When You Rise Up

by R. C. Sproul, Jr.

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Religious/Secular Content	:	Christian
Adult Content	:	No
Mature Topics	:	No
Strong/Inappropriate Language	:	No
Magic/Witchcraft	:	No
Disrespect/Rebellion	:	No
Drug/Alcohol Use	:	No
Violence/Abuse	:	No
Educational Value	:	Yes
Positive/Negative Messages	:	Positive

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This is such a great book that really brings your focus back to what we really should be teaching our children.

This books shows you what the bible says that we are to teach our children, not what the world says.

When you read this book, you will be inspired to put God and Scripture first, and to remember that what is really at stake is your child's eternal life, not just their future career.

R.C. is not saying that "school" things are unimportant, but that we really should remember what God told us to teach our children, and to make sure that we take that seriously.

He shows us the biblical mandates in scripture that tells parents to teach their children, and train our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

*I highly recommend this book if you are wanting to make God and Scripture a first priority in your lives.

We really can't forget that the Lord who made our children, and blessed us with them, also asked us to train them up in a certain way. When we don't take that mandate seriously, it is like we are telling God that we know better as to what to teach our children, or that what He told us is not really all that important. 

Although Math, Science and History is important, it is not as important as our children loving the Lord, and living for Him, and raising up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

That is what is really important after all, isn't it?*

*My own words, not from the book.

Max Lucado: The Gift for all People: Thoughts on God's Great Grace

1. Religious/ Secular Content: CHRISTIAN
2. Adult Content: NO
3. Mature Topics: YES
4. Strong/ Inappropriate Language: NO
5. Magic/ Witchcraft/ Fictional Characters: NO
6. Disrespect/ Rebellion: YES
7. Drug/ Alcohol Use: YES
8. Violence/ Abuse: YES
9. Educational Value:
10. Positive/ Negative Messages: POSITIVE

Many books by Max Lucado are well known. They are Christian in content. This book is along the same vein as his others.

I believe this book does have Mature Content right from the start. We learn about Eric in the Prologue who suffers from mental illness and eventually cancer.

Alcohol Use is mentioned on page 39: "The same face that beamed at the paralytic beams at the alcoholic refusing the bottle."

Page 95 tells us of the story of a man that set out to adopt a troubled teenage girl. Disrespect/Rebellion are presented here: "She was destructive, disobedient and dishonest. One day she came home and ransacked the house looking for money. By the time he arrived, she was gone and the house was in shambles."

The inclusion of Violence/Abuse comes from Lucado's brief, yet descriptive story of Christ on the cross- before and after. Page 73 tells us "...people spit into the eyes that had wept for them...soldiers ripped chunks of flesh out of the back of their God...spikes pierced the hands that formed the earth."

This book gives a positive message of hope in God's Grace.

Katie Meier: a Girl's Guide to Life

1. Religious/ Secular Content: CHRISTIAN
2. Adult Content: !YES!
3. Mature Topics: !YES!
4. Strong/ Inappropriate Language: YES
5. Magic/ Witchcraft/ Fictional Characters: NO
6. Disrespect/ Rebellion: YES
7. Drug/ Alcohol Use: YES
8. Violence/ Abuse: YES
9. Educational Value: ?
10. Positive/ Negative Messages: POSITIVE

When you look at that list and all the YES's marked, it looks like this is not a good book. But the book's goal is to address issues that teenage girls will face and like it or not, at some point in their lives, they will face all of these things. It also has the goal of trying to show girls how it is important to stay true to themselves: body, mind, and soul. As far as Educational Value, I wasn't sure what to mark.

The adult & mature content is present pretty much THROUGHOUT the book and although Meier presents it for the most part as un-harsh a way as possible, it is there undeniably. For Strong/Inappropriate Language I marked yes simply because of what some of the topics are dealing with and she doesn't pull any punches- she lays it out like it is. However, the theme throughout is based on Christian principles: in the chapter on Beauty we are directed to Proverbs 31; in the chapter on Romance we are directed to Psalms (there are others throughout).

There are a lot of sexual references in this book. This book would be best, in my humble opinion, for a girl that is at least 15, possibly even older.

You can read a review I did for this book if you would like here.

Chelsea Curtis Fraser: Boys' Book of Battles

1. Religious/ Secular Content: NO
2. Adult Content: NO
3. Mature Topics: YES
4. Strong/ Inappropriate Language: References to race
5. Magic/ Witchcraft/ Fictional Characters: NO
6. Disrespect/ Rebellion: NO
7. Drug/ Alcohol Use: NO
8. Violence/ Abuse: YES
9. Educational Value: YES
10. Positive/ Negative Messages: Positive

Boys' Book of Battles is the story of eleven famous land combats (perhaps some not so well known by today's generation of children...). It includes battles of Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Yorktown, Austerlitz, Waterloo, Gettysburg, Sedan, Ypres, Verdun, Second Marne, and Argonne Meuse. There are inclusions of first person accounts at some of the later battles and this book is graphic in its descriptions.

I marked that there are "Strong/Inappropriate Language" because this book was written in the early 1900's, when some words for certain races were acceptable that today are taboo. Also, for "Disrespect/Rebellion" I marked no, but there are two instances that come to mind of an officer disobeying orders, and the brief account of Benedict Arnold.

Although this book is graphic in its violence, I believe it does have a positive message. Historically this book is very accurate and helpful with learning geography and history during those times. Personally, I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.

Another note, I've tagged it as Elementary but I would really recommend this book for at least 12 years and up.

Prairie Brides

1. Religious/ Secular Content: Christian
 2. Adult Content: YES
 3. Mature Topics: YES
 4. Strong/ Inappropriate Language: NO
 5. Magic/ Witchcraft/ Fictional Characters: NO
 6. Disrespect/ Rebellion: NO                                                    
 7. Drug/ Alcohol Use: NO
 8. Violence/ Abuse: NO
 9. Educational Value: NO
 10. Positive/ Negative Messages: Positive

Prairie Brides is four novellas in one book. 
They all have a similar feel. 
They are all basically love stories that are set in a farm/ country setting. 
I really enjoyed these stories. They were uplifting and encouraged me to be a better wife!
There is a little adult content, but it is very tasteful, and definitely set in a Christian manner.
No kissing or anything before marriage. 
These books are definitely for adults however, just because the main point of them is finding a spouse, and getting married. 
If you love the old fashioned country lifestyle, you will love these books.

Betsy Ross: Designer of Our Flag

by Ann Weil

Illustrated by Al Fiorentino

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1. Religious/ Secular Content: Christian, Quaker          
 2. Adult Content: NO
 3. Mature Topics: YES
 4. Strong/ Inappropriate Language: NO                                             
 5. Magic/ Witchcraft: NO
 6. Disrespect/ Rebellion: YES
 7. Drug/ Alcohol Use: NO
 8. Violence/ Abuse: NO
 9. Educational Value: YES
10. Positive/ Negative Messages: Positive 
________________________________________________________________________

I have to say, I loved this book! I was pre-reading this book for my daughter, and I got hooked. I had to read every word! lol
This book is part of the Childhood of Famous American's series.
This book basically describes Betsy Ross' childhood, and then in the last chapter it describes a little of her adult life, and how she came to make the flag. 
There was so much in this book that I never knew about her life and family.
As I was reading through this book, I thought that if the whole series was this good, I wanted them all!
It is rare to find a good book with nothing inappropriate in it. 
This book is nearly perfect as far as that goes except that there was one thing that bothered me. 
In one part of this book, Betsy and her friend are down at the docks, and a young boy tries to talk to them. 
At first Betsy won't even look at him, and she is thinking  to herself, that her parents told her not to talk to boys she didn't know, and that she should just ignore him. 
She does this for a little while, but then, she eventually talks to him, knowing that her parents would be upset if she did. 
Actually, she even goes with him on a boat, knowing that she should not, and that she would be going against her parents. 
In the book they never say whether or not her parents found out about it, or if she was given any correction.
Now, other than this one thing, this was such a great book! 
For me, I will still let my kids read this book, and use this as a learning tool. I may ask them to point out to me whether or not they found anything in the book that they thought wasn't right, and talk to them about what could happen today, if they went off with a stranger.
In the last chapter, it tells that Betsy's Husband died in a building that exploded.  It does not go into any great detail about it however. It should be OK for most ages, but if you have a younger one that you are reading to, you may just want to skip that sentence. 
This book was very good and I loved how it incorporated other aspects of history into it as well. Your kids will actually remember these history details, the way this book presents them.
Based off of this book, I would definitely check out the rest of the series!