"Ten Minutes of Home" by Nell Branum

About this book:

  “Did someone say treasure?
    Life is great. Riley and Noah’s dad returns from Army deployment, and the reunited family is headed to his hometown in Nebraska for a Veteran’s Day parade. But the trip takes an unexpected turn when the kids meet an elderly woman named Miss Maisie who reveals that there’s a hidden treasure in the town. And when Grandma Suzie’s dog (and fellow detective), Ozzie, uncovers what the kids are convinced is a clue, they’re plunged into a real-life mystery and treasure hunt. The kids discover an abandoned railway depot that has connections to World War II, but soon they find themselves trapped and in danger. With the help of two new friends, Sam and Ava, they’re determined to unearth the valuables. Will they find the hidden treasure or a dead end of disappointment? The friends uncover the true treasures of kindness and generosity and learn the real-life lesson that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”


Series: Book #3 in the “Heroes on the Homefront Mysteries” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are quoted, discussed, & remembered; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going; Talks about God, Jesus, & Him using us; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of becoming a Christian; Mentions of churches, church going, & church events; A couple mentions of Bible reading; A mention of eternity with Jesus; A mention of revival services;
             *Note: A couple mentions of an alien invasion; A mention of luck. 
 

Negative Content- A bit of eye rolling & sibling teasing; Because of the treasure hunt, Riley and her brother trespass into a building with other kids & later Riley sneaks in again (despite her brother being concerned the second time, he joins her), *Spoilers* which is when they are accidentally locked in the building and the roof collapses on Riley and her brother; They are not badly hurt, but struggled to get out and their phone are damaged; Riley feels like she’s ruined everything, that she’s disappointed her father, & that her father will never feel the same way about her again; Riley and her father have a discussion about the events and her father warns her that “if you find yourself having to sneak at something, it likely means you’re being tempted to do something you know isn’t right.”; There is no mention of punishment for Riley or her brother for trespassing, but they do apologize to the owner of the property *End of Spoilers*; All about many mentions of World War II, battles, soldiers, & injuries; Mentions of deaths & grief (including during the war & a woman for her brother); A few mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding; A couple mentions of a car accident & deaths (of Riley’s father’s parents); A couple mentions of a man having a hard time after coming back from military service about what he experienced overseas & seeing a counselor about it later; A couple mentions of Riley being concerned about something bad happening to her father when stationed overseas; 
             *Note: Riley struggles with jealousy over her siblings getting one-on-one time with their dad and has a “dark cloud of unhappiness” come over her a few times (at one point, she has a grumpy thought about her sister; *Spoilers* At the end, Riley apologizes to her sister for being “a jerk” and her sister shares that she thought Riley and their brother were blowing off their dad, so she spent extra time so he didn’t think they weren’t glad to see him back home *End of Spoilers*); Riley is concerned about her parents needing money after overhearing part of a conversation & tells her brother about it; A quote from Martin Luther King Jr.; Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of a solider in World War II not being sure if his unit would be welcomed at a canteen because they were all black soldiers (they were treated the same as everyone else); A couple mentions of fictional characters (The Wizard of Oz).
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Riley Abercrombie, sixth grade
                               1st person P.O.V. of Riley
                                                        208 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

As someone who isn’t from a military family, I can only imagine the emotions from Riley and her family as their dad comes home from being stationed overseas. I was so happy for this fictional family and seeing them together! 

 

With this change, though, Riley has some lessons to learn about sharing her dad with others and also about doing the right thing. Towards the end, Riley makes a not great decision and while it thankfully ends okay, it’s definitely a learning point for her and other young readers! I do think there should have been a bit more discussion about the consequences of her actions with her parents, but they were relieved that both Riley and her brother were all right. 

 

I’m unsure if there will be more books in this series and while this would be a good ending for it, I can’t help but hope there will be another book because I’ve greatly enjoyed this series. The first book is by far my favorite of the three stories, but it was overall a great series.

 

As a note for parents, Riley and her brother (who is a grade younger) both have their own phones and runaround town without an adult at times. 

 

 

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.

"Friends in Strange Places" by Nell Branum

About this book:

  “Every dog needs a good home. And Riley and Noah are on a road trip with Grandma Suzie to meet a fluff ball perfect for their grandma. But when they visit and fall in love with the adorable pooch, will their hopes get unexpectedly dashed? What’s more, the kids’ quest for a canine companion takes a turn when they make a discovery. The town they’re visiting once included a camp for prisoners of war . . . and it’s gearing up for a reunion. Army guards, former German prisoners, and townsfolk together again? Maybe that’s not such a good idea. When suspicion and sabotage begin to take place, the kids, along with a new friend, are on the case. But after they track one suspect into a corn maze, they realize the danger is as high as the corn stalks. Will the friends make it out in time to confirm their suspicions? What began as the best road trip ever is quickly becoming an adventure in trusting God through disappointment and danger—and the kids just might find a surprise ending after all.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Heroes on the Homefront Mysteries” series. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, & talked about; Prayers; Talks about God, Jesus, & loving out enemies; ’H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus; Mentions of God, Jesus, & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, church events, & Sunday school class; A couple mentions of a man saying he hasn’t thought much about God or praying for a while, but will think about it; A couple mentions of Jewish people; 
             *Note: Mentions of aliens & alien invasions (Noah is planning to make a movie about this and films clips for it on the trip).
 

Negative Content- Being trapped in a corn maze that seems to be on fire; A bit of sarcasm (from a side character); Because of Riley wanting to stop a man from adopting the dog she wants, she tries to find out why he is so suspicious & keeps her eye on him and his surly attitude (this includes one time with her asking him a pointed question and him getting close to her which makes her nervous; *Spoiler* Towards the end, he rescues her and Noah from a fire and they agree the culprit is not him *End of Spoiler*); Riley disappears to snoop and tells her brother to tell their grandma that she’s looking for the bathroom (and truly does look for one when snooping to keep it from being a lie); Riley goes to eavesdrop on adults’ conversation, but because they are yelling, she doesn’t think of it as eavesdropping; Later, she eavesdrops on another conversation; A side character around Riley’s age gets annoyed when her mom makes her to something (she groans and seems annoyed by it); Riley’s father is in the Army and deployed months prior to places her and her family don’t know & she misses him greatly; Riley’s dog passed away a year before the book starts and she misses him as well (barely-above-not-detailed); All about many mentions of World War II, Prisoners of War, prisons where the POWs were kept (including being shot at if they tried to escape), fighting, & deaths (including Riley and a side character not being sure about a reunion of both the POWs and the guards being a good idea which leads to a discussion about it with her grandma; barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of an event being sabotaged (such as vandalism and break-ins, reservations being messed with, items going missing or being stolen, and posters destroyed), crime scenes, & the culprit; Mentions of deaths & grief (including for a great-grandma); Mentions of fires, someone being called a “fire bug” (someone who likes to play with fire), & bombs; A few mentions of guns & shooting; A few mentions of the Great Depression; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of other wars; A couple mentions of the possibilities of burying a body; A couple mentions of the death of a beloved pet dog & grief; A mention of a mob possibly killing their enemies (this is what a POW thought would happen to him); A mention of being concerned about a man being mean to a dog; 
             *Note: When Riley talks to her grandma about the reunion of the German POWs and their American guards giving her the creeps and not understanding why there should be a museum about the awful things that happened during World War II, her grandma tells her that “Museums help us remember what happened in the past, the good and the bad, even greed and hate. And if we remember, we might not make as many terrible mistakes in the future. It’s a museum’s job to show us the truth.”; Mentions of a car brand; A few mentions of The Wizard of Oz & fictional characters; A couple mentions of brand names (Frisbee, Monopoly); A mention of Steven Spielberg; A mention of goat yoga; A mention of Noah walking “zombie-style”.
 
 
Sexual Content- A couple mentions of a couple breaking up (adults); A mention of a man staring at a young woman like “she was a shiny new bicycle on Christmas morning”; 
             *Note: A couple mentions of underwear.
 
 
-Riley Abercrombie, sixth grade
                               1^st person P.O.V. of Riley 
                                                        197 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

After greatly enjoying the first book in this series, “Keep ‘Em Flying”, I’ve been looking forward to reading this second book! 

 

At first, I did think that Riley jumped to conclusions a bit more in this book compared to the prior story, but there was a lesson in that for her by the end about doing such things and thinking the worst about people you want to think the worst about. There’s also a really neat perspective about POWs and their guards having friendly reunions, which I had never heard about or even thought about happening. I was a little concerned going into this book with it discussing POWs, but the author kept it very clean and safe for middle-grade readers for sure. 

 

As a note for parents, Riley and her brother (who is a grade younger) both have their own phones. 

 

I can’t wait to see what the next book in this series will be!

 

 

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.

"Keep 'Em Flying" by Nell Branum

About this book:

  “Sixth grader Riley Abercrombie is determined to win—even if she has to gulp down her nerves and speak in public. The Historical Society is having a contest with a cash prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to where her great-grandma once lived. But a winning essay about her brave relative, a Rosie the Riveter in World War II, may launch Riley on an adventure far bigger than she’d imagined. She soon finds herself in a real-life mystery. A famous tool, an antique rivet gun, is missing, and Riley is sure she can uncover the culprit. Chasing clues and suspects with her new friend Marcus through a museum’s vintage artifacts and aircraft, Riley just might discover she needs more than good detective skills. Will she learn to trust God when the wrong person has been accused? Can she be brave in the face of danger like her beloved great-grandma? When the kids’ sleuthing puts them in peril, they’re going to need faith, friendship, and even forgiveness to get them through.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Heroes on the Homefront Mysteries” series.


Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted, mentioned, & remembered throughout the book; Prayers; A couple discussions of God & also on forgiving others; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Riley hopes that God is listening to her prayers about keeping her father safe even if “He does have a lot of soldiers to keep up with” (adding that she wishes the Army would just send her dad home and then God would have one less solider to keep up with); Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of Bible reading; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, sermons, a pastor, & church events; A mention of being sure that a loved one is having a great time in Heaven; 
             *Note: Religious phrases like ‘for Pete’s sake’ and ‘honest to Pete’ are both said once; Riley recalls a friend in her gymnastics class laughing at her for wearing a T-shirt that had an American flag on it which made Riley tried to tell her stories that her great-grandma told her, but the girl said “what were they trying to prove by having a war, anyway? War is evil. They should have just walked away.” and while Riley agrees that war is evil, she doesn’t agree with her about the walk-away part (Riley told her grandmother this and she also agrees that war is evil, but adds that when “an enemy starts up an attack, you’ve got to either defend your country or lose it”); A mention of aliens (teasing).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’ and a ‘for crying out loud’; A bit of eye rolling & sarcasm (good natured); A handful of scenes of eavesdropping on adults; Being locked in a closet; Riley’s father is in the Army and has deployed months prior to places her and her family don’t know and she misses him greatly (she also wonders how the Rosies and others during WWII handed their loved ones being gone and missing them, up to semi-detailed); Prior to her father being deployed, Riley’s dog passed away and she misses him as well (barely-above-not-detailed); All about many mentions of World War II, events and groups during the war (including Pearl Harbor bombing and the Battle of Iwo Jima), Rosie the Riveter and soldiers, factories for airplanes/bombers, & air raids; Many mentions of thieves/burglars, a theft/robbery, stealing, stolen items, the crime scene, & the culprit possibly going to jail; Mentions of soldiers being killed, wounded, or captured during events in World War II; Mentions of deaths & grief (including for mothers and a great-grandmother); A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of the Doolittle’s Raid mission in 1942 being called a “one-way mission” and not all of the soldiers making it back; A mention of bank robbers;
             *Note: Discussions about & mentions of women being able to do jobs now that wasn’t a choice or commonplace back in the 1940s and it being an option now thanks to the impact of Rosie the Riveter noting that “The Rosies not only helped win the war, but also made it possible for women to keep working in all kinds of jobs after the war—jobs that had always been just for men” and later that back then, there wasn’t many women who worked outside of the house, but if they did “there weren’t as many kinds of jobs open to them as there are today” (such as work in a factory then or even be a plumber or a surgeon now which a couple of women thank Rosies for their influence on that being possible; One Rosie says that Riley is able to wear pants all the time now because of Rosies having to change the dress-skirt fashion for safety in the factories; In bonus content at the end of the book, the author shares that “after the war, many women decided they wanted to continue working.” And that while many women were happy to return home, “many other women decided they liked the challenge of work and the paycheck, and so continued to look for jobs that suited them. So, Rosies opened the way for women of the future to work in many kinds of jobs that previously had been only for men.”); Riley’s grandmother warns her to let the police handle the burglary, but Riley plans to keep her eye out for ways to help them solve it (at the end, her grandma tells her that her sleuthing days are over and she doesn’t want Riley following bad guys or assumed bad guys all over the place; Riley then apologizes to someone she thought was the thief); A few mentions of political figures during World War II; A few mentions of historical songs (‘The Rosie the Riveter song’ and ‘The Boogie Woogie Bungle Boy of Company B’); A few mentions of Sherlock Holmes; A mention of Halloween.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Riley Abercrombie, sixth grade
                               1^st person P.O.V. of Riley 
                                           193 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book made me want to stand up and sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ or even ‘America The Beautiful’. It was truly delightful and charming with a strong patriotic story. I was so pleasantly surprised by how many different elements of “Keep ‘Em Flying” I enjoyed!

 

Throughout the book there are “Riley’s Riveting Research Notes” added in with historical details and facts about World War II which makes this great for readers wanting to learn more about this time and/or homeschooler families doing a study on it.

 

I really enjoyed Riley and her personality. She was determined to solve the mystery and help her new friend, but she didn’t overstep besides a bit of eavesdropping (which the speakers were often speaking loudly anyway) and there were no scary or intense moments, which I greatly appreciated! 

 

Whenever I see books about World War II and the impact Rosie the Riveter had, it usually leans to a slightly feminist perspective (even in some Christian Fiction books) and I was very impressed (and glad) that this book didn’t have that angle. I listed some of the comments about how the world changed for working women—and just women working outside of the home in general—in my review above because I want to highlight that this book showed that yes, things definitely changed after the war, but it wasn’t in a “girlboss” or “girl power” kind of way.  

 

As far as the writing style, I thought it was very apt for a girl Riley’s age because while she says “like” in between a sentence, “BTW”, or even saying “IDK”, it never felt over-the-top or overused. I did think Riley saying “IDK” and “BTW” was a little strange as I don’t know anyone who actually says it in a talking conversation, but perhaps some do. As a note for parents, Riley and her brother (who is a grade younger) both have their own phones. 

 

I thought this was a great story and I can’t wait to read and review the next book in the series soon! As an additional comment, for Tenderhearts or Explorers in American Heritage Girls, I’m nearly positive this book could work for a part of some patriotic-themed badge!

 

 

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.