Books for Christian Girls: "The Architect" by Jonathan Starrett

About this book:

  “There's a golden rule in Phantom City: "No one about when the Zeppelin is out." But one night, twelve-year-old Charlie Crane comes face-to-face with the Zeppelin, and instead of finding trouble, she is awakened.
   Determined to find the truth in a city plagued with lies, Charlie, along with a quirky band of unlikely heroes, works to free the people of Phantom City from the clutches of a shadowy, evil villain. Helped by a mysterious Architect who only communicates over radio and telephone, Charlie wrestles with two big questions: Can she trust a guide she can't see? And is the truth actually worth the trouble?
   Filled with sinister schemes, bumbling superheroes, unexpected friendships, and plenty of humor and plot twists, The Architect keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Boys and girls alike will be fascinated by the unique world of Phantom City, with its steampunk and Gotham City-type elements and will quickly find themselves cheering for our heroes in their fight against evil.”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- This book has a slight allegory in it with “The Architect” (being God), his Blueprint of Tomorrow ((plan) which some believe is a hope for a better tomorrow, but is also called a bedtime story for children), trusting him, finding the Truth, & waking up to find it; 'H's are not capital when referring to the Architect; The Architect talks to both Charlie & Sneed; Charlie has the mission to tell the truth and have others learn about the Architect; *Spoiler* The physical form of the Architect is a balloon salesman called “Patches” who belches once, but is decent help for Charlie and the rest of the group *End of Spoiler*; A couple mentions of some thinking it’s foolish to entrust your destiny to someone they’ve never met; A mention of praying;
             *Note: The mastermind of the deception is called “the Projectionist” who wants to take everyone’s future and conquer the Architect; Seeing the Cardinal (superhero) punish the criminal/villain “Father Foul” and punches a hole in the confessional box while commenting “Father, forgive me, I have committed a…Cardinal sin.”; A mention of the phrase ‘thank my lucky stars’; A mention of the phrase ‘hocus-pocus’; Mentions of a villain being dressed as a wizard & telling people to “despair at my dark magic”; Mentions of a lucky penny; A couple mentions of devilish smiles; A mention of someone looking like a magician; A mention of someone looking ghostly; A mention of an angel; A mention of a superhero saying that he’s someone’s guardian angel; A mention of Santa Claus; A mention of a fairy elf.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blah, blah, blah’, a ‘heck’, a ‘hooey’, a ‘moron’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shoddy’, a ‘shucks’, two ‘dum-dum’s, two ‘dummy’s, two ‘jerk’s, two ‘turd’s, three ‘dumb’s, four ‘yeesh’s, five ‘dope’s, five forms of ‘idiot’, five forms of ‘shut up’, nine ‘stupid’s, and ten forms of ‘what/how in blazes’; Exclamations like ‘good grapes’ and ‘good gravy’ are said; Name calling (from adults to kids, adults to other adults, and kids to kids) with words like ‘baby’, ‘Bozo’, ‘dope’, ‘dumb’, ‘dum-dum’, ‘dummy’, ‘featherbrain’, ‘idiot’, ‘jerk’, ‘moron’, ‘stupid’, & ‘wench’; A child with glasses is called ‘Four-Eyes’ sixteen times by an adult (even though he’s asked him not to called him that); The phrase “for the love of all that is good and decent” is said once; A mention of curses (said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Disrespect for authority & mocking others (some of the adults in this story aren’t good influences or good people); Wanting to push a villain over the edge to their death & being pushed yourself (up to semi-detailed); Being threatened with harm, being shot, & death (adults to kids); Being choked, being kicked/beaten (both by adults to children), fighting, knocking others out, pain, & causing pain for others (by grabbing their arm (twice), barely-above-not-detailed); Being shoved into a trunk (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing fights, explosions, a fire, & others being knocked out (up to semi-detailed); Charlie is zapped by the Zeppelin balloon & passes out (painful, up to semi-detailed); There is a green gas/fog released (by an authority) that makes people forget their memories & it used on others on purpose when they find out too much; A villain says he has killed people to get others to listen to him; Mentions of the Zeppelin (a doomsday blimp) that sucks up victims in its tractor beam & how no one has survived it (either abducted or killed, based on rumors); Mentions of slaves (those who have been affected with the green gas and have lost their memories) that are forced to make more of the gas (including being chained up) & being haunted by seeing it happen in front of you; Mentions of crimes & criminals (including a knight fight & stolen purse); Mentions of grenades, bombs, explosions, weapons (tommy guns), & gunshots; Mentions of injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of killing & deaths/dying; A few mentions of the smell of a dead cat in a dumpster (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of blowing raspberries (at people and as pranks, including by Charlie); A couple mentions of adults slapping other adults; A couple mentions of the “superhero” dunking a villain into a public toilet; A couple mentions of gossip & rumors; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of possibly drowning; A mention of murder mystery books; A mention of jail; A mention of a bully; A mention of alcohol; A mention of diarrhea; A mention of poop; A mention of a dog peeing; A mention of someone wetting their pants; A mention of someone going potty in their pants; A mention of needing a new pair of underwear after a scare; A mention of the sound of passing gas; A mention of creating rude noises from a balloon; A mention of a belch;
             *Note: When a villain is knocked out and someone asks if they’re alive, someone else says “I think so, unfortunately”; A few mentions of Sinatra; A couple mentions of Little Caesar pizza; A mention of Bigfoot; A mention of Halloween.

Sexual Content- An 11-year-old newsboy called Charlie ‘baby’, ‘sweetheart’, & ‘dollface’; A man tells a woman that his longs for her “warmth and companionship”; A few mentions of an 11-year-old boy saying he can’t die because he’s never kissed a girl; A mention of a damsel in distress kissing her hero; A mention of seeing a couple kiss;
             *Note: Sneed kicks a man between his legs to be able to get away from him; A couple phrases are said (“slap my bottom and call me a baby boy” and “butter my buns and call me a biscuit”); Mentions of the superhero (The Cardinal) wearing his underwear over his tights (there is also an illustration showing him like this) & Charlie teasing him about it (an adult yells at her saying that it’s body armor); A mention of someone saying (after being sat on) that he was too close to the other’s butt; A mention of someone’s outfit being stained with sweat “in all the worst places”.

-Charlie Crane, age 12
                                P.O.V. switches between Charlie, Sneed, & others
                                                        240 pages

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

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{ Those in Public School & used to reading secular books may enjoy it more. }

This was…interesting.

And I mean “interesting” in a way that I don’t have the most positive feelings on this middle-grade release. To be honest, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it when I was in the target market and I wouldn’t give it to my own kids one day.

But first, some positives:
I like the message of digging into things because things aren’t always what they seem. I liked the allegory, which is a bit shocking, I know, as I’m typically quite fussy, I’ll admit, about allegories. It worked well with the message of waking up and seeing what’s going on around you.

Now my not-so-positive notes:
My main problems with this book would be the lots of unexpected name calling (including adults to kids), potty-humor, and disrespect for authorities/adults. These elements really soured the story for me. Had it been less frequent or even not there at all, I believe I would have enjoyed it much more. The unique setting of steampunk meets superheroes meets kids trying to save the world was an interesting combination and I don’t know how well it worked. The pacing was rushed in parts that it should have been developed and explained more…had it been so, it could have been a better 300+ paged story that set the stage for all the details for a reader to feel more immersed into the plot.

It kinda just felt…silly. Now, truthfully, this could be because I’m out of the target market. I wish I had liked this one more as there isn’t much Christian Fiction for middle grade readers being published these days.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!