Redeemed Reader Starred Reviews

Store Location

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

Fiction & Literature

Doorways to Great Reading

Redeemed Reader Starred Reviews

58 Items found Print

Active Filters:

10th grade (Ages 15-16)

	Advent of the Lamb of God previously published as Behold 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
	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
	Calvin by Martine Leavitt from Square Fish Publishing for 8th-12th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99
	Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre 2^nd edition from William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company for 10th-Adult in Communication & Conflict Resolution (Location: XCL-COM)
	Carved in Ebony Lessons from the Black Women who Shape Us by Jasmine L. Holmes from Bethany House for 10th-Adult in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH) $17.99
	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
	Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton from Charles Scribner's Sons for 10th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $17.00 $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Cytonic Skyward #3 by Brandon Sanderson from Ember for 7th-10th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $14.99
	Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork from Arthur A. Levine Books for 7th-12th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $10.99
	Echoes of Eden Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts by Jerram Barrs from Crossway Books for 10th-Adult in Creating Culture (Location: XCU-CRE) $18.99
	Entwined by Heather Dixon from Greenwillow Books for 7th-12th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $10.99
	Epic An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History by Tim Challies from Zondervan for 7th-Adult in Church History Overviews (Location: XCH-OVE) $19.99
	Faithful Spy Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 8th-Adult in Biographies (Location: BIO) $18.99
	Finding Truth 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes by Nancy Pearcey from David C. Cook in Worldview Resources (Location: XWV-RES) $18.39
	For Christ's Crown Sketches of Puritans and Covenanters by Richard Hannula 1^st edition from Canon Press for 5th-Adult in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID) $16.00
	Get Your Story Straight A Teen's Guide to Learning & Living the Gospel by Kristen Hatton 1^st edition from New Growth Press for 8th-12th grade in Growing Up Christian (Location: XCL-GROW)
	Hallelujah Cultivating Advent Traditions with Handel’s Messiah by Cindy Rollins from Blue Sky Daisies for 1st-Adult in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY) $9.95
	Hallelujah A Journey Through Advent with Handel's Messiah by Cindy Rollins from Circe Institute for 1st-Adult in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
	Heralds of the Reformation Thirty Biographies of Sheer Grace by Richard Hannula from Canon Press for 5th-Adult in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID) $15.00
	Honey for a Teen's Heart Using Books to Communicate with Teens by Gladys Hunt & Barbara Hampton from Zondervan for 7th-Adult in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC) $16.99
	Hosanna in Excelsis Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas Season by David & Barbara Leeman from Moody Press for 3rd-Adult in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY) $15.99
	Land of Hope An Invitation to the Great American Story by Wilfred M. McClay from Encounter Books for 10th-Adult in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF) $49.99 $25.00 (1 in stock)
	Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pioneer Girl The Annotated Autobiography 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 $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Love and Other Great Expectations by Becky Dean from Delacorte Press for 8th-12th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $17.99
	Lovely War by Julie Berry from Penguin Books for 10th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $13.99
	Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork from Scholastic Press for 9th-Adult in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99
	Mission Accomplished A Two-Week Family Easter Devotional by Scott James from New Growth Press for All ages in Easter & Lent (Location: HOLIDAY)
	Mythmakers The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 3rd-Adult in The Inklings (Location: LIR-INK)
	Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen from Scholastic Press Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $8.99
	Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur from WaterBrook Press for 7th-12th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $12.99
	Ordinary Hazards A Memoir by Nikki Grimes from Wordsong for 10th-Adult 2020 Robert F. Siebert Honor Book in Biographies (Location: BIO) $19.99
	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)
	Reformation Heroes by Diana Kleyn, Joel R. Beeke 2^nd edition from Reformation Heritage Books for 5th-10th grade in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
	Rise Get Up and Live in God's Great Story by Trip Lee, foreword by John Piper from Thomas Nelson Publishers for 7th-12th grade in Growing Up Christian (Location: XCL-GROW) $19.99
	Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent from Thomas Nelson Publishers for 10th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $18.99
	Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope from Sandpiper Books for 10th-12th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Song that Moves the Sun by Anna Bright from HarperCollins for 8th-12th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $17.99
	Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian unknown from Oxford University in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR) $36.95
	Thief Queen's Thief Series #1 by Megan Whalen Turner Reissue from Greenwillow Books for 9th-Adult in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $15.99
	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 One Girl's Story in the Fight for School Equality 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 $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Transformed by Truth Why and How to Study the Bible for Yourself as a Teen by Katherine Forster from Crossway Books for 7th-12th grade in Bible Study & Reference for Kids (Location: BIBR-STU) $14.99
	Twelve Days in May Freedom Ride 1961 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)
	Visual Theology Seeing and Understanding the Truth about God by Tim Challies & Josh Byers from Zondervan for 7th-10th grade in Various Theology (Location: XTH-MISC) $22.99
	Way Things Work by David Macaulay & Neil Ardley 5^th edition from Houghton Mifflin for 4th-10th grade in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW) $35.00
	Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay & Neil Ardley 4^th edition from Houghton Mifflin for 4th-10th grade in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
	What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 9th-Adult in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $19.99
	Wild Bells A Literary Advent by Missy Andrews from Center for Literary Education for 5th-Adult in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY) $19.99
	Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins from Houghton Mifflin for 4th-10th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Daag from Clarion Books for 7th-10th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins from Square Fish Publishing for 6th-12th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $11.99
	Young Man’s Guide to Awesomeness How to Guard Your Heart, Get the Girl and Save the World by Barrett Johnson from CreateSpace for 6th-12th grade in Raising Sons (Location: XFA-SON) $14.99

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Connect