Everblaze: Keeper of the Lost Cities, Book 3 by Shannon Messenger

Rating: Needs Parent Supervision

Reading Level: Late Elementary, Middle School

Sophie continues to wrestle with her identity and with her superpower capabilities. This one goes really deep into weird psychological mind searching, supernatural powers to search minds, heal minds, etc. Also, there is more of the problematic worldview that says “follow your heart” and “just do what you think is right,” but at least this time the parents are supportive and involved in the decision.

Possible Concerns:

• Lack of Self Control/Wisdom. Sophie makes poor choices in the heat of the moment and gets into deep trouble for not thinking/listening to the warnings of others. She puts a lot of people in danger because of her rash choices.
• Unbiblical Worldviews about the source of strength and healing. Sophie looks to herself for fixing problems.
• Unbiblical Worldviews about anger and rage. Sophie and her loved ones use rage and anger to cope.
• Girl talk/Crushes. There is a still some talk about crushes, boys, and fluttering hearts.
• Tragic loss of a daughter to a fire. Sophie discovers the fire was not set by her parent organization, and discovers the true source of the fire.
• Identity. There is a lot about other people not choosing your identity for you, which is true, but also it lacks the biblical views of where we get our true identity.
• Telepathy/ Mental Superpowers. This one goes really deep into reading minds, transmitting messages and inflicting pain and love. There is a lot of talk of energy and weird fantasy stuff to do with searching and healing minds.
• Body humor. There are jokes about poop, etc.
• Fantasy. Alicorns, goblins, elves….

This book was recommended in a facebook group for Christian parents seeking clean books for their kids. So far, I agree that some middle grade/ middle school readers who enjoy fantasy could read books 1-3 without being too deeply harmed by them, as long as the reader knows that (1) All the mental telepathy stuff is fantasy, and (2) Christians operate from a different worldview: Our source of healing and power and authority and morality comes from God and following our heart as it submits to the will of God, not from “following our heart” in a worldly sense that doesn’t acknowledge an authority outside of our feelings and our limited knowledge.

See my reviews of other books in the series.