Recently I received a pretty neat book to review. Independently printed and written by a teenager! You can read all about the book, printing company, and story of the author at the website for Media Angels (the publisher) but allow me to give you my opinion. There is series of three books, and I reviewed only one, ‘The Missing Link- FOUND!’ The basis of the story is a set of Christian teenagers who are involved in quite a suspenseful event, they are in a FBI high speed boat chase, active at an archaeological dig, and trying to solve a mystery. It’s almost like the Boxcar Children but even more eventful. Because it is a Christian book it does have it’s fair share of religion, mostly short prayers they say when in danger but there are several mentions of God, Creationism, and one scene of trying to “save” someone, so if religion isn’t your thing the book won’t be either. The story is pretty good. One part at the very beginning seemed poorly written (they went instantly from being on vacation to leaving their house) and left you saying “what??” The story had several twists and turns, but I found it to be mostly predictable. Granted I am an adult, and it is intended for young adults, maybe even “tweens,” most readers seem to be 10-12. Because they are Creationist you KNOW the missing link isn’t going to actually be found, so really you just wonder why isn’t it? In general it was a pretty good book in my opinion. I can especially imagine younger kids really liking it. I read it in one long afternoon, spent on the couch because I didn’t feel well, but am also a VERY fast reader.
If you are borderline Christian, then you will easily be able to overlook the obvious religious parts. It did have some very (true) scientific parts, both for and against evolution. The scientific process of Carbon dating especially. They did try to have both sides well portrayed, but mostly the good guys are creationist and the bad guys believe in evolution or don’t care either way (with just one exception.)
The actual physical book was… well it was a book. No pages fell out while I was reading or anything. The cover was nice enough, the pages were well printed. It’s didn’t scream “independent publisher!!!” or anything.
If you want to give the series a shot, you can buy them individually for $9 a piece, or buy the trilogy for about $25. If you are a homeschooler you can also get literature study guides for $6.50 each. All available at the Media Angels store, just click on the “store” link.
