Books for Christian Girls: "Beneath the Swirling Sky" by Carolyn Leiloglou

About this book:
  “After an experience he’d rather forget, Vincent is determined to be done with art. So when he and his little sister, Lili, spend spring break with their art conservator great-uncle, Vincent's plan is to stay glued to his phone.
   That is, until Lili disappears into one of the world's most famous paintings and Vincent learns his parents have been hiding something from Their family is the last of The Restorationists, a secret society with the power to travel through paintings—and a duty to protect them from evil forces.
   With Lili’s safety on the line, leaving art behind is no longer an option. Vincent must team up with his know-it-all second-cousin Georgia, wrestle with why his parents lied to him, and confront both his past and a future he never wanted. Young readers are invited into a captivating universe where paintings become a portal—and adventure and danger lurk beyond every canvas.”

Series: Book #1 in “The Restorationists” series.

Spiritual Content- Vincent’s family only goes to church a few times a year and thinks about when he was staring at the Pacific Ocean that “God felt close but transcendent, like being enveloped in a cloud”; Georgia shares that Vincent van Gogh felt close to God through nature (which is why the church is dark in one of his paintings and the sky is bright) & says that she feels closer to God with art; Vincent and Georgia go into two paintings that are based off of Biblical events (Belshazzar’s Feast and The Storm on the Sea of Galilee); Georgia is excited to have witnessed a miracle of Jesus’ in one of the paintings; In the later painting, Jesus stares at Vincent and he feels like Jesus could see all of the parts of his soul and expected Jesus to look away in disgust, but has an idea of the new person he’d like to be and Jesus nods in approval (he whispers Thank you to Jesus); In the author’s note, she says about creating being one way we exhibit the image of God; Mentions of God, Jesus, & forgiveness; Mentions of those & events in the Bible (and paintings of them); Mentions of churches in paintings; Mentions of callings (to be a Restorationsts or a calling from God); A few mentions of a woman (Lilias Trotter) who went to help people in Africa because God called her to do that; A couple mentions of Heaven & angels (thinking a place and someone are those, but are not actually); A mention of someone Thanking God; A mention of God’s art (creation);
             *Note: Vincent becomes in a trace when looking at some paintings (Georgia says it’s like he’s under a spell) and after touching them, is able to go into the painting (called “Traveling” and is a hereditary ability that his family can do; Those who use it for good are called the “Restorationsts” and those who use it to destroy or alter paintings are called “Distortionists”); Restorationsts have different Gifts that can help them restore a painting (Navigation that remember all the details of paintings and where they are currently stored, Restorer who can fix a painting from inside or outside, Artists who are able to paint whatever they envision and it come to life, etc.); Distortionists steal art, create propaganda and destabilize societies with the gift of Traveling into a painting (they alter the paintings to spread hatred and distrust which make people susceptible to misinformation and can go as far as leading others to do shootings or terrorism); Even though Georgia says there’s no such thing as magic, Vincent calls Traveling magic and the paintings magical often & adds that he feels likes he’s been told that magic was real and he was a wizard (which he thinks should make him feel amazing, but feels nauseated because of falling into a painting); The phrases “magic” and “magical” are used often about Traveling into paintings, but it’s written as more of a genetic ability (“magic running through his blood”) than spells; *Spoiler* There are random children that are able to fall into paintings that are called “Wanderers” that a villain has “rescued” (kidnapped) and teaches him to deface and alter paintings *End of Spoiler*; Vincent paints in anger of a scary dragon and it scares him because of the potential for evil in his heart; When Vincent gets handed art tools to use with his Gift, he wonders where the magic wands and stones of power were instead; Vincent calls the hand writing on the wall in the painting Belshazzar’s Feast a “wizard hand” and Georgia corrects it to “Angel hand”; *Spoiler* Towards the end, Vincent finds out his Gift is being an Artist and is able to paint things such as getting out of a hole by painting a ladder and painting a gag over a villain’s mouth to stop them from talking *End of Spoiler*; Georgia teases Lili about the boogeyman and doing what she’s told or she’ll vanish (Vincent tells her not to scare Lili because she easily has bad dreams); Mentions of evil & those with evil intent; Mentions of paintings with fantastical creatures (like unicorns and dragons); A mention of an artist haunting their paintings; A mention of dial-up being called “Stone-Age internet”.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, a ‘gosh darn it’ (said by an adult), an ‘idiot’, a ‘shush’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘stinking’, a ‘what in tarnation’, an unfinished ‘what in the…’, two ‘heck’s (said by an adult), three ‘dumb’s, three ‘stupid’s; Some name-calling between Vincent and Georgia (“idiot” and “dumb”); Eye rolling & Sarcasm (between pre-teens); Vincent and Georgia yell at each other a couple of times when emotions are high; Vincent attempts to eavesdrop on adults’ conversations but stops before he is caught; Vincent has a bit of an attitude for the beginning of the book (thinking about his mom and Uncle Leo bugging/pestering and lecturing him about painting again, thinking his second cousin is a weird homeschooler and looks like a homeless person because of the mud all over her, and is rude to another boy); Vincent fells like his parents have lied about his talent in painting and is very upset and hurt by it (thinking he can’t trust what his mom says and that he isn’t good enough; *Spoiler* after entering a school art contest and his classmate taunting him about his art piece, this led Vincent to believe that he wasn’t a good artist and that all parents “told their kids they were good at something when they weren’t” *End of Spoiler*); A couple talks about some people painting for their pride and praise from others and other painters painting just for art and for others to experience it (this is a realizes for Vincent as he realizes that he wanted people to praise him); There is an adult that badmouths Vincent’s mom a bit and also tempts Vincent to join her side, but he recognizes that she has evil intent (*Spoiler* she does taunt him into painting a picture that brings out all of his anger towards everyone and everything, and he feels powerful but also terrified because that’s not who he wants to be *End of Spoiler*; Vincent thinks about getting adults to help him and Georgia, *Spoiler* but it ends up having to be all done by both of them because there aren’t adults available to help *End of Spoiler*; Vincent doesn’t want to be a hero, he just wants his family safe, but Georgia and Lili want to help others (*Spoiler* he does go back and help the other kidnapped children when he realizes he made a mistake in leaving them *End of Spoiler*); Georgia acts like a know-it-all at times *Spoiler* but it turns out she’s never been on a mission because her parents won’t let her because of the dangers, so she has been determined to prove herself to her parents; At the end, her parents allow her to start training for missions *End of Spoiler*; A villain’s minion tases Vincent and he feels pain before passing out (up to semi-detailed); Fighting/Sparring & Pain (including playing dirty, up to semi-detailed); There are a few close calls in the paintings (dangerous situations but do not feel very scary; including seeing someone going underwater, being chased by a creepy guard that has been given an evil face by the Distortionsts (Vincent and Georgia capture the guard and have to scrape the paint off of his face, barely-above-not-detailed), and being stuck in a black hole); Vincent is told that if they die in a painting, they die (not like a video game where they could try again; Georgia says she won’t let fear decide what she’s going to do); A lesson on creating booby traps and wrecking paintings by a villain group; A boy thwacks another boy on the back of the head; Many mentions of stolen paintings, stealing, robberies, thieves, & criminals; Mentions of a fire & deaths (Uncle Leo comments on the art that was in the home being such a loss, but Vincent comments on the lives that were lost were more important); Mentions of World War II, Nazis, & swastika (some Distortionsts painted them into a picture to change what a person feels when looking at the picture); Mentions of kidnappings & kidnapped children being kept in a prison/institution-like place; Mentions of children being threatened with being tased by the villain’s minions; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of graffiti & littering (including a few mentions of cusswords being painted in paintings to deface them); Mentions of the bad guys using art to control people (their emotions to lead them into causing trouble); A few mentions of terrorism; A few mentions of almost drownings; A few mentions of rumors (including one that the villains will beat the kidnapped children if they try to runaway and their injuries); A few mentions of fighting dirty & cheating in a sparring match; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of meanness from classmates; A few mentions of nightmares/bad dreams; A couple mentions of a massacre; A couple mentions of thinking someone was dead (in a dangerous situation); A couple mentions of protesters throwing food at priceless paintings; A couple mentions of arrests; A couple mentions of pipes & smoking; A mention of someone having another’s hide if something went wrong; A mention of shootings; A mention of a Mexican cartel; A mention of the mob; A mention of bloody paintings;
             *Note: Vincent plays video games and really enjoys them (including playing with friends and mentions of Minecraft, Tetris, & Zelda); Vincent is twelve years old and has a cell phone (he plays games on it); Georgia is homeschooled but calls it “road-schooled” because her and her parents are always on the road (she takes online classes and seems sad about not having in-real-life friends, which Vincent thinks it would be miserable to not have friends you could see most days; When Vincent asks if her hobby of pottery is what “all the cool homeschoolers do”, Georgia shares she doesn’t care about being cool because it’s more important to do what you like and not worry what others think); The word “cops” is used more than “police” when referring to law enforcement; All about many, many mentions of artists & paintings (Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo, Paul Cezanne, Georgia O’Keeffe, Lilias Trotter, Leonardo da Vinci, Artemisia Gentileschi, Adelaide Labille-Guiard, Norman Rockwell, M. C. Escher, Rembrandt, Pissarro, Manet, & Jules Dupre); A couple mentions of a suicide mission; A couple mentions of zombies; A mention of a picture of creepy gravestones; A mention of wine (in a painting); A mention of a place being “for hicks”; A mention of Wikipedia; A mention of YouTube; A mention of Romeo and Juliet; A mention of Vincent not wanting Lili to ever feel scared again about her new family disappearing like she did when she first came home.

Sexual Content- See Note below;
             *Note: Mentions of nude paintings (which Vincent does not want to go Travel into and when Georgia asks if he’s scared about that, he thinks that he’s seen pictures of nude paintings before but it made him uncomfortable and it’s gross to pose for something like that; Georgia says that she hadn’t thought of it like that and “naked people are part of art. You get used to it. But maybe that’s not a good thing.”; They go through the painting with something over their heads to cover most of the view; In the author’s note at the end, she says if you research paintings, there may be paintings or sketches of nude, but that doesn’t mean you have to look at any art that makes you uncomfortable and have a parent help when searching for images because there’s a lot of great art and she would hate for someone to miss out on it just to avoid those few that have naked people in them).

-Vincent, age 12
                                P.O.V. of Vincent
                                                        305 pages

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Pre Teens-

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Early High School Teens-

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My personal Rating-

I’m instantly interested in any new Christian Middle-Grade book releasing because there aren’t many published nowadays, but I was especially interested in this book due to the mention of being good for fans of the secular middle-grade series, “Pages and Co” (which I enjoyed until LGTBQ content was added in)—and I can see why it’s aimed for fans of that series because it’s very similar in the world and creativity and villains.

I had very high hopes for this book and they decently met them. I do have some things to note, though.

There isn’t much Christian Faith content throughout this story. There are a couple paintings that Vincent and Georgia go into are of Biblical events including one depicting a miracle of Jesus’ (Belshazzar’s Feast and The Storm on the Sea of Galilee). We have more faith content towards the very end because of that painting and Vincent feelings as if Jesus in the painting sees his soul and when Jesus doesn’t turn away in disgust, Vincent has an image of what kind of person he wants to be. A few mentions of God and Jesus elsewise throughout the story.

While the words “magic” and “magical” are used often (by Vincent, because Georgia says that there’s no such thing as magic), the ability to fall into paintings is said to be genetic. *Spoiler* There are random children that are able to fall into paintings that are called “Wanderers” that a villain has “rescued” (kidnapped) and teaches him to deface and alter paintings *End of Spoiler*

Some parents might not like the lack of good adults (or even just adults) in this book. Vincent is also hurt by his mom always telling him he’s a good artist, but then he “learns the truth” when his classmates taunt him for one of his paintings; that happened about a year and a half before this book starts and Vincent now doesn’t paint or fully trust his parents when they tell him something. It’s noted that it could have been because they thought they were protecting him, but it “wrecked his trust”. We never see a conclusion or discussion about his feelings with his parents about this except for at the very end when his mom says they wanted to keep him safe by not telling him about these abilities *Spoiler* Vincent responds by saying he wants to paint again and be trained to be a Restorationist *End of Spoiler*.

Good vs evil shown and even though Vincent is tempted by an offer, he realizes that person has evil intent and does not allow himself to be swayed, realizing himself that that person doesn’t have his interests at heart nor is a good person.

My favorite part of this book was seeing Vincent and his little sister’s relationship (six year age gap) and seeing how much he cares for her (she was adopted three years prior from China and he says that some people think it’s weird that they’re so close, but she’s still his sister regardless). He’s very protective of her and there’s no name calling between them, which I really appreciated seeing a healthy sibling dynamic and loved those parts.

All of this said, I would most likely try out the next book in the series when it releases, but this is also one I could see why some families may avoid and others may enjoy.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!