Sunday, August 12, 2012

Children Of The Angels Book Review

You immediately identify with the main character Jeremy Lapoint. His father being in jail, his overworked mother and the bullying he faces at school. You can't help but feel compassion for what he goes through. Especially after he discovers he can fly and meets his guardian angel Asiel. Asiel explains to Jeremy that the reason he can fly is because he is a Nephilim; half human and half angel. After a series of events, he receives a letter from the Higher Humanity Institute inviting him to attend their school. This institute is filled with other teens who are Nephilim, but do not know it. This is where things begin to really get interesting. Throughout this entire story, you're on pins and needles wondering what is going to happen next. I absolutely love books like this. Kathryn Dahlstrom writes in a captivating way. I like how she intertwines biblical and spiritual truths into this story. This story is about spiritual warfare from a unique and creative perspective. Children of Angels is a thrilling and enjoyable read. I highly recommend this book to young adults and adults alike.Just discovered an interesting new series of books for middle school age children by author Kathryn Dahlstrom that was an great idea taken from the sixth chapter in Genesis and the thirteenth chapter in Numbers. It's about a race of created beings formed from angels and humans. In the first book in the Nephilim series, Children of Angels, finds Jeremy Lapoint, a resident of Anoka Middle School, in the midst of being bullied once more by a fellow student, Sid Lundahl and his friends. Not only do they taunt Jeremy with name calling but at one point an altercation ensures where the boys take Jeremy's backpack and dump out the items. His books, papers and reports fall to the ground which the boys stomp on and destroy. They even manage to ruin his iPod that his grandmother gave him for his birthday, breaking it in pieces. Jeremy has become the brunt of Sid's taunts ever since learning that Jeremy's dad is in prison for stealing. Now it seems it's Sid's mission to make Jeremy's life at school a living hell. That is, until Jeremy learns he can fly. Not only that but he is super strong, able to become invisible and can make it to where no one can hear him, thanks to the help and training of his own angel Asiel. Jeremy learns that he is a Nephilim, a cross between an angel and a human in which part of him wants to do good while the human half of him still struggles with his sin-filled nature: "Seek the truth at the proper time - and the One who gives it. The angel in your kind longs to serve Him. The human...has a fight on his hands. "(pg 23). Jeremy learns that there are 230 other teens like himself in Europe, Canada and America and it's important to learn his battle skills because he will be facing demons as one of the few that can see clearly into the spiritual realm. Feeling a bit more reassured, Jeremy finds himself being accepted to the Higher Humanity Institute for teens with unique abilities like his own. Only what he finds there isn't what he had expected at all. You'll have to pick this one up to learn what he finds and what happens to him. I received Children of Angels by Kathryn Dahlstrom compliments of WinePress Publishing for my honest review. I think this is an interesting twist in Christian fiction for young adults and can't wait to see where the rest of the books in this series. I would rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars and think it's the perfect book for kids who long for that Christian super hero novel.In this quote from Kathryn Dahlstrom’s most recent book, Children of Angels, the life of thirteen-year-old Jeremy Lapoint changes forever.  Everything has seemed hopeless for Jeremy: Dad’s in prison, Mom is struggling financially, and bullies are constantly preying on his family’s problems.  Despite all adversity, dormant powers awaken in Jeremy, and he feels the sudden urge to…fly!  With a soaring leap, he takes to the skies – half terrified, half ecstatic – like a teenaged Superman.  It is only later at school – when he is chased by a vicious demon and rescued by his guardian angel, Asiel – that Jeremy realizes his “superpowers” are nothing like Superman’s. “It was an answer to ardent prayer,” said Kathryn Dahlstrom, discussing the inspiration for Children of Angels – the first book of the planned “New Nephilim” youth fiction trilogy from WinePress Publishing. The novel began as a screenplay – a project for a nine month, intensive course under Hal Croasmun, one of the top Hollywood screenwriting instructors in the United States.  The story had to be big.  It had to be powerful.  It had to captivate its audience.  It had to be something that no one had done before. Dahlstrom explains that she went before the Lord in fervent prayer, asking Him for a storyline that could be a potential Hollywood blockbuster. After pondering many different fantasy ideas, the Lord gave her those words: ‘the Nephilim.’ Not knowing if the first Nephilim were good, or bad, or if they possessed supernatural powers, Dahlstrom questioned: what if their partially-angelic genetic material were super-concentrated and somehow resurfaced today?  What might happen if these “new Nephilim” suddenly developed the powers of their heavenly ancestors? From this query, the story took flight.However, Children of Angels is far more than an adventure story about youthful “superheroes” fighting “bad guys.”  Instead, Dahlstrom places her characters on the battleground of faith and conveys a far deeper and more lasting meaning – providing timely answers to lingering questions about God’s existence. “If a kid develops angel powers,” she said, “and realizes that he has the genes of angels in him, he can prove that angels are real.  If angels are real, Heaven is real.   If Heaven is real, God is real.  If God is real, then Jesus is exactly who He said He was, and the world would fight that with all that it has.  That is the fundamental truth of the story.” As the back cover of the book states, Children of Angels is “adventure with a life-changing message.”

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