- a bullied and fearful 12-year-old boy finds himself in another reality where he is set on a quest to conquer his fears
- new friendships, battles with evil bats, and light conquering darkness
- convo: school bully punches once in boy’s face while his goons hold him, boy’s mom died 2 years prior to story so grief is still part of life for him and dad, God is represented as Elyon in the fantasy world (see below), one character in the other world is a “mystic,” but there it only means he knows Elyon (God) and not something magical, some violence with brief battles and being tied up
- language: name calling of “maggot” several times
Type: chapter book
Ages: 9-12 (10+ for more sensitive readers)
Authors: Ted Dekker, Kara Dekker
If you have read any of Dekker’s Circle series (and its offshoots), you will encounter several familiar elements in Theo’s story here, from creatures to the very nature described. The one I want to make sure parents know about is the God-figure, Elyon. He reminds me of Aslan in a way–he’s visible and very real in Narnia but invisible and known as God in the real world. He takes the form of a boy and shows our main character, Theo, his infinite power with an illustration of a lion and hyenas. Ultimately, he conquers all darkness with his perfect light, and Theo comes to realize he can trust him. See update below.
The quest he is set on is only 20% finished by the end of the book. Theo must find the Five Seals of Truth in order to truly conquer his fears, and the first one is found at the end of book one. When I finish the series, I’ll link them all together down below.
Partway through the journey, which he is on with a few fantastical friends, he encounters the enemy. These evil creatures convince him, in a very Garden of Eden way, that knowledge is power and that Elyon just wants them to be ignorant slaves. So, Theo does ingest the “fog of deception and blindness” as we learn it’s called later, hoping it will help quiet his fears. But it causes him to have a very confused, fear-filled, and painful time of it for a while. When he briefly finds himself back in his own world, his injuries continue there as well.
At last, with the help of Elyon’s light and healing waters, he breaks free from that fog, finding courage and enthusiasm to return to school a new young man.
It has been many, many years since I read anything by either Dekker (they are father and daughter, by the way!), and I was not a discerning reader back then. This particular book I will be just fine handing to my children (see update below), but it’s not a blanket approval of all the Dekkers have written. That’s not to say I remember bad content–only that I don’t remember the content. Stay tuned for more as I read through the series!
UPDATE: Since writing the above, I have read the second book in this series. As soon as I get its review written, it’ll be linked here. The important note is: I do not recommend this series for theological reasons (and will, in fact, not be handing it to my children). Stay tuned.