"Jack and the Red Giant" by Amanda Cleary Eastep

About this book:

  “Jack Finch is seeing stars.
    And it has nothing to do with Christmas. Snowball wars are being waged against the Tree Street Kids, and Jack has taken a hit to the eye from one of Buzz Rublatz’s polar projectiles. Jack plans the perfect defense–the Abominable Snowman-ator. But building your greatest invention is tough when you’re also practicing for the starring role in the school nativity play. One cold, starry night, a neighborhood catastrophe disturbs the peacefulness of the snow-covered streets and twinkling lights. What's that terrible orange glow down the block? And does Buzz know more about it than he’s telling? Jack is determined to find out. But, first, he needs a Christmas miracle. Will Jack find room in his heart to welcome an unexpected addition to the stage and his home? To Jack’s surprise, he gives the neighborhood bully a greater gift than either of them could have imagined.”


Series: Book #6 in the “Tree Street Kids” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, Book #4 Here, and Book #5 Here!


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are referenced, mentioned, & quoted (including during a play); Prayers; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Set around Christmas; Some of the Tree Street Kids are in a Christmas play (at their Christian school), they go to practices for it, & one of the last chapters is the play; A couple Christmas songs/hymns are sung; Many mentions of the Christmas play; Mentions of God, Jesus, & loving your enemies (which Jack thinks is one of the hard things Jesus said to do and sometimes feels like a stretch); Mentions of those & events in the Bible (including those involved in the Nativity during the Christmas play); Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, services, Sunday school, pastors, & sermons; A couple mentions of Catholic church & Ruthie’s grandmother going to a midnight Christmas Eve service (which Jack thinks that it’s hard to imagine being at church that late at night); A couple mentions of a Christian school; Mentions of Christmas songs/hymns; A couple mentions of Christmas manger in someone’s yard; 
             *Note: Rodger’s dad says he isn’t a religious man, but says his grandmother used to say you never know when you’re showing hospitality to angels unawares (referencing a Scripture); Midge implies a star is a “eight bazillion years old”; A few mentions of aliens; A few mentions of Santa; A couple mentions of centaurs; A mention of Ellison being into Greek mythology; A mention of being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘wicked’ (as an adjective) and a ‘wimp’; Some eye rolling; To keep their plans a secret from Buzz, the Tree Street Kids lie to him; Jack avoids lying to his parents when they ask him a direct question by trying to be nonchalant; Being hit by a snowball (in the eye), pain, & passing out (Jack later panics that his eyeball is hanging out and Midge thought he was killed, barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a house on fire (up to semi-detailed);  Jack’s grandma comments that she hopes the boy that gave Jack his shiner also left the snowball fight with one, but his grandfather gently scolds her while saying “we don’t do know what Buzz’s life is like that makes him take it out on other kids” (the grandma comments that some people are just born mean, but his grandfather replies that thankfully the Lord has compassion on all He has made and so should we; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Jack and the others have a snowball battle with Buzz and his goons, but it ends with injuries and broken items; Jack realizes that he has kind of acted like an enemy to Buzz and they end up having a truce at the very end *End of Spoilers*); Jack calls Buzz his arch nemesis & a bully (Buzz and his friends call Jack and the others nerds); Because of the fire, *Spoiler*s Buzz comes to stay with Jack’s family which is very challenging for Jack; Jack starts to think that Buzz started the fire when he sees him messing with a cigarette lighter; At the very end, misunderstandings are cleared up and Jack and Buzz become new friends *End of Spoilers*; Jack wonders if he is going to get pummeled by Buzz; Mentions of a fire, a house on fire and the damage, a family being displaced, & a person being badly injured (including some concern about the family’s pets); Mentions of bullies & bulling (including a brother bullying/threatening his younger brother); Mentions of someone smoking, a cigarette lighter, & a boy playing with one; A handful of mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of World War II, the Civil War, & a bomb shelter; A few mentions of injuries & a possible concussion; A couple mentions of hatred; A mention of declaring war on someone; A mention of a tornado (Book #1); 
             *Note: Jack & Midge tease each other & lovingly annoy the other (never in meanness); Mentions of books, poems, characters, & authors (quoted- ‘The Aeneid’ by Virgil, ‘The Little Prince’ by Antoine de Saint-Exupèry, ‘The Last Battle’ by C.S. Lewis, ‘Bright Evening Star’ by Madeleine L’Engle, & quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Albert Schweitzer; mentioned- ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ & ‘A Wrinkle in Time’);Mentions of brand names (Green Pop, Mountian Dew, Sourhead candy, Cola, Dorito chips, Cheerios, & Flintstone vitamins); A couple mentions of sports teams & athletes (William Perry); A couple mentions of Disney World; A mention of Mickey Mouse; A mention of Ruthie who hasn’t seen her mom in a long time; A mention of a Trunk-or-Treat; A mention of a skull and crossbones being “manly” (according to Ruthie).
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Jack Finch, age 10
                               1^st person P.O.V. of Jack 
                                                        145 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book felt a little bittersweet as I don’t know if it’s the last one for this series or not! The “Tree Street Kids” series has been such a delight and while I would love more books following this friend group, this sixth book would also be a great place to end it. Resolution with the Jack vs Buzz problem & the end of the year 1995 (when all six books were set). I was bummed this book was so much shorter than the rest of them, but the story inside ended up being a good length with the message it carried. It was fun to see a Christmas play and learning to love your enemies. I was very proud of Jack at different points and Midge also made me laugh while reading. I hope this won't be the final book, but I have greatly enjoyed my time with these characters.

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"The Beastie of Brambly Bald" by Amanda Cleary Eastep

About this book:

  “Jack Finch’s plan to gobble up tons of turkey over Thanksgiving Break and work on the Tree Street Kids’ fort has been foiled. Instead, the Finches are traveling to the mountains of North Carolina to visit the grandparents Jack barely knows. Thank goodness his best friends Ellison and Roger are coming with him to the cabin on Brambly Bald mountain. But something is lurking in the forest, and soon Jack uncovers a secret bigger than Bigfoot. When the kids come face to face with a real threat, will Jack find a way to protect his friends? Jack braves danger, finds new branches on his family tree, and discovers what it means to be rooted in God’s great family.”


Series: Book #5 in the “Tree Street Kids” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, and Book #4 Here!


Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are quoted, prayed, & read; A few Scripture are quoted & mentioned in bonus content along with how to be a part of God’s family; Prayers; A couple talks about God & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A couple mentions of churches & church going; A couple mentions of Bibles; A mention of the Holy Spirit; A mention of a missionary; A mention of Veggie Tales; 
             *Note: Mentions of boy calls his mother “Mothership” as her code name over walk-talkies; A mention of superstitions.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘gah’, a ‘gosh’, a form of ‘oh my gosh’, and a form of ‘shut your trap’; Midge calls the others “lily-livered” for being scared of a plan to find Bigfoot; A bit of eye rolling (mostly because of a sibling’s comments); A new character is bossy (which Jack doesn’t plan to take orders from her despite her being older than him); Jack has a few comments about his little sister, Midge (such as giving her candy that will keep her mouth occupied and not talking so much) but are not mean-spirited; Hunting for Bigfoot and the “Beastie of Brambly Bald” in the woods (some of the characters think it’s a bad idea and runaway when they see an animal’s glowing eyes; The group comes across an unnatural footprint; Despite this, Jack doesn’t believe it exists, though, he does freak out once when he thinks he sees it; *Spoilers* It turns out the signs of the Beastie Bald is actually a girl setting it all up to keep Jack and the others away; Jack’s mother grow up believing in the beastie and was very hurt to find out her father wasn’t telling her the truth which has led to their strained relationship for years; Jack’s grandfather did see sightings of the beastie later, however; Towards the end, Midge and Forks sneak out one morning to find the Beastie; At the end, Jack thinks they all believe in it for a moment during a dangerous situation, but Midge knows that it isn’t real and Jack encourages that there’s other mysteries to discover *End of Spoiler*); Facing a bear (the group is scared, but tries to make themselves loud and big to frighten the bear off); A scary moment in a car (Jack’s mother has to swerve hard to avoid hitting something when driving in the dark in the mountains & she’s shaken up by it); Mentions of World War II, war stories, explosions, & a bomb shelter; Mentions of a neighborhood bully (who Jack calls “enemy number one of the Tree Street Kids”); Mentions of some family members not getting along (Jack’s mom talks to him about this because of her relationship with her father); Mentions of hunting; Mentions of pipes, smoking, & tobacco (a grandpa smokes in front of the group of kids); A few mentions of slavery (Ellison says his family can’t trace his ancestors back very far because of slavery and the lack of records by the slave owners); A few mentions of deaths (of parents); A couple mentions of a death of an explorer (bonus content); A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of two girls not knowing their moms; A mention of a concern about a child running away; A mention of when Jack and Midge got lost in the woods (Book #2); 
             *Note: Many talks about & many mentions of Sasquatch, Bigfoot, and another legendary creature called the “beastie of Brambly Bald” (who Midge wants to look for in North Carolina and hopes to see; The group goes hunting for it and also find a diary about someone else looking for it, see spoilers above); One of the Tree Street Kids’ (Ruthie) mom left home years prior, hasn’t seen her since, and she receives a letter from her inviting her to visit for Thanksgiving (Ruthie isn’t sure what to do; *Spoiler* But her mom ends up spraining her ankle and unable to drive to pick up Ruthie *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of brand names (Popsicles, Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Roll sucker, Squeezit fruit drinks, McDonald’s Happy Meals, Pizza Dorito, Mountain Dew, & Ivory Soap); Mentions of books, poems, & authors (quoted- ‘To a Mouse’ by Robert Burns, Little Red Riding Hood, & Hatchet; mentioned- The Boxcar Children); A few mentions of fictional characters (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Superman); A few mentions of Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts; A couple mentions of the Loch Ness monster; A couple mentions of Lewis and Clark; A mention of Red Lobster; A mention of Disney World; A mention of Popular Mechanics magazine.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Jack Finch, age 10
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Jack 
                                                        244 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’m not usually one for Bigfoot/Sasquatch storylines, but I actually really like how it all worked out in this story. I do think it was mainly because of Midge—she keeps you on your toes! She makes me laugh with her comments and I think Jack is a very good (and kindly realistic) brother to her. He is protective and while there might be on or two times throughout the series that he wishes to go somewhere without her, she always ends up tagging along and is without a doubt part of the group. This series has been very wholesome partially because of that and how the author has written Jack as a character. I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book—and I hope it’s not the last one of the series!  

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"Mystery in Crooked Creek Woods" by Amanda Cleary Eastep

About this book:

  “Something fishy is going on in Crooked Creek Woods. Does it have anything to do with the weird lights coming from Ruthie’s neighbor’s yard? Or are the kids’ imaginations running away with them? After all, Jack and Ellison have been hard at work writing a mystery. The Tree Street Kids decide to investigate. Not only do they discover what’s been hidden for centuries in the woods, they also learn about placing their trust in the adults who love and care for them . . . but not before placing themselves in peril.”


Series: Book #4 in the “Tree Street Kids” series. Review of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, and Book #3 Here!


Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted and thought over; A couple prayers; A couple talks about God & Jesus; 'H's are capital when referring to God & Jesus; Jack realizes he’s good at “praying in a pinch” but needs to “remember to pray more often the rest of the time”; Mentions of God & Jesus; A few mentions of praying; A couple mentions of a church’s trunk or treat event (on Halloween); A mention of a church’s VBS program (Book #2); A couple mentions of a Christian school; A mention of a youth pastor; 
             *Note: Midge buys a trilobite at a festival & while the fact note about them does not mention evolution, it says that “these creatures lived in shallow seas long ago but are now extinct” (mentions of trilobites after this as well): To avoid taking about a beloved pet fish’s death, it’s said about the fish going to the “big fish bowl in the sky” (twice); A boy calls his mother “Mothership” as her code name over walk-talkies (twice); A (teasing) mention of UFOs.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘holy moly’, and two sassy ‘whatever’s are also exclaimed; A mention of a bully saying words that Jack thinks would get him grounded until 1996 if he said them; The bully also calls Jack and the others “goofuses”, but Jack’s mom hears this and clears her throat “at the mean word”, so Buzz mumbles a sorry; Jack is chased by a man in a clown mask when he is trying to solve a mystery (he notes that being chased by clowns is every kid’s bad dream and when his parents find out about him being in the woods at night, they give him a look that says he is grounded until 2022); Jack is taunted and chased by the neighborhood bully and his goons; Jack feels sorry for a second when he sees one the bully’s goons’ father elbows him hard; Mentions of a bomb shelter from a war; Mentions of thieves, stolen items, & a possible kidnapping (of a pet fish); Mentions of the possibility of people poaching artifacts and selling them illegally; Mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding; Mentions of bullies (which Jack calls the neighborhood bully his arch nemesis and thinks that he deserves that title even though “Buzz [the bully] never seemed to get in trouble for all the mean things he did to the kids in the neighborhood”; Later, he wishes that Buzz was guilty so he would have to pay for being a bully, but *Spoilers* Jack realizes that while Buzz may be his enemy, he is also his neighbor and helps clear his name from being involved in the poaching that is happening in the forest as Buzz wasn’t involved in it; The adults say that Buzz needs better friends and are disapproving of another father who got his son involved in something illegal *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of a bubble pipe & smoking (with a note that actual smoking is really bad for your lungs); Mentions of the possibility of a cat eating a pet fish; A few mentions of a possibly corrupted forest ranger; A few mentions of Jack being chased by the bully and his goons in Book #3; A couple mentions of when Jack and Midge got lost in the woods (Book #2); A couple mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of how to kill a bear; A mention of a boy feeding frogs to his pet snake (Book #2); 
             *Note: Jack’s parents want him to call them on his way home from a friend’s house at night, but he forgets and ends up following someone the opposite direction and has to run back home (but knows he’ll get a “good talking-to” from his mom about the missing call and being late; He gets grounded from video games for a week because of not coming straight home; Later, he feels guilt over not telling his parents the full story about that night); Jack doesn’t want to include his sister as a character in the story he and Ellison are writing, but she comes up with her own character (the crazy villain) anyway (he comes up with an “anti-little sister force shield” in the book that is fumes from a gym bag and an old cheese sandwich); Mentions of a Native American tribe being forced to leave their home by the government in the 1830s (which Jack asks his dad about and if it’s because they were enemies and is told that “Sometimes we’re enemies because we don’t live out Jesus’ second greatest commandment, ‘Love your neighbors as yourself.’ And He said we’re supposed to love our enemy.”); Mentions of books, authors, & fictional characters (‘The Boxcar Children’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Agatha Christie mysteries featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, ‘Encyclopedia Brown’, ‘Sherlock Holmes’, ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’, & ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’; Also quotes from C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie characters, & ‘Anne of Green Gables’ are said); Mentions of brand names & items (Popsicle, Tootsie Roll, Lunchable, Snickers, M&Ms, Pixy Stix, Sourhead candy, & Bit-O-Honey) Mentions of Halloween (and also passing skeletons and fairies); A couple mentions of other fictional characters (Power Rangers & G.I. Joe); A couple mentions of Sea World; A couple mentions of a car brand.
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Jack Finch, age 10
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Jack 
                                           Set in 1995
                                                        180 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

One thing I really appreciated about this mystery was that even if Jack and his friends are able to solve the mystery by the end, there are still consequences to their actions and groundings from their parents for doing something like sneaking into the forest at night which they know their parents probably wouldn’t allow. Rather than some middle-grade books that have the result out-way the actions (even if they are actions that parents wouldn’t usually allow) and there’s no mentions of punishments or such, this book shows that even though a mystery is solved (which is a good thing!) it’s not good to keep secrets from your parents. 

 

This wasn’t my personal favorite in the series, but it was overall enjoyable.

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"Lions to the Rescue!" by Amanda Cleary Eastep

About this book:

  “If getting tackled is the best way to make new friends, that’s okay with Jack. After all, starting fifth grade at a new school is even rougher than pee wee football. But how can he join the Lions and help Ellison build the Most Epic Bookmobile Bike Ever? Jack devises the perfect game plan–until he fumbles it with the most epic bike crash ever and a game day disaster.”


Series: Book #3 in the “Tree Street Kids” series. Review of Book #1, Here! and Book #2, Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are quoted, read, & mentioned; A few Prayers; A few talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Jack and his sister are starting the year at their new, Christian school; Jack hasn’t prayed about joining the football team because he “figured God was like [his] dad—a Chicago Bears football fan. So why wouldn’t He root for the Lions too?”; Jack can talk to God in his head, but when he has to say a prayer out loud, it makes him feel itchy (but prays out loud for an event anyway); One of Jack’s friends doesn’t know a lot about praying and says “over and out” instead of “Amen”; Jack knows that his dad saying “The Lord will provide” is what parents say when they don’t want a kid to worry, but knows his dad trusts God, so he will too; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches & church going; A few mentions of a colportage (someone who sold religious books door-to-door); A mention of a missionary; A mention of God using a book of poetry to change someone’s life; A mention of morning chapel at a Christian school; A mention of God shining a ray of sunshine on the bookmobile bike (which Jack thinks it’s like God had chosen it for a great mission); A mention of a picture (of a great idea) having a light on it like it was shone down from Heaven & an angel maybe singing then too;
             *Note: A boy calls his mother “Mothership” as her code name over walk-talkies (thrice); A couple mentions of a book about dinosaurs.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: A ‘buzzkill’ (Midge to Jack), a ‘crummy’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘holy moly’, a ‘sheesh’, and an unfinished ‘what—the—?’; A bit of eye rolling; Jack tries to give his parents warning when he walks into a room so he doesn’t eavesdrop (though he still hears some of their conversation and it worries him); Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Jack is taunted and chased by the neighborhood bully who tries to run him off the road (Jack is injured by this); Jack and the others try to make a deal with the bully, but the bully implies he wants Jack’s dog (which Jack is firm about not doing after seeing the bully yell at his own dog); Jack doesn’t want to disobey a referee in a game who tells him to stay back, but he is concerned about a friend; Mentions of pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of a bully (including Ellison saying that their neighborhood bully just needs to read the right book because books can change people, but Ruthie says the bully would need a library full of books to change him); A couple mentions of a bomb shelter; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of pig bladders used as a football a long time ago; A mention of an accident that killed a young girl’s parents; A mention of World War I; A mention of war; A mention of skull and crossbones on a map (representing a bully);
             *Note: Jack is embarrassed by his mom licking her hand and putting it to his hair in front of the school bus; Jack has a couple of moments of missing his old home and friends; Jack yells at Midge to stay out of his room and stop touching his stuff (once); Jack later teases Midge about her being like a barnacle stuck to a whale when she wants to tag along with him wherever he goes; Jack is disappointed by not having a new friend to himself, but his mom says that you “make friends by being a good friend”; When playing touch football, Midge asks if they are all going to “bust some heads”; Ellison thinks a neighbor doesn’t like him because he’s black & the woman yells at him to stay off of her property (which Jack says is wrong of her to do, but Ellison says it happens a lot and it’s a lot harder when people “look at you like you did something wrong. Or don’t even look at you at all”; The woman yelling at Ellison hurts him and he isn’t the same for a week); *Spoiler* At the end, the woman comes up to Jack and Ellison and says about borrowing books from them *End of Spoiler*; Ellison shares about a book (‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’) and how the main character’s family goes through racism (explaining to Midge that racism is “when one person treats another person badly or unfairly because they’re a different color or race”); Ellison wants to share books with others for them to understand him and others; Ellison plans to talk about why it’s important to read books by black authors as well in a speech; Jack doesn’t know how all moms “no matter their name, color, or hairdo” are able to give a kid the same look); There are book recommendations throughout the book & mentioned (‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’ by Mildred D. Taylor, ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ by Frederick Douglass, ‘The Watsons Go to Birmingham’ by Christopher Paul Curtis, ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Friendship’ by Mildred D. Taylor, ‘My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me’ by Maya Angelou, ‘A Light in the Attic’ by Shel Silverstein, ‘Charlotte’s Web’ by E.B. White, ‘The Narrative of Truth’ by Sojourner Truth, and a few more (there is the note that not all of the books are for children and to talk with a parent about reading them); Other books that are mentioned and quoted from, but not given as a recommended are Shakespeare, ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Matilda’, ‘The Joy of Cooking’, ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ by John Bunyan, ‘Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun’, ‘White Fang’, and ‘Selected Poems’ by Gwendolyn Brooks; Mentions of brand names & pop culture references (Nickelodeon Time Blaster clock, Chutes and Ladders, Nerf, Beanie Baby, Big Wheels, & Gatorade); Mentions of movies, TV shows, & fictional characters (101 Dalmatians, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, Superman, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz characters, & Robin Hood); Mentions of sport teams & a player (Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, & William Perry); A few mentions of Arthuro Schomburg and how he was told there were “no history, no heroes” of people of his race, so he set out to read all about them; A couple mentions of the Newberry Medal; A mention of Narnia; A mention of Disney World; A mention of Dunkin’ Donuts; A mention of Blockbuster video store; A mention of Wishbone the dog; A mention of a shark named Jaws; A mention of Midge telling Jack that because he uses “fancy man deodorant now” he doesn’t stink.
 
 
Sexual Content-N/A.
 
-Jack Finch, age 10
                                1st person P.O.V. of Jack
                                          Set in 1995 
                                                        192 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again more this series is over, but this book (like the prior two books) had such a childhood nostalgic feeling to it! Between the bike riding, friend groups, and doing a parade in their neighborhood, it felt like a very suburbs vibe and was so much fun! 

 

It should be noted that I can’t stand football, but I even enjoyed those parts of this book, which should tell you a lot!  

 

Midge steals the show in each one of these books and I just love her 😂 She reminds me of a cross between Constance from “The Mysterious Benedict Society” and D.W. from the TV show, Arthur, but way less sassy and much more well-mannered than those two.

 

This book had a little about facing racism and Jack’s best friend being black, but I thought it was done well and sincerely. We, unfortunately, see the bully Buzz again who I frankly don’t care for, but we have Jack learning some important lessons and learning to be a good friend—and a team player.

 

 

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"The Hunt for Fang" by Amanda Cleary Eastep

About this book:

  “Jack and his friends learn some survival skills at the church’s summer camp. They’ll need them! Determined to find Ruthie’s lost cat and protect Jack’s new puppy from Fang, the local wildlife, the kids head deep into the woods. Just when they think they’ve cornered the “enemy,” the kids realize someone has gone missing. Is Fang up to no good? Or will faith and friendship be enough to see the kids make it out alive?”


Series: Book #2 in the “Tree Street Kids” series. Review of Book #1, Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read, quoted, mentioned, thought over, & used in lessons/sermons; Prayers & Thanking God (including Jack praying about having a dog and later finishing his prayer outside of church, hoping that “God would hear it just as well”); Church going, VBS going, & sermons/lessons; Talks about God & His creation; 'H's are capital when referring to God but not in the Scripture version used; Mentions of God, Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles & family devotions; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, sermons, hymns/songs, services, worship service, & youth group (including her grandma sneaking caramels to Midge to keep her quiet during church); Mentions of VBS; A few mentions of memorizing Scripture (a friend of Jack’s has “memorized, like, half of the Bible” and adds that he has memorized “Jesus wept.”; This is comforting to another friend who seems uncomfortable going to VBS); A couple mentions of WWJD; A mention of a Christian; 
             *Note: Jack and his family live next to a cemetery and Jack knows that there’s no such things as ghosts (his sister comments about watching to catch a ghost and keep it since their mom said no to having a dog); Jack’s dad teases him about having a magic wand; The American Indian legend/story of “How the Coyote Brought Fire to the People” is told at VBS; A boy calls his mother “Mothership” as her code name over walk-talkies (twice); Mentions of ghosts; A mention of a boy beating on his chest “like a caveman”.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘fish sticks’ (said by Midge when disappointed), an ‘oh my gosh’, an ‘up in someone’s grill’ (said to a bully who is getting in another’s face), a ‘what the heck’, two ‘dumb’, two ‘sheesh’s, and two forms of ‘wimp’; A bit of sarcasm & sass; Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Four close-calls with a coyote (nothing happens besides scaring the main characters); Jack meets the “Tree Street Kids’ enemy number one” which is a boy who calls them “nerds”, is overall mean to and picks on them, & is territorial about the park and woods (when he squeezes a frog too hard, Midge punches him in the stomach as that was advice from her grandma when someone picks on her, but Midge is grounded for doing that); As the bully continues to taunt and make comments towards Jack, he wants to show up the bully and win a competition; Jack thinks that the bully would be more interested in earning a badge in cannibalism than the “Super Steward” badge they’ve been earning at VBS; After Ruthie’s cat goes missing, Jack and the group (minus Midge as this is a mission for big kids) go into the woods to find the cat and hunt down the coyote (we see Ruthie very upset and crying; Jack is concerned that they will be unable to save the cat; Ruthie wants them to kill the coyote and wants vengeance, but another one of the group says that technically they can’t kill anything in a forest preserve; One of the boys is distressed when they go off the trails because his parents said he can’t do that until he’s twelve; *Spoilers* Jack’s dog runs away chasing a scent and when Jack goes after him, the dog falls down a ravine & Jack has the others lower him down to rescue the dog; Jack knows that if the dog rolls down the edge, it could kill him; When they leave the woods, Jack realizes that Midge was following them and goes back to find her by himself; They find each other but have to sleep in the woods and are found but adults the next day *End of Spoilers*); Jack and his little sister, Midge, go outside in the middle of the night to find out what a noise is through the cemetery (without telling their parents and Jack realizes that if something happened to his sister, he would be grounded for life; Their parents are awake when they go into the house and they are given a talk that they no longer live in the country and can’t run off like that); Jack recalls the dog they had that passed away (implied due to old age); Jack finds a dog in a cornfield and wants to keep it, but his grandfather tries to find the owner (*Spoiler* At the end, the owner comes and Jack is sad that he might take Arrow back and will really miss him, but after seeing how much Jack loves the dog, the man decides to let Jack keep him *End of Spoilers*); *Spoiler about missing cat* At the very end of the book, they find Ruthie’s cat in the bomb shelter and that she’s had kittens; She keeps the only female kitten so that the mother and daughter cats can be together (a nod to her mother no longer being in the picture) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of a bomb shelter (Book #1); Mentions of hitting someone & being picked on (by a bully); Mentions of bullies; Mentions of being grounded; Mentions of coyotes killing and eating pets including puppies (Midge says it’s not the coyote’s fault if people leave “delicious-looking wiener dogs in the yard”); Mentions of a possibly sick cat & not having money to take her to a vet (the friend/girl cries and the friend group does a collection between them for a vet appointment); Mentions of rabies & rabies shots (Jack’s mom warns them about how painful it is and how long the needle is to keep them away from coyotes or other animals with rabies); A few mentions of prisoner of war (pretend); A few mentions of cheating (a bully cheats and Jack is glad to have beaten him despite his cheating); A few mentions of a friend’s mom leaving her family (Midge asks the girl if her mom got lost, but all the girl does is shrug); A few mentions of using the bathroom outside; A few mentions of a boy planning to feed a frog to his pet snake (he also squeezes it hard which causes Midge to punch him); A couple mentions of jail; A couple mentions of bullies at school (who looks like they might eat you); A couple mentions of a youth pastor having a tattoo; A mention of a possible war with Russia (what people were concerned about in the 1960s); A mention of throwing up; A mention of packs of wild dogs snatching chickens on a farm; A mention of a dog bring his owners a mouse or mole; A mention of a dead butterfly (that Midge is studying for scientific research); 
             *Note: Jack’s father only comes home on weekends due to his work; Jack rigged a “Foolproof Anti-Sister Room Alarm” in his room (that ends up not being foolproof and he plans to fix it); A youth pastor tells the kids they can call him by his first name (which Jack has never done before without putting a Mr. or Miss in front of it); There are a few book recommendations throughout the book & mentioned (‘The Edge of the World’ by Shel Silverstein, ‘Because of Winn-Dixie’ by Kate DiCamillo, ‘White Fang’ by Jack London, and ‘Call of the Wild’ by Jack London; Another book that is quoted from and mentioned, but not given as a recommended is ‘Hatcher’ by Gary Paulsen); Mentions of brand names & pop culture references (Nickelodeon Time Blaster clock, LEGO, Tootsie Roll, Snickers, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cool Whip, Oscar Mayer, & Old Spice); Mentions of movies, TV shows, & fictional characters (101 Dalmatians, Goosebumps, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog, A Christmas Carol, & King Arthur); A few mentions of a poem about thinking if the world is flat (‘The Edge of the World’ by Shel Silverstein) & Midge says that “the world is round. That has been proven.” but does not sound totally convinced; A few mentions of sport teams & a player (Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, & Sammy Sosa); A few mentions of a car brand; A couple mentions of a Brownie (Girl Scouts) troop; A mention of Disney World; A mention of National Geographic; A mention of someone’s face freezing between crying and turning into a werewolf.

 
Sexual Content- A recalling of when Midge was a toddler and ate a lightning bug saying she “kissed him”; 
             *Note: A comment on puberty (when Midge describes rabies as making “you grow fur on your face and go crazzzyyy!”, a friend says “no, I think that’s puberty.”); A mention of puberty (Jack thinking that a smaller coyote hasn’t hit puberty yet either).
 
-Jack, age 10
                                  1st person P.O.V. of Jack 
                                               Set in 1995
                                                        236 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

After reading the first book in this series, I’ve been excited to continue the rest of the books because there is such a nostalgic charm to it—the summer of riding your bike around the neighborhood with your friends and even VBS in this second book! The VBS parts were so fun and I really liked seeing that represented because VBS is some of my favorite childhood memories. I don’t feel like I’ve seen too many books talk about VBS and that was fun element to this story. (Side note: I need a YA contemporary book that has the main girl volunteering at VBS now, please and thank you!)

 

As a sensitive animal lover, I was a little nervous before going into this book because of the missing pets in the woods where a coyote is known to live, but it was okay for me. It all ends well and I’m very glad about that! Some younger and sensitive animal lovers might have a hard time, though, still so just a heads up for that element! 

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.