaths of a few characters are mentioned in passing, and younger or more sensitive readers may be disturbed when a boy is found poisoned to death with blood streaming from his ears and nose.

Romance seems to be a heavy subplot in the story, but there is nothing that could be considered inappropriate or disturbing (unless you’re like me, and you think the idea of thirteen-year-olds proposing marriage to one-another is disturbing). One boy kisses a girl on the cheek, and the story contains plenty of teenage crushes with the usual drama, a marriage proposal or two between thirteen-year-olds (which felt rather awkward to read), and the wedding of the king and queen. There is no foul language whatsoever. I appreciated the fact that the content was purely—or at least mostly—wholesome.

A Christian Book

Supposedly this is a Christian book. The characters prayed, read the Bible and referenced it at times, and even attended chapel (conducted by a nameless freckled boy acting as chaplain—one of my favorite characters in spite of his limited appearances). I did like the fact that a community of teenagers actually took it upon themselves to hold church services in their captivity.

It really didn’t seem as though the Christian values which these characters had really had much to do with the plotline. A genuinely well-written piece of Christian fiction must manage to tie Christianity into the plot itself, but I didn’t really feel that The Glass Castle accomplished that. The Christian values seemed almost forced, as though the writers forgot that they were writing a Christian book and had to thrust the values in wherever there was room. I don’t think religion was even mentioned until almost the one-hundredth page.

It Is the First in a Series

My greatest criticism regarding this book is the abrupt ending. It’s what some might call a cliffhanger, but be warned; this is a precipice like you’ve never seen. When I reached what turned out to be the last page, I turned it, expecting a “chapter forty-two.” But the book simply ended right there, as though it had been chopped in two down the center and the second half had gone missing. I feel that any book, even one ending with suspense, should leave you with a sense of closure, but I didn’t have a speck of closure—only questions.

I’m aware that this book is the first in a series, but I feel that it should have been capable of standing alone until the sequel was released. If this was for marketing reasons, it was definitely successful. I’m pretty sure I’ll be purchasing the second book in the series and probably every book after that, if only to relieve my nagging curiosity.

With that in mind, I have a note to parents of the intended age range: do be warned! The Glass Castle is only the first in a series of books, and the others have yet to be released. If your child becomes hooked (which is inevitable, considering the cliffhanger at its end) you may find yourself purchasing sequel after sequel the instant they hit the shelves.

Summary and Recommendations

To sum it up, I would say that this book is an enjoyable read for all ages, but it obviously would appeal most to readers within the intended age range. Unlike me, children within that range may be able to relate to the characters, and are less likely to be bothered by stereotypes, awkward conversational style, character flaws, and the main focus of the story bouncing around with more vigor than a pogo stick. Adults are more likely to notice these shortcomings. I would recommend this book to any child between the ages of ten and fifteen with a keenness for adventure, fantasy, and suspense. I might even recommend it to an adult looking for a easy-to-read, clean Christian series to pass the time.

I received this book for free in exchange for this review, and I doubt I would have given it a second glance on a bookstore shelf otherwise. But in defense of the book, I have old-fashioned taste in novels, and I barely give a second glance to anything written after the twenty-first century. On the rare occasion that I happen to pick up such a book, I instinctively tend to compare it to my old favorites—the works of Sir Walter Scott and Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, G. K. Chesterton and Alfred Tennyson—authors to whom none can compare. All in all, I do not regret reading The Glass Castle. I enjoyed it, and I look forward to the release of the sequel.  

A note from Christy: based on Hannah’s review, and the fact that she’s going to want the rest of the series anyway, we are giving this book to Elijah (age 10) to read, since he is in the recommended age group of 10-14.

You can preview the first several chapters here.

Read what other members of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew think about The Glass Castle by clicking the banner below:

The Glass Castle {Shiloh Run Press Review}

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