From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8–Todd Farrel attends a small Episcopal school in New England. Each year, the sixth graders must write a social-studies term paper. After hearing about a classmate's mystical experiences, Todd decides to explore the topic for his project. Following extensive research at the library, he discovers that historical figures, including Joan of Arc and St. Francis, were driven to greatness by mystical revelations. In order to verify his report, he is convinced that he must experience his own epiphany. This is achieved during a near-death experience when he saves his best friend from drowning. Todd learns to accept and appreciate friends who are like him and those who are different. The final chapters are more compelling and exciting than the first part of the book, especially the near drowning in an icy pond, but readers must suspend disbelief to buy into the almost perfect outcome of the incident. Overall, this is a mildly interesting but didactic story.
–Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 5-8. Religion comes into children's fiction more often than it used to, but usually not in the quiet, foundation-building way it does here. Sixth-grader Todd Farrel attends St. Luke's Episcopal School in western Massachusetts, where his young teacher, Mr. Phillips, encourages thinking. For instance, what does John Donne mean by no man being an island, and for whom does the bell toll? For middle-grade fiction, this is a cerebral book, yet it's told in the voice of a totally normal boy. Todd thinks about God, prayer, and mystical experiences, right alongside superheroes, girls, and sibling relationships. In fact, most of what happens here happens in Todd's head--until the very end, when Todd saves his best friend from drowning. This comes at a point where the reader's interest might be flagging, and though it hardly seems reasonable that the boys don't end up in the hospital, the dramatic incident serves to tie together the spiritual elements Todd has been contemplating. A quiet, meaningful first novel.
Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
