Redeemed Reader Starred Reviews

With the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020, we, like many others, closed up the shop to customers and went to an online-selling-only format for a few weeks. That period coincided with the closure of libraries, schools, and many other activities families participated in, so demand for reading books became intense! We had never seen fiction fly off our shelves like that before! And customers weren't bringing us used books to keep those shelves full, so we quickly had large gaps in our inventory. 

We had a decision to make. We could simply start ordering more at a time of the books we normally carried; or, we could start using all of our free time (ha!) to expand our selection. If you know us at Exodus at all, you know which path we took.

Now, we like to read, but we pull ideas for titles from all over. Along with suggestions from friends, book lists and curriculum catalogs have been our main go-to for years. But they tend to focus on the tried and true, and while wonderful, they can get a little stale. 

Enter Redeemed Reader. This blog, written and administrated by four remarkable ladies—Janie Cheaney, Betsy Farquhar, Megan Saben, and Hayley Schoeppler—is an excellent answer to the problem. Primarily focusing on new books, they rate and review books from a Protestant Christian perspective, and they do it extremely well. Active for 9+ years, they have several hundred reviews on the site, and include picture books, easy readers, books for middle grades, teens, and adults. Their rating system is designed to show how well a book reflects Truth & Story. Since it's possible for a book to be excellently told artistically, yet be antagonistic to Biblical faith; or the converse: a story may be Biblically sound, yet poorly written—so their ratings (scales of 1-5) show both, and then are averaged. If that average rating is 4.5 or higher, they might give the book a "starred review," meaning the book is among the best of the best. It's a book worth owning or giving as a gift, and will probably bear potentially frequent rereading. 

Although they've reviewed many other books we carry as well, we've decided to intentionally carry as many of the starred reviews as we can, and those are collected here. We'll continue to add more as they do! 

Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
Redeemed Reader Starred Reviews
104 Items found Print
Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14)
100 Cupboards
by N. D. Wilson
from Random House
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Advent of the Lamb of God
from InterVarsity Press
for 5th-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$20.00
Airborn
Airborn Trilogy #1
by Kenneth Oppel
from HarperCollins
for 5th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.99
All He Knew
by Helen Frost
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
Almost Paradise
by Corabel Shofner
from Square Fish Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Bamboo People
by Mitali Perkins
from Charlesbridge
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Beauty
by Robin McKinley
First Paperback Edition, 2018 from Greenwillow Books
Fantasy/Retold Fairy Tale for 5th-8th grade
$7.99
Behind Enemy Lines
Trailblazers
by Nancy Drummond
from Christian Focus Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Berliners
by Vesper Stamper
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$21.99
Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renee Watson
from Square Fish Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Book of the Ancient World
by Dorothy Mills
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$19.50 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Book of the Ancient World
by Dorothy Mills
from Dawn Chorus
for 5th-8th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Calvin
by Martine Leavitt
from Square Fish Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Carver and the Queen
by Emma C. Fox
from Owl's Nest Publishers
for 7th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
Cytonic
Skyward #3
by Brandon Sanderson
from Ember
for 7th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
Disappeared
by Francisco X. Stork
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.99
Dragonfly Eyes
by Cao Wenxuan, translated from the Chinese by Helen Wang
from Candlewick Press
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Entwined
by Heather Dixon
from Greenwillow Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Epic
by Tim Challies
from Zondervan
for 7th-Adult
in Church History Overviews (Location: XCH-OVE)
$19.99
Faerie Gold
Classics for Young Readers
by Kathryn Lindskoog & Ranelda Mack Hunsicker
from P&R Publishing
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 4th-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$17.99
Faithful Spy
by John Hendrix
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Father Brown Reader
by G. K. Chesterton adapted by Nancy Carpenter Brown
1st edition from Hillside Education
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.95
For Christ's Crown
by Richard Hannula
1st edition from Canon Press
for 5th-Adult
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$16.00
Get Your Story Straight
by Kristen Hatton
1st edition from New Growth Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Growing Up Christian (Location: XCL-GROW)
Ghost
Track book #1
by Jason Reynolds
from Atheneum
for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Giving Thanks
by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Pamela Dalton
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-8th grade
in Holidays (Location: HOLIDAY)
Golden Goblet
by Eloise J. McGraw
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1962 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Hallelujah
by Cindy Rollins
from Blue Sky Daisies
for 1st-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$9.95
Hallelujah
by Cindy Rollins
from Circe Institute
for 1st-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson
from Yearling
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson
from Delacorte Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Heralds of the Reformation
by Richard Hannula
from Canon Press
for 5th-Adult
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$15.00
Honey For a Child's Heart
by Gladys Hunt
5th edition from Zondervan
for All ages
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$19.79
Honey For a Child's Heart (old)
by Gladys Hunt
4th edition from Zondervan
for All ages
in Clearance: Home School Resources (Location: ZCLE-HSR)
$12.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Honey for a Teen's Heart
by Gladys Hunt & Barbara Hampton
from Zondervan
for 7th-Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$11.69
Hope in the Holler
by Lisa Lewis Tyre
from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Hosanna in Excelsis
by David & Barbara Leeman
from Moody Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$15.99
How Do We Know That Christianity is Really True?
Biq Questions Series
by Chris Morphew, Illustrated by Emma Randall
from Good Book Company
for 3rd-8th grade
in Worldview & Apologetics for Kids (Location: BIBWV-APK)
$12.99
I Am David
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Inquisitor's Tale
by Adam Gidwitz
from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
2017 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
by Dusti Bowling
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Irenaeus
by Simonetta Carr
from Reformation Heritage Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Jack Zulu and the Waylander's Key
by S. D. Smith & J. C. Smith
from Story Warren Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.99
Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
1944 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Labors of Hercules Beal
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Clarion Books
for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pioneer Girl
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill
from South Dakota State Historical Society Press
for 7th-Adult
in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$39.99
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Clarion Books
for 7th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue Park
from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue Park
from Clarion Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Love and Other Great Expectations
by Becky Dean
from Delacorte Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
Mission Accomplished
by Scott James
from New Growth Press
for All ages
in Easter & Lent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Monks and Mystics
History Lives Volume 2
by Mindy & Brandon Withrow
from Christian Focus Publications
for 5th-9th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
Most Perfect Thing in the Universe
by Tricia Springstubb
from Margaret Ferguson Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
New Kid
by Jerry Craft
from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$12.99
Night Divided
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
from Scholastic Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
O Captain, My Captain
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Sterling Hundley
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 3rd-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$19.99
Pay Attention, Carter Jones
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Perilous Gard
by Elizabeth Marie Pope
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fantasy for 7th-10th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Perilous Gard
by Elizabeth Marie Pope
from Puffin Books
Historical Fantasy for 7th-10th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Pilgrim's Progress (retold)
by John Bunyan (retold by Gary D. Schmidt)
from Eerdmans
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$17.50
Radical Book for Kids
by Champ Thornton
from New Growth Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Devotions for Kids (Location: BIB-DEV)
$29.99
Really Radical Book for Kids
by Champ Thornton
from New Growth Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Devotions for Kids (Location: BIB-DEV)
Red Butterfly
by A. L. Sonnichsen, Illustrated by Amy June Bates
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Reformation Heroes
by Diana Kleyn, Joel R. Beeke
2nd edition from Reformation Heritage Books
for 5th-10th grade
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
Rise
by Trip Lee, foreword by John Piper
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 7th-12th grade
in Growing Up Christian (Location: XCL-GROW)
$19.99
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred Taylor
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1977 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Keepers
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Seeds of America - Boxed Set
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$26.99 $17.00 (1 in stock)
Skyward
Skyward #1
by Brandon Sanderson
from Ember
for 7th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.99
Song that Moves the Sun
by Anna Bright
from HarperCollins
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$17.99
Sunny
Track book #3
by Jason Reynolds
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Super Jake and the King of Chaos
by Naomi Milliner
from Running Press
for 2nd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Swallows' Flight
by Hilary McKay
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
Sweep
by Jonathan Auxier
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
This is Our Constitution
by Khizr Khan
from Yearling
for 5th-10th grade
in Government & Civics Resources (Location: GOV-REF)
$8.99
This Promise of Change
by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
2020 Robert F. Siebert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Through Gates of Splendor
by Elisabeth Elliot
from Tyndale House
Biography for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Time Sight
by Lynne Jonell
from Henry Holt and Company
Time Travel Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.99
Transformed by Truth
by Katherine Forster
from Crossway Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Bible Study & Reference for Kids (Location: BIB-STU)
$11.99
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #4
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Trial and Triumph
by Richard Hannula
from Canon Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$21.00
Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
from Square Fish Publishing
Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
from Scholastic Inc.
Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Twelve Days in May
by Larry Dane Brimner
from Calkins Creek
for 6th-12th grade
2018 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden
Vanderbeekers #2
by Karina Yan Glaser
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
Vanderbeekers #1
by Karina Yan Glaser
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Visual Theology
by Tim Challies & Josh Byers
from Zondervan
for 7th-10th grade
in Various Theology (Location: XTH-MISC)
$22.99
Watership Down Graphic Novel
by Richard Adams, adapted and illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Ten Speed Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$35.00
Watership Down Graphic Novel
by Richard Adams, adapted and illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Ten Speed Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$26.99
Way Things Work Now
by David Macaulay & Neil Ardley
3rd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-10th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$35.00
We Could Be Heroes
by Margaret Finnegan
from Atheneum
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
We’ve Got a Job
by Cynthia Levinson
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
for 5th-8th grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$13.95
Westing Game
Puffin Modern Classics
by Ellen Raskin
from Puffin Books
Mystery/Suspense for 5th-8th grade
1979 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
What Happens When We Die?
Big Questions Series
by Chris Morphew, Illustrated by Emma Randall
from Good Book Company
for 3rd-8th grade
in Worldview & Apologetics for Kids (Location: BIBWV-APK)
When the Sea Turned to Silver
by Grace Lin
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?
Big Questions Series
by Chris Morphew, Illustrated by Emma Randall
from Good Book Company
for 3rd-8th grade
in Worldview & Apologetics for Kids (Location: BIBWV-APK)
$12.99
Wild Bells
by Missy Andrews
from Center for Literary Education
for 5th-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$19.99
Witch of Blackbird Pond
by Elizabeth George Speare
Reissue from Sandpiper Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1959 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
12