Books for Christian Girls: "The Ink of Elspet" by J.D. Peabody

About this book:

  “Immerse yourself in this fast-paced middle-grade fantasy about magic ink, a secret society, and a boy who yearns to make his mark.
    When their father goes missing after a mysterious train crash, Everett and his little sister Bea find a curious pen in his belongings, and its magical Ink begins to rewrite their once-ordinary lives. The Ink leads them to a world they never knew existed—one teeming with impossible magic, formidable allies, and villains who are determined to destroy everything they hold dear. Together, Everett and Bea embark on an adventure through secret tunnels in England and Scotland to find and protect the last Inkwell, and ultimately to save their father. But in order to do so, Everett must find a way to tap into the most magical power of all: his courage. Evoking A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, this classic battle of good and evil pits creativity against the forces that would seek to blot it out for good.
    When their father goes missing after a mysterious train crash, Everett and his little sister Bea find a curious pen in his belongings, and its magical Ink begins to rewrite their once-ordinary lives. The Ink leads them to a world they never knew existed—one teeming with impossible magic, formidable allies, and villains who are determined to destroy everything they hold dear. Together, Everett and Bea embark on an adventure through secret tunnels in England and Scotland to find and protect the last Inkwell, and ultimately to save their father. But in order to do so, Everett must find a way to tap into the most magical power of all: his courage. Evoking A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, this classic battle of good and evil pits creativity against the forces that would seek to blot it out for good.”

Series: Book #1 in “The Inkwell Chronicles”.

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are remembered; Everett & his family live in a vicarage as his father (Marcus) is a Reverend (He tells Everett and Bea that they “can have greater influence than you know, doing the right thing takes real bravery and integrity. Your actions matter more than any superhero’s”); When their father leaves on a trip, he prays with them; When held hostage, Marcus tries hard to recall a psalms but isn’t able to do so due to the darkness around him that is draining his hope (one comes to his mind shortly after “I will not be afraid” and much later “The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind” is remembered); Bea remembers that her father said to pray when they’re in trouble, so she tries praying for something to appear and is disappointed when she finished and doesn’t see the much-needed water; Everett doesn’t like that he didn’t think of that first, but thinks that “standing motionless with your eyes closed didn’t seem practical when someone’s life hung in the balance.”; Bea remembers a hymn and four lines of it are written out (it boosts her spirits and courage); At a funeral, a bishop mentions the “valley of the shadow” in his “most preacherly voice”; Everett hides in a Catholic church and while he’s never been in one before, he figures that is couldn’t be all that different and should have hiding places; Marcus (thinks, not speaks) that he knows pride is a sin, but can’t help being impressed with the stories and illustrations that emerged from his pen; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches/cathedrals, clergymen/ministers, services, sermons, & singing hymns; Mentions of a nun & a priest; A few mentions of a preacher that used Ink for sermons and someone else says that “Like art, sermons express a greater story. At least those worth their salt.” & reference a quote by Melville “The world’s a ship on its passage out…and the pulpit is its prow”; A couple mentions of a Bible; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of thinking you’re hearing heavenly hosts and angelic music; A couple mentions of a song that references a monk and his holy book; A couple mentions of a former vicar who wasn’t “the holiest of men” and ran off with a great deal of the church’s money (and left his wife behind); A mention of a nurse saying that she isn’t sure if a Vicar’s pen was blessed or something because injured people who were written on by it (used it to mark those she had taken care of) miraculously recovered; A mention of someone being called an angel;

*Note: The special Ink in this story is what is behind all the greatest creative works (stories, paintings, music, etc.), that it unlocks someone creativity when used (also said to be the source of all the stories where good triumphs over evil); Some people can use Ink to heal others’ injuries (by applying it) and we see that a handful of times; Ink is used in multiple ways, mainly for someone to draw something (typically in the air) to help them on their mission (such as creating stairs to escape and then erase them so the enemies can’t find them, a mine-cart to get away, disguising a group to hide from the enemies (it won’t last long, though) in different clothing and looking older, drawing food to eat, a net to catch you when falling); A character uses hairs from his mustache as a way to connect to Ink (energy) Waves and transport them elsewhere; Ink is said to be “far more powerful” than magic when asked (also said to more like a “living organism than a chemical compound” which is always sending and receiving energy waves that enlightens and inspires); A scientist tries to figure out what Ink is, but says it’s beyond science and cannot recreate it; Muses are able to take on a physical form in very inspiring moments (which looks like a butterfly to some and a loved one with wings (like a fairy) to another) to encourage their artist; “Blotters” are the villains in this story who are creatures that were created by a bishop in the Dark Ages under the command of a king who wanted to rule the world (the king told the bishop that it was a spiritual request and that he wanted a story that would “frighten the masses away from their wickedness” with the most evil creatures imaginable, the king then threatened the bishop to bring the creatures to life, which came from the “realm of imagination into our world” (The bishop did secretly write three safeguards to help defeat these creatures)); Blotters have inhuman eyes, despise the Ink (since they hate all that is good and creative, they called it “the Stink” and their pupils change once they smell it), and some of them have batlike wings between their shoulder blades and can fly; Blotters and other creatures cannot enter into a house of worship as that is a safe place for those trying to flee from them (if they enter, they will instantly become gargoyles); A Blotter checks the church for clues on the children’s whereabouts by sending his shadow into the building (barely-above-not-detailed); It’s a slight *Spoiler*, but important Content Note: The Commander thinks one of the children has sticks called “Witching Sticks” that would solve a lot of his problems (he calls the child a “Stink Witch” to which Marcus becomes angry and says “We are Christian people. We do not practice witchcraft of any sort.” The sticks are actually called “divining rods” and leads the person holding them to the Ink they need most. No actual witches or such are in this book, it’s seems to be a phrase used by the Blotters for those who can lead them to Ink wells *End of Slight Spoiler*); The Commander (a head Blotter) turns a couple lower rank Blotters into puppies; The Commander wants all to bow to his greatness (which doesn’t happen); There is a special class of beings that are endowed with “special powers to fight evil”; Mentions of secret “pinches” or “wrinkles” in this fictional world which shrink the distance from one place to another (this then alludes to ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle); Mentions of being hidden in a room that’s in a small pocket of another dimension; A couple mentions of the book “Making Sense of the Universe” by D.L. Sayers (Dorothy Sayers is also a character in this book); A couple mentions of a certain arrogant clergyman being drawn as one of Max Courageous’ enemies; A mention of someone not being a magician; A mention of not detecting any taste of magic in a piece of candy; A mention of someone writing that Ink is “magic or something”; A mention of Icarus and how “man was never meant to fly”; A mention of Norse mythology; A mention of the cursed bishop that created different monsters; A mention of an evil howl; A mention of an evil beast; A mention of an evil man.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast’, two ‘dumb’s, two ‘idiot’s, two ‘moron’s, and three ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; A bit of sibling arguments between Everett and Bea; Mentions of curses (including a couple “unvicarlike” ones coming from Marcus; said, not written); A giant says the phrase “well, curse me if you two ain’t adorable!”; The housekeeper, Mrs. Crimps, for Everett’s family is spiteful and he calls her “The Cramps”, “the old buzzard”, and also a “mean old cow” (once she rapped him across the shins by a broom when he tracked mud into the house and she also pulls him by his hair, barely-above-not-detailed *Spoiler* She completely changes after turning into back to normal after being turned into stone *End of Spoiler*); Fighting wolf-like and eel-like monsters, Being chased by them, & Pain from being bitten by one (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Being shocked, Injuries, & Passing out (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Being drugged (x2, fictional Mind Muck that makes your head feel cloudy), kidnapped/held hostage/tied up (x2), being attacked/pecked by a raven, pain, & blood/bleeding (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Seeing someone being badly attacked by a wolf-like monster & their injuries (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a couple others almost choked/strangled (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing someone & wolf-like monsters turn to stone (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Seeing someone being struck by lightning (they live, barely-above-not-detailed); Being threatened harm (up to semi-detailed); Being run-off the road & a car crash (up to semi-detailed); A bit of fighting & hitting (between adults, barely-above-not-detailed); A fire & setting it (of a church and vicarage, done by the Blotters, up to semi-detailed); An explosion (barely-above-not-detailed); Everett really struggles with feeling inferior/useless to others, jealousy of his sister’s skills, and also does a couple jabs at her (which he isn’t proud of it and feels guilty, also wishing that he could be better at something than her; he does care and protect her though; no adult corrects his behavior/thoughts but he does better and gains confidence in himself by the end); Everett fibs about something when he didn’t want to be shown up by his little sister; Everett shoves another boy & then later pummels him (an adult pulls them apart); Everett steals something, justifying that if the person knew how much he liked it, the person would have given it to him (about sixty pages later, he regrets taking it and wants to confess to the person; once he tells the truth, he knows he deserves to be punished and was ashamed of how he acted, but was glad to have it off of his conscience (there is no punishment from the adult); Everett feels terrible telling a lie in a church (since he “didn’t have time to explain the truth”) and then tells another one since “a second one couldn’t make things much worse”; Everett locks his sister, Bea, in a trunk daring her to get out in under a minute (not done with a cruel intent, she recently read a biography of Harry Houdini); There is a scene of one of the characters drinking a bottle of Ink (which causes them no harm); A few lies are told by the Blotters; A Blotter asks another one if they’ve been “dipping into the pounce (a powder use to dry ink; in this case, what Blotters use to get rid of Ink) again”; Mentions of a train crash, people being trapped, pain, injuries, possible deaths, & a missing body (including Everett’s father, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of a body (thinking that the person is possibly dead, but they are not), their injuries, & that they might not make it (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of wolf-like and eel-like monsters, fighting them, & turning a few to stone (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of people & monsters being turned to stone (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a battle where the Commander (a Blotter) cut off his own foot to stop from turning into stone (he wants to have revenge on the person who caused it, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of wars & the Nazis; Mentions of counterfeiting money & someone going to prison for doing it; Mentions of stealing; Mentions of a jails, prisons, & dungeons; Mentions of tobacco, pipes, & smoking; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of thinking that someone may have drowned; A few mentions of blackmail & threats; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a sheet being placed over someone like they’ve passed away; A couple mentions of a (bad) guy pushing an elderly man and becoming unconscious because of it & making someone else unconscious (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of an accident a giant caused (no details are given); A couple mentions of a con-man; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of a former vicar who wasn’t “the holiest of men” and ran off with a great deal of the church’s money (and left his wife behind); A mention of an evil man not caring that he may have killed a child (the child is okay, though); A mention of thinking your trapped in a coffin (but not actually); A mention of torture; A mention of a bomb in a story; A mention of graffiti; A mention of throwing up;

*Note: Mentions of Harry Houdini, Shakespeare, Newton, Rembrandt, Albert Einstein, George MacDonald, da Vinci, & Mephistopheles; Mentions of other books and authors (‘Peter and Wendy’ by J.M. Barrie, ‘The Magical Land of Noom’ by Johnny Gruelle, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll, ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle); A couple mentions of misunderstanding of thinking an adult is going to eat children like in Hansel and Gretel; A couple mentions of Winnie-the-Pooh and Rabbit.

Sexual Content- A mention of a couple on their honeymoon kissing which makes Everett squirm and gawk at the same time; A woman (a half giant) embraces and kisses a Blotter (described as gross/uncomfortable for the Blotter, barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a woman (a half giant) who is described as “too terrifyingly hideous for even a blotter to find attractive”; A mention of flirtation;
             *Note: A mention of Everett’s mother who passed away while giving birth to Bea.

-Everett, age 11
-Marcus
P.O.V. switches between them, Bea, the Commander, & others (including villains and their minions)
                                          Set in 1952
                                                        370 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Ratings are based on the content found in the story.}

Full confession: Before I picked up this book, I was quite tired from a long day. But as soon as I opened the book and found fascinating map at the beginning, I was much more intrigued. Then I read the opening page and am instantly sucked into the story because it has my absolute favorite style of middle-grade writing with charm and a narrator-like voice telling the story. Maybe it’s because “The Mysterious Benedict Society” is one of my all-time favorite books, but that charm-filled, whimsical storytelling writing style immediately makes me excited for the story. It’s why I have continued to try out secular middle-grade stories if I see someone mention that the writing style is similar to TMBS (though nothing has ever come close to that beloved book for me personally.)

I took a chance on this novel and I’m so glad that I did. It was such an adventure—literally! The creativity of this story – the villains being called ‘Blotters” and the creativity in what the Ink can do, it was all different but yet fun. I think that it could be classified as “magic” because it’s not something we have in our world (hence being called a middle-grade fantasy), but it isn’t magic as in spells and wands.

I thought it might be more of a good vs. evil, moral-type storyline than have direct Christianity themes, but there were some Scriptures mentioned and prayers said, which I liked seeing, though it was more focused on the good vs. evil plotline.

It’s nice to see those in the church (such as Everett’s father, Marcus) be good as opposed to a few secular middle-grade stories I’ve seen where they poke fun at them or even talk badly about them. (There’s are a couple mentions of a vicar who ran off with the church’s money—and who also left his wife behind when doing said running). I would have preferred the Scriptures mentioned being a little more straightforward (such as “I will not be afraid” from Psalms being remembered but not the first and most important part of hoping in God and trusting Him.) and the few mentions of the “Witching Sticks” be a little clearer, but when I reread those parts, I got the impression that it’s a Blotter term and doesn’t actually have to do with witches or spells. I did dock half a star from my personal rating due to these notes, after thinking more on it.

It was really refreshing to read a fantasy middle-grade story that didn’t have crude humor (or what I call “little boy” humor such as laughing at bodily noises) or “spiritual elements” that go against my faith and values. It was just a fun read.

I think one part I really wasn't a fan of, personally, was that I wish Everett wouldn’t have been so…moody? He had a chip on his shoulder, and I still don’t understand exactly why. I’m hoping that in the next book we won’t see those moody moments again.

On that note, when’s the next book coming out? I’m excited and ready to see what happens next.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!