The White Dragon of Sharnu (The Daystar Voyages, 9)

Rating:
Summary: For Christians afraid to let their children read REAL books
Review: If you want your children to be hit over the head with someone's idea of what every Christian child should read, then this is the book for you. Every stereotype is represented in this book. The fat "glutton" who is not so subltly named "Heck" is obviously a non-Christian, so it seems to be okay for kids and adults, including the Captain of the ship to ridicule him. The Christian children are all good looking. They are the elite, while the majority of the crew are called "grunts" who are of limited intelligence and potential. There are a few non-Christian kids on the crew, who all have some sort of flaw, and present an opportunity for the Christian members of the crew to beat them over the head with their views. The Asian is the one with the brains, and presumably the math skills. Every character who is physically ugly is also evil. Every so-called Christian view that is stated by a character is awkward--the dialogue never seems believable when the author is attempting to express his views on the world. Do people really believe that separation of church and state is "a direct attack on the truth of Jesus Christ?" or that "the people who wanted to forbid prayer had no problem if it was a prayer to Buddha. Only prayer to Jesus" as the author states on page 91 (paperback version?)How sad. This book is light on plot, fails to capture the readers interest, and offends any reasonable reader of children's fiction with it's poorly developed characters, criminally simplistic stereotypes, and heavy handed manner. If you are afraid to let your children read REAL books that aren't heavily laden with someone's idea of what constitutes Christian beliefs and don't care that they may be turned off by reading forever, then go ahead and support this hack. Although this is a thin paperback and should be a quick read, I had to force myself to continue to read the book to the end in the hopes that somewhere it would redeem itself and actually turn out to be interesting, fun, entertaining, educational--anything but a thinly disguised rant of someone who is writing not for the children, but for the peace of mind of parents who believe that somehow that if a pastor peppers a book with a Christian point of view then it will be "safe" for their children to read. I have hope that kids are smarter than the author believes them to be. I can't believe anyone would ever read this entire book, much less more than one of this series.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: This isn't my favorite of the Daystar Voyages series, but it is a very good book. The White Dragon is creepy and the more you discover about Mei-Lani's family, the more intriguing it becomes. I liked the crystals and the part when Ringo kisses Raina.