For Christian mid-school entertainment, you’d have to look long and hard to beat this series. The Redemptive Barton Family Adventure Series takes the genre up a couple of steps. To quote from the blurb:

The Barton Family Adventures are filled with Christian values and designed to be eBook adventures you can trust while connecting with the kid in everyone. They are a great read for parents, for your independent reader, or for everyone together as you read it aloud with the family. Middle grade readers, teachers, parents, and grandparents will all be pulled into the hunt for glittering gold pieces of eight from the very beginning.

It is very surprising to discover a book series with this intention which is real, entertaining, and unpretentious. There’s a lot of teaching. But, I found almost no preaching.

The parents of the Barton family feel a strong call from God to minister as self-funded missionaries. So, they sell their home, take the children, buy a beautiful yacht, and sail the Caribbean. The basis plot sounds ridiculous. But as you know, most plots do when stripped to their essentials.

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The Redemptive Barton Family Adventure Series

What makes books like these work is the world-building, character development, and storytelling. Mark is a gifted teller of tales. They are believable and compelling. The adventures deliver excitement, intrigue, twists, and exhilarating fun. A slight predictability is my only quibble. Nevertheless, even this should be no problem to a mid-school reader.

I’m grateful that he gave me review copies to read and enjoy. He gave me no restrictions. However, I have no hesitation in sharing my enthusiasm.

The author creds

From Mark’s bio, “Along with raising a family [of three children], for many years both Mark and his wife Donna have been very active with church youth groups and students from all walks of life.

“Mark is currently involved with a College & Career class and has worked with young people, both teens and young adults, for over 20 years. He has held positions ranging from Junior Church programs to Youth Pastor, from school teacher to Athletic Director, and from summer camp to directing youth activities.”

An award of Excellence for Redemptive Christian speculative fiction

This is an obvious step for me. Redemptive Christian fiction has always been rare. As you know, this is becoming even more true in the traditional world of Christian bookstore publishing by traditional publishers. As a result, almost all we see is self-published. Nonetheless, these are exceptional books.

The enemy spiritual level is quite limited. As you would expect, a mid-school book is not the place for radical spiritual warfare. But it is realistically done.

Adults will enjoy these books. Mid-schoolers and teens should love them.

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