the lion book review

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Word of Mouth

Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:.

It is a mere year and a half after September 11th, and America has settled into an uneasy routine, still keeping an eye on the alert levels spawned from the attacks of 2001. That is a date that nearly claimed the lives of John Corey and FBI agent Kate Mayfield (now Kate Mayfield Corey). Back then, despite their best efforts, they failed to capture Asad Khalil, and the Libyan managed a clever escape. But before he left, he made a promise to return. And a promise to kill Corey and Mayfield, along with a growing list of others. Well, Corey is looking forward to the confrontation and another chance to take down The Lion. In fact, he has been waiting these many months for just such an opportunity.

Khalil is described as a perfect killing machine, which is partly due to the fact that he fervently believes in his mission. He is driven by hatred, not only for the capitalist infidels, but also for the specific men who wiped out his family in a bombing raid. He doesn’t care about money or comfort. All he focuses on is revenge --- and to secure his place in heaven, for his warped interpretation of what his god wants tells him that those who do not believe as Khalil does are evil and must be killed. It makes sense to him, and he goes forward with his convictions of the righteousness of his deeds. “… he recalled the Roman ruins of Libya --- all that remained of the greatest imperial power the world had ever seen. In the end, he thought, the greatest armies and navies were nothing when the people believed in nothing. The wealth of an empire corrupted the people and their government, and they were no match for a people who believed in something higher than their bellies, and who worshipped God, not gold .”

There’s a twisted sort of logic there that might bear thinking about: Are we straying too far from real values? Khalil has no doubt. At any rate, terrorists seem intent on spilling blood and have no fear of dying as long as they can take out a lot of Americans with them. It means that eternity will be divine for them. America’s borders might be more secure than pre-9/11, but they are not airtight. Someone with the determination of Khalil can still slip in fairly easily, and no one will know he is here until he strikes. And then it will be too late, at least for some.

Corey and Mayfield have no warning that The Lion is back, right up to the instant that he attacks --- and he does so in a very spectacular fashion. He has a plan, this man. He is methodical, vicious and deadly. To date, his record is perfect. Once he targets someone, he or she dies. Naturally, though, Corey has his own plan, one that involves the death of Khalil. This time, one of them will die when they next meet.

But even if Corey can kill The Lion, will that be enough? It has begun to dawn on him that Khalil must have local help --- lots of it --- and excellent backing. Could it be al Qaeda? If so, he knows they’re not doing it gratis. Khalil will owe them big time, which means a huge finale after the finale of Corey and Mayfield’s murders.

Nelson DeMille really delivers with this eagerly awaited follow-up to THE LION’S GAME, which might be his best page-turner to date. John Corey thoroughly satisfies and is as irreverent as ever, shooting quick comebacks more often than he shoots his gun. But the story itself should scare the smile right off your face. These people mean business, and despite Corey’s renegade nature, we need men like him. Actually, we need armies like him. THE LION is not only fun, it is also essential reading.

Reviewed by Kate Ayers on December 30, 2010

The Lion by Nelson DeMille

• Publication Date: June 7, 2011
• Genres: Fiction , Thriller
• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• ISBN-10: 0446699608
• ISBN-13: 9780446699600

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The Lion : Book summary and reviews of The Lion by Nelson DeMille

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

by Nelson DeMille

Readers' rating:

Published Jun 2010 448 pages Genre: Thrillers Publication Information

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About this book

Book summary.

In this eagerly awaited follow-up to The Lion's Game , John Corey, former NYPD Homicide detective and special agent for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is back. And, unfortunately for Corey, so is Asad Khalil, the notorious Libyan terrorist otherwise known as "The Lion." Last we heard from him, Khali had claimed to be defecting to the US only to unleash the most horrific reign of terrorism ever to occur on American soil. While Corey and his partner, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, chased him across the country, Khalil methodically eliminated his victims one by one and then disappeared without a trace. Now, years later, Khalil has returned to America to make good on his threats and take care of unfinished business. "The Lion" is a killing machine once again loose in America with a mission of revenge, and John Corey will stop at nothing to achieve his own goal -- to find and kill Khahil.

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"DeMille splices gripping action scenes with accounts of Khalil's horrifically inventive attacks and the ATTF's futile countermeasures." - Publishers Weekly

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Author Information

• Books by this Author

Nelson DeMille Author Biography

Photo: Sandy DeMille

Nelson Richard DeMille was born in New York City on August 23, 1943 to Huron and Antonia (Panzera) DeMille. He moved as a child with his family to Long Island. DeMille spent three years at Hofstra University, then joined the Army and attended Officer Candidate School. He was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army (1966-69), saw action in Vietnam, and was decorated with the Air Medal, Bronze Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. DeMille returned to the States and went back to Hofstra University where he received his degree in Political Science and History. DeMille's earlier books were NYPD detective novels. His first major novel was By the Rivers of Babylon , published in 1978 and still in print, as are all his succeeding novels. He is a member of The Authors Guild, the Mystery ...

... Full Biography Author Interview Link to Nelson DeMille's Website

Name Pronunciation Nelson DeMille: duh-MILL

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Review: (The) Lion by Conn Iggulden

• September 30, 2022
• Roelia Reads

About the book

(via Penguin Books SA )

After the Gods.

After the Myths and Legends came the world of Men.

In their front rank stood Pericles. The Lion of the Golden Age.

Experience the epic battlefields of Ancient Greece with the master storyteller Conn Iggulden

My thoughts

I decided to pick up this book, because I have a friend who is a huge Conn Iggulgen fan. With an interest in historical fiction, and knowing that Conn is one of the “OGs” of the genre, I was keen to read this new release. And, bonus, it is the first in what is set up to be a two-book series.

There is some discussion about the title as well – it is noted at “The Lion” on some websites, but I’ve listened to a fascinating interview with the author on the “ Aspects of History ” podcast where he noted the title to be “Lion”.

This book follows, Pericles, who is also referred to “The First Citizen of Athens”, from a young man for the period of about a decade. Being eager to please and impress his father, Xanthippus, we see him grow into a reputable leader and strategist. He is a complex and flawed character, so to watch his development is quite exciting.

It also gives you a fascinating insight into the day-by-day activities during that period in history. As it should be, the author’s attention to detail and research is seriously impressive.

“It was not that authority came without crushing weight, just that the alternative was living at another’s whim.”

This will be an enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in history, military strategy, and the ancient world!

Read an extract here: The Lion by Conn Iggulden (Penguin Random House SA)

RRR (Roelia Reads Rating) 4/5

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Series or standalone: Series (book one of two)

Format: Paperback

About the Author: Conn Iggulden (Goodreads)

Thank you to Penguin Random House SA for the opportunity to read this book.

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A Summary and Analysis of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , published in 1950, was the first of the seven Chronicles of Narnia to be published. The book became an almost instant classic, although its author, C. S. Lewis, reportedly destroyed the first draft after he received harsh criticism on it from his friends and fellow fantasy writers, including J. R. R. Tolkien.

How should we analyse The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe : as Christian allegory, as wish-fulfilment fantasy, or as something else? Before we embark on an analysis of the novel, it might be worth briefly recapping the plot.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe : summary

The novel is about four siblings – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie – who are evacuated from London during the Second World War and sent to live with a professor in the English countryside. One day, Lucy discovers that one of the wardrobes in the house contains a portal through to another world, a land covered in snow.

Soon after arriving there, she (quite literally) bumps into a faun (half-man, half-goat) named Mr Tumnus, who takes her to his house and gives her tea while he tells her about the land she has wandered into. Its name is Narnia, and it is always winter (but never Christmas) ever since the White Witch cast a spell over the land. Indeed, Tumnus confesses to Lucy that he should report Lucy’s presence in Narnia to the White Witch, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he helps her find her way back to the portal so she can return home.

When Lucy gets back and tells her three siblings about her adventure in Narnia, none of them believes her – although Edmund, intrigued, follows her into the wardrobe when she goes back there and finds himself in Narnia, where he meets the White Witch. She gives him Turkish Delight and he tells her about himself and his brother and sisters. She tells him she will make him a prince if he persuades his other siblings to come with him to Narnia.

However, when Edmund talks to Lucy about where they’ve been, and he learns that the White Witch is bad news, he denies that Narnia even exists when Lucy is telling Peter and Susan about it. He accuses her of lying. But eventually all four of them go through the wardrobe into Narnia. When Lucy takes them to visit Mr Tumnus, however, they find that he has been arrested.

The children are befriended by Mr and Mrs Beaver, from whom they learn more information about Narnia. There is a prophecy that when two boys and two girls become Kings and Queens of Narnia, the White Witch will lose her power over the land; this is why the White Witch was so keen to lure the children to Narnia, with Edmund’s help, so she can destroy them and ensure the prophecy does not come true. The Beavers also tell the children that Aslan, the great lion, is on the move, and that he is due to return.

Edmund slips away from them and goes to the White Witch, telling her everything he knows. She takes him to the Stone Table, where Aslan is due to reappear, and orders her servants (wolves) to track down Edmund’s siblings and kill them so the prophecy cannot come true. Mr and Mrs Beaver take the other three children to the Stone Table to meet Aslan.

The snow in Narnia is melting, and Father Christmas appears: proof that the White Witch’s spell over the land is losing its power. Father Christmas gives Lucy, Peter, and Susan presents which will help them in their quest. They arrive at the Stone Table and meet Aslan. The White Witch’s wolf captain Maugrim approaches the camp and attacks Susan, but Peter, armed with the sword Father Christmas gave him, saves his sister and kills the wolf.

The White Witch arrives, and she and Aslan discuss her right to execute Edmund for treason, invoking ‘Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time’. Edmund is spared, but that night the children witness the White Witch putting Aslan to death on the Stone Table. Aslan has gone willingly to his death, in order to save Edmund.

However, the children are surprised and relieved when, the following morning, Aslan comes back to life, citing ‘Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time’, which means that a willing victim who sacrificed himself in place of a traitor can be brought back from death. Aslan and the children march to battle against the Witch, with Aslan raising additional troops for his army by breathing on the stone statues in the White Witch’s castle courtyard: traitors she had turned to stone with her magic.

Many years pass. The four Pevensie children have grown into young adults, and have been Kings and Queens of Narnia (reigning jointly) for many years. One day, while they are out hunting the White Stag (which, when caught, can grant wishes), they ride to the lamppost where Lucy first met Mr Tumnus: the location of the portal leading to and from their (and our) world.

Without realising this, the four of them pass through the portal and find themselves back in the wardrobe in the professor’s house. They are children again, as they were before they left all those years ago: time hasn’t passed in our world while they have been away.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe : analysis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a classic children’s novel which looks back to both earlier fantasy fiction by Victorian writers like William Morris and George MacDonald (the latter a particular influence on C. S. Lewis) as well as pioneering children’s novels by E. Nesbit.

Indeed, the Pevensie children were partly inspired by Nesbit’s Bastable children, who feature in a series of her novels, including The Story of the Treasure Seekers . Nesbit, however, had also written portal fantasy novels (as had George MacDonald, such as his 1895 novel Lilith ) involving children leaving our world behind for a fantastical other world: see her novel The Magic City , for example.

Say ‘ Chronicles of Narnia ’ or ‘ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ’ and many people will say, ‘Oh, the C. S. Lewis book(s) that are Christian allegory, right?’

But C. S. Lewis didn’t regard them as allegory: ‘In reality,’ he wrote, Aslan ‘is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, “What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?” This is not allegory at all.’

In short, Lewis rejects the idea that his Narnia books are allegory because, for them to qualify as allegorical, Aslan would have to ‘represent’ Jesus. But he doesn’t: he is Jesus, if Narnia existed and a deity decided to walk among the people of that world. We might think of this as something like the distinction between simile and metaphor: simile is like allegory, because one thing is like something else, whereas in metaphor, one thing is the other thing.

Aslan is not like Jesus (allegory): he is Jesus’ equivalent in Narnia. Perhaps this is a distinction without a difference to many readers, but it’s worth bearing in mind that if anyone should know what allegory is, it’s C. S. Lewis: he wrote a whole scholarly work, The Allegory of Love , about medieval and Renaissance allegory.

Readers might quibble over Lewis’s categorisation here, and decide that what he is outlining is a distinction without a difference (perhaps clouded by his Christianity, and his unwillingness to see his children’s books as ‘mere’ allegory for Christianity, but instead as something more direct and powerful).

But if we stick with mid-twentieth-century fiction and animals for a moment, we can find an example of unequivocal allegory: George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945), which we have analysed here . Certainly, there are subtle differences between Orwell’s novel in which animal characters ‘stand in’ for human counterparts, and what Lewis is doing with Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia .

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is, nevertheless, a novel in which Lewis draws on the Christian story of salvation through a godlike figure (Aslan’s sacrifice on the Stone Table, and subsequent resurrection, are clearly meant to summon the Crucifixion and subsequent Resurrection of Jesus Christ), in order to promote the Christian story. But what if we aren’t ‘sold’ on the Christian aspect of the story? Does the novel’s only value lie in its power as an allegory – or whatever term we might employ instead of allegory?

Part of the reason for the novel’s broader appeal, even in an increasingly secular age, is that it provides escapism and wish-fulfilment aplenty. The whole idea of a portal to another world symbolises the children’s literal escape from a dreary wartime world (where the danger of being bombed during the Blitz has given way to a rather dull life in the countryside with a professor) into a world of crisp snow, magic, and adventure.

Although The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was published five years after the end of the Second World War, children in the early 1950s were still living through a time of rationing and austerity. Even that Turkish Delight that Edmund is given – his thirty pieces of silver to betray his siblings, of course – must have seemed like an almost unattainable treat to Lewis’s original readers.

Even the device with which the novel ends, by which the four children learn that during the years they have spent in Narnia, no time has passed back home, recalls the force of a powerful dream whereby we feel we have ‘lived’ an intense, and intensely long, experience only to wake up and discover it’s only the next morning after all.

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5 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis”

Fascinating post. Curious that a modern counterpart Philip Pullman loathes and detests the works of C S Lewis.

Read it as a kid, and remains a favorite. As a kid, I never saw the Jesus connection, it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized it. I love Turkish delight and can understand why Edmund was so tempted. I enjoyed this post.

I think this story must have combined with The Stream that stood Still and Alice in Wonderland to give me the inspiration for my new “Penny ” books as these are also a portal to another land stories with a time slip. Instead of a Christian background I have an ecological one but hope children will find them just as exciting.”Penny down the Drain” is out now and “Penny and the Poorly Parrot,” ( inspired by the pandemic) will be followed by “Penny and The Creeping Weed.” Amazon seem determined to ignore a self published author but I shall renew my marketing efforts with book 2 after the lockdown.

• Pingback: A Summary and Analysis of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Selfish Giant’ – Interesting Literature

You’re absolutely right to point out that this isn’t allegory. It is a fictional story featuring Jesus in another world setting which is exactly what Lewis does with the ‘Out of the Silent Planet’ trilogy too – where he attempts to move the traditional Earth-centric ideology of the Christian world into our solar system. How would Christ behave with aliens, is the question Lewis poses there.

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The lion & the mouse, common sense media reviewers.

Retold fable with out-of-this-world art; a true keepsake.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

The diverse wildlife of the Serengeti figures prom

The classic moral resounds here: No act of kindnes

The lion reins in his wild instincts and makes a b

The lion is no gentle kitty: He snarls and growls

Parents need to know that The Lion & the Mouse , which won the 2011 Caldecott Medal, is a beautifully illustrated version of Aesop's fable that's wordless, aside from the onomatopoeic sounds of the animals. Grown-ups who are unfamiliar with the fable may want to revisit it before reading this with their…

Educational Value

The diverse wildlife of the Serengeti figures prominently in this tale. Readers will become familiar with different animals as well as their onomatopoeic sounds. They may also learn that every animal in the wild, whether big or small, has a large role to play in the overall functioning of the wildlife setting.

Positive Messages

The classic moral resounds here: No act of kindness is ever wasted. There's also a lesson on humility, respect, and selflessness as the two characters find themselves acting against what is usually expected of their kind. The tiny mouse proves the error of underestimating someone based on appearances.

Positive Role Models

The lion reins in his wild instincts and makes a better, more civilized choice when he lets the mouse go. He certainly doesn't expect to be repaid for his generosity. The brave and confident mouse is a wonderful example of the worthiness of repaying kindness. Both characters prove to have big hearts as they learn the value of humility, selflessness, and forgiveness from one another.

Violence & Scariness

The lion is no gentle kitty: He snarls and growls when he first captures the mouse, then roars in fury when caught up in the poachers' net.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Lion & the Mouse , which won the 2011 Caldecott Medal, is a beautifully illustrated version of Aesop's fable that's wordless, aside from the onomatopoeic sounds of the animals. Grown-ups who are unfamiliar with the fable may want to revisit it before reading this with their children.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (3)

Based on 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

This is a visual retelling of the classic Aesop fable: A lion, awakened by a mouse climbing over him, catches the tiny animal in his mighty paw. The mouse appeals for mercy and the lion relents. Soon after, the lion is captured in a poacher's net. The mouse hears his anguished roars and comes to his aid, gnawing the ropes until the great creature is freed.

Is It Any Good?

Parents might expect the lack of text would make this an easy read -- but far from it. Readers are challenged to get involved in the story, to linger and explore each scene of this sumptuous book from acclaimed artist Jerry Pinkney . His illustrations, luminous in earthy golden tones, capture extraordinary nuance and expression in the mouse and the lion. The cover alone is arresting: Filling the front is the lion, looking a bit surprised as he glances to the left; flip the book over and there’s the mouse, in enlarged perspective, facing the lion with a friendly and fearless countenance.

Pinkney treats both the king of the jungle and the humble mouse with respect and affection. These are wild creatures, communicating with growls and squeaks, anxiously tensed bodies and fiercely snapping jaws. They are portrayed as adversaries, momentary friends, leaders of their families, and part of the diverse community in the Serengeti. In Pinkney's hands, this simple fable takes on new depth.

Full-page, expressive illustrations in watercolor and pencil are captivating.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about kindness. Why does the lion release the mouse? Does he expect anything in return?

How do you think the lion feels when the mouse arrives to free him?

The mouse and the lion are very different animals. In this story, in what ways are they similar?

Before you supply the narrative for each spread, ask your child what she thinks is happening in the story. After you've read it together, encourage your child to take a turn "reading" it out loud to you.

Book Details

• Author : Jerry Pinkney
• Illustrator : Jerry Pinkney
• Genre : Friendship
• Topics : Cats, Dogs, and Mice , Friendship , Wild Animals
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date : September 1, 2009
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
• Number of pages : 40
• Award : Caldecott Medal and Honors
• Last updated : March 11, 2020

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Book Review

The lion of mars.

• Jennifer L. Holm
• Adventure , Futuristic , Science Fiction

Readability Age Range

• 8 to 12 years old.
• Random House

Year Published

Eleven-year-old Bell is a regular, cat-loving kid who’s spent his whole life with a small group of teens and adults in an American colony … on Mars! There are settlements from other countries on the Red Planet, too. But one of the big rules for Bell’s group is that they never make contact with any other colonies. When all of the adults fall sick, however, it’s up to average kid Bell to uncover the truth and hopefully save everyone he loves.

Plot Summary

Eleven-year-old Bell has spent his entire life growing up on Mars. That’s right, Mars! Other than being a resident on a planet that’s plagued with freezing cold surface temperatures, deadly radiation and incredibly destructive dust storms, however, he’s a pretty average kid. He loves animals, cats in particular. And he definitely loves cake, though he’s not particular about that at all.

So how did an Earth boy like Bell end up on a planet like Mars?

Well, when the various countries on Earth began establishing human settlements at the end of the 21 st century, they soon put the Nanny Program into effect. That meant that every new, useful individual who rocketed to Mars would also bring along an orphaned child to become a part of the growing colonies.

However, Bell’s colony isn’t very large at all. It’s just him, four teens and six adults. That’s not all that many people to keep a sprawling underground American base up and running. But they make do. And to help everyone stay safe, Sai, the colony’s commander, established a small list of settlement rules:

Do not go outside without a buddy. Use the alarm bell in an emergency. Keep a glow stick in your pocket. Rovers are off-limits for children. Do not go beyond the flag. No contact with foreign countries, ever.

It’s that last rule that really chafes Bell and the other kids on his base. There are a number of other colonies out there, places they would love to see filled with kids and adults whom they’d love to meet. But for some reason, that’s a big no-no. And no one would ever tell them why. After seeing something crash down to the surface near the French colony, Bell and the other kids actually take a joyride in a rover one day to go see it. And boy, do they get in trouble.

When the adults of the American colony all fall ill with a mysterious virus, however, things definitely take a scary turn. The young colony members take over the settlement jobs and care for the older members as best they can. But everything continues to get worse. And help from Earth is millions of miles and months of rocket travel away. It all seems to come down to Bell—a regular 11-year-old caught up in a not-so-regular Red Planet conundrum—to uncover the truth and somehow save the people he loves.

Christian Beliefs

We see no indications of spirituality or belief in God among any of the Mars colony members we meet.

Other Belief Systems

When something hurtles out of space and crashes to the planet’s surface, Bell sees it and thinks it’s an alien spacecraft. He sees other clues which might suggest that’s true.

Authority Roles

None of the various American colonists are related to Bell or the other teens, since the kids were all orphan babies or children. But the groups all work together in something of a broad family structure. Bell and the teens react to and care for each other much like siblings. And the adults all take a loving, earnest hand in raising the kids—teaching them about colony life such as farming work and colony care and taking time to embrace them and see them through difficulties. We later see a similar family structure in other colonies, too.

Commander Sai is the only person who attempts to stick to a more military focus and command structure. That makes him the most standoffish of the adults, someone who sometimes makes seemingly irrational decisions. But we later see emotionally connected reasons for some of his orders, and in the end, he opens up about his feelings and worries—apologizing to those whom he realizes he’s wronged.

The American command back on Earth, however, is authoritarian and distant. There are implied statements about wars breaking out on Earth. And in that way, the story makes subtle negative statements about the shortsightedness and impersonal nature of government.

Profanity & Violence

Bell has a tendency to growl out “Aw, dust it!” whenever he feels frustrated or angry.

There’s no real violence perpetrated on anyone here. But there is a mysterious virus that breaks out in the colony which only effects the adults. It torments them with fevers and racking coughs. One character dies from what may have been the virus or a heart attack.

There are also some perilous moments when the colony’s children are in danger. They crash a vehicle on the surface. One of the kids fractures his clavicle. And the others worry that they’ll be stranded with no help. A similar situation happens when an underground train’s batteries die, leaving someone alone in a long lightless tunnel in fear of losing his life and causing the death of someone he left behind. We also hear about a young woman who was left on the Mars surface with a broken leg and subsequently died from internal bleeding.

Sexual Content

There is one married couple in the American colony. We see them talking affectionately with each other and giving each other brief, loving snuggles and kisses. One of the male teens also falls for a girl in another colony. They kiss, much to the blanching chagrin of Bell and another young friend. Lastly, two adults who had once been in love but at odds for a while, meet again, make up and kiss.

Discussion Topics

Have you ever been afraid and worried about what to do? How did you handle it? As Christians, what do you think God gives us to help us in those moments? What do you think Bell learned from his scary experiences?

In a way, all of the kids in Bell’s colony were adopted. What do you think this story says about adoption? Do you know any kids who were adopted by their family? Does this story make you feel any differently about them, or help you to understand life from their point of view?

This book also talks a lot about reaching out to others and forming friendships with people you don’t know. Do you think that’s important? Did this story make you think differently about people from different countries? What did you learn?

When you have a grumpy or sad day, or when you feel upset about changes that happen, do you ever talk to anybody about it? Are some people easier to talk to than others? Why? Do you think talking helps? What do you think this book is saying about breaking rules?

What did you like most about this book?

Get free discussion questions for other books at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Even though this novel was written before the coronavirus breakout, young readers could easily see parallels between the Mars story and the disease and its isolating impact in 2020—giving parents a chance to talk through their feelings about the virus. In that light, this novel also deals with issues of loss and grief, even offering suggestions on how to deal with those feelings.

On a more upbeat note, Lion of Mars talks about the great value of community and family and illustrates that we humans are created for, and desire connection with, others. Lastly, this book asks kids to look at the idea of bravery and what that means. For instance, after facing a perilous event, young Bell talks with one of the adults about his feelings in the moment:

“Bell,” Sai said, “Trey told me what happened on the train. It was very, very brave of you to walk through the tunnel by yourself to get help.”

But he was wrong. I hadn’t been brave.

“I almost gave up. I was scared the whole time,” I confessed.

His eyes met mine and he nodded.

“That’s what bravery feels like,” he said. 

 You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

Review by Bob Hoose

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The Lion King (1995 VHS)

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Book review: the lion king.

You may have seen the trailer of the upcoming film The Lion King, which is based on the evergreen animated Disney classic that was released 25 years ago. Disney Wonderful World of Reading also offers the print version of that very classic that may not have the songs, but the impact is more or less the same.

What’s more, you don’t need anything from DVD, TV to YouTube, to relive the Disney classic because this print version takes you into the kingdom of Mufasa the moment you open the book.

The story begins in the Pride Lands where King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi celebrate the birth of their first-born cub Simba, in front of all the animals in their kingdom and under the supervision of Rafiki the Baboon. Simba joins the Circle of Life and is fortunate enough to learn from his father who is a popular king.

The cub’s uncle Scar, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of his elder brother and want the throne for himself. It is his scheming ways that see Mufasa die and Simba run away thinking that it is his fault that his father is dead. Scar uses the death of Mufasa and the absence of Simba to become the King ... until Simba’s return many years later.

How Simba survives all those years away from his family, his friends and above all, with his saviours Timon and Pumbaa make this book a must-read.

Although most of us know the story of Lion King, even then this book teaches you a thing or two. At least it tells young readers what the animated film misses, such as the facts that Timon was a meerkat, Pumbaa a warthog and Zazu a hornbill, while the hyenas were named Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.

Furthermore, it narrates the story in a better way, one that is suited for bedtime reading or reading with friends.

The illustrations have been taken from the animated film, yet the attention to detail is amazing and worth your time.

The presence of all kinds of animals in a book will attract new readers as well those who are more into reading than watching. Many of you may have already read a different edition of the book and may be familiar with its content, but a new edition always has a few surprises.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 22nd, 2018

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The Old Lion: A Novel of Theodore Roosevelt

Written by Jeff Shaara Review by Marlie Wasserman

Even those lovers of history who have read the many wonderful biographies of Theodore Roosevelt will enjoy Jeff Shaara’s novel, written from the point of view of Roosevelt himself. Shaara has focused on key moments and events in TR’s life, including the personal tragedies he faced, his time as a cattleman, his adventures in the Spanish-American War, and his dangerous trip to Brazil. Shaara divides the book into five parts, beginning each with a scene in the winter of 1918/1919 as TR lies on his deathbed in great pain, remembering both his victories and his limitations. Those limitations include his attitudes toward race, his ineptness with finances, and his tendency to prioritize his enthusiasms over the people around him.

Although Shaara often includes letters and documents from the historical record, he uses dialog and internal meditations—skillfully imagined—to drive the book forward, adding excellent and needed emotional texture to a well-known story. Although a few times Shaara adds more information in the dialog than is likely in daily speech—necessary to fill in the background for readers—on the whole the novel can serve as a case study for the power of dialog.

Readers will find no surprises in the plot of the novel, but they will come away with a greater understanding of Roosevelt and his place in history. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and those interested in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

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The Author Started as a Skeptic. He Came Out a Believer in Pure Evil.

“The Devil’s Best Trick,” Randall Sullivan’s in-depth occult investigation, is not for the easily frightened.

By Clancy Martin

Clancy Martin’s most recent book is “How Not to Kill Yourself.”

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THE DEVIL’S BEST TRICK: How the Face of Evil Disappeared, by Randall Sullivan

When I was 12 years old, my family went on vacation and, at my request, left me behind. My mother told me that I could sleep in her and my stepdad’s bedroom — normally strictly off limits to kids — and watch their TV. The first night they were away, I made a horrifying mistake: “The Exorcist” was debuting on Canadian television. It came on around sunset. I turned on the TV and climbed into my parents’ bed. You know what happened next.

I wanted to go turn off the TV, but I didn’t dare for fear of what might be waiting in the darkness. I tried hiding under the covers but that only made it worse. I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I do know that every time I closed my eyes I could see the ravaged, green, grinning face of Linda Blair. As Randall Sullivan would say, the face of evil.

The Devil’s greatest trick, as the saying goes (attributed sometimes to Baudelaire and other times to “The Usual Suspects”), was to convince the world he doesn’t exist. Sullivan, an investigative journalist, goes out looking for him in our modern world. And “The Devil’s Best Trick” is a master class in the difficult art of first-person, narrative nonfiction.

At the start of his journey, Sullivan’s not sure if he believes in the Devil; by the end he is certain that Satan is real. Sullivan is never showy, and doesn’t insert himself into the story more than necessary, but we always feel he is there with us — which is often comforting and necessary, given his sinister subject.

The prose has wonderful momentum even when he’s writing about arcane debates in the early Christian church. Each chapter is a turn, a surprise. The writing is never clichéd, nor is the thinking. Sullivan knows a great lede, and he’s just as good with cliffhangers.

He tells us that he cut quite a bit of the murder and torture material, but parents should still skip Chapters 9 and 10. When he says, of the serial murderer Westley Allan Dodd, “I’m not going to describe the things Dodd did next; they’re too horrible,” we are grateful; what he has included is very difficult to read.

One of the things that help make Sullivan a believer in the Devil is, ironically, Dodd’s ultimate relationship with the divine. That such a profoundly tormented — and, well, purely malevolent — personality could come to seem like a forgivable human being makes Sullivan wonder if there had indeed been a battle for Dodd’s soul between God and Satan. Certainly this is what his chaplain believed, saying, of the night of Dodd’s execution: “I can tell you that if Westley Allan Dodd had stood at the microphone that night, he would have said something about grace and mercy and forgiveness that would have brought 70,000 people to their feet. Because he knew whereof he spoke.” This causes Sullivan to wonder if there might be a place where the Devil is not conceptual, “but an actual being from whom one might either flee or seek favors.”

Where Sullivan really hits his stride is in his encounters with the purportedly possessed. We meet a Franciscan priest who, as a trained psychologist, considered exorcism an outmoded superstition — until participating in one. Sullivan describes an exorcism of a young woman he himself witnesses in Medjugorje, a pilgrimage site in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the last third of the book, Sullivan travels to Mexico. We learn about the human sacrifice and cannibalism of the Aztecs; the complexities and revisionist history of the conquest of the Aztecs by Cortes; the 21st-century collaboration between drug lords, kidnapping rings and the cultlike religious following, numbering in the millions, o f Santa Muerte (or Saint Death) . We watch as two goats are sacrificed to El Diablo.

The final chapter details one of the most famous exorcisms in American history, and unless you simply refuse to believe multiple eyewitnesses — if you are the sort of skeptic who feels that mass delusion is more plausible than the possibility of powers normally unseen — you will leave strongly inclined to agree with the author that evil is literally real.

I have had experiences in my life that most people might describe as “supernatural.” And though, unlike Sullivan, I do not believe in Satan, I think there are indeed all kinds of phenomena unexplained by contemporary science — which is, after all, still in its infancy. What is more, I tend to believe that people like Randall Sullivan are intellectually responsible and acting in good faith; we should at least open our minds to the possibility that they may know something we do not.

This book will doubtless be made into a television show, and this is the rare case where that’s good. I wouldn’t watch it; just reviewing the book has me petrified. Reading it, I was once again 12 and alone in the house.

THE DEVIL’S BEST TRICK : How the Face of Evil Disappeared | By Randall Sullivan | Atlantic Monthly | 333 pp. | $25.99

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THE GIRL AT THE LION D'OR

by Sebastian Faulks ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 15, 1999

Faulks remains at the peak of his considerable strength.

            Faulks’s latest may lack the breadth of Birdsong (1996) or Charlotte Gray (1999), his usual deep sensibilities and conjurer’s gift for evoking time and place are what matter.

            The political and psychic scars of WWI remain everywhere in France in the 1930s, even in the drab provincial city of Janvilliers – to which, one rainy night, young Anne Louvet makes her way by train to take up her new post as waitress at the shabby hotel called the Lion d’Or.  From the start, there’s a mystery about Anne (Louvet isn’t even her real name), but there are also the allures of her quick intelligence, ready sense of humor – and her appealingly attractive good looks.  So it is that the crass André Mattlin, architect and roué, sets his sights on her, while Anne’s own wiser and deeper heart goes out to one Charles Hartmann, who – with his barren and unhappy wife Christine – lives in the ancient mansion outside of town that he’s inherited from his father and hopes to repair.  Anne’s interest in Charles is returned, and when Charles tells his wife he’s needed in Paris on business (he’s a lawyer), he in fact takes Anne on a weekend to the comfortably splendid country house of an old friend.  From there on, once love is declared, the tale moves toward an ending that will break the hearts of some, strike fear into others.  When Anne finally tells Charles her extraordinary, pathetic mystery, not  a great deal by way of plot is released, but the novel’s truest assets are brought to vivid life indeed.  The atmosphere of between-the-wars anxiety tips toward a new foreboding, making Charles’s being partly Jewish (the vile, devilish Mattlin uses this against him); various awful memories of WWI; the weakness of France’s governments; and the true horror of Anne’s girlhood secret all blend into a story of quiet and terrible power.

Pub Date: Dec. 15, 1999

ISBN: 0-375-70453-1

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Vintage

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999

LITERARY FICTION

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by Sebastian Faulks

HOUSE OF LEAVES

by Mark Z. Danielewski ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2000

The story's very ambiguity steadily feeds its mysteriousness and power, and Danielewski's mastery of postmodernist and...

An amazingly intricate and ambitious first novel - ten years in the making - that puts an engrossing new spin on the traditional haunted-house tale.

Texts within texts, preceded by intriguing introductory material and followed by 150 pages of appendices and related "documents" and photographs, tell the story of a mysterious old house in a Virginia suburb inhabited by esteemed photographer-filmmaker Will Navidson, his companion Karen Green (an ex-fashion model), and their young children Daisy and Chad.  The record of their experiences therein is preserved in Will's film The Davidson Record - which is the subject of an unpublished manuscript left behind by a (possibly insane) old man, Frank Zampano - which falls into the possession of Johnny Truant, a drifter who has survived an abusive childhood and the perverse possessiveness of his mad mother (who is institutionalized).  As Johnny reads Zampano's manuscript, he adds his own (autobiographical) annotations to the scholarly ones that already adorn and clutter the text (a trick perhaps influenced by David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest ) - and begins experiencing panic attacks and episodes of disorientation that echo with ominous precision the content of Davidson's film (their house's interior proves, "impossibly," to be larger than its exterior; previously unnoticed doors and corridors extend inward inexplicably, and swallow up or traumatize all who dare to "explore" their recesses).  Danielewski skillfully manipulates the reader's expectations and fears, employing ingeniously skewed typography, and throwing out hints that the house's apparent malevolence may be related to the history of the Jamestown colony, or to Davidson's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a dying Vietnamese child stalked by a waiting vulture.  Or, as "some critics [have suggested,] the house's mutations reflect the psychology of anyone who enters it."

Pub Date: March 6, 2000

ISBN: 0-375-70376-4

Page Count: 704

Publisher: Pantheon

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2000

More by Mark Z. Danielewski

by Mark Z. Danielewski

THE SECRET HISTORY

by Donna Tartt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 1992

The Brat Pack meets The Bacchae in this precious, way-too-long, and utterly unsuspenseful town-and-gown murder tale. A bunch of ever-so-mandarin college kids in a small Vermont school are the eager epigones of an aloof classics professor, and in their exclusivity and snobbishness and eagerness to please their teacher, they are moved to try to enact Dionysian frenzies in the woods. During the only one that actually comes off, a local farmer happens upon them—and they kill him. But the death isn't ruled a murder—and might never have been if one of the gang—a cadging sybarite named Bunny Corcoran—hadn't shown signs of cracking under the secret's weight. And so he too is dispatched. The narrator, a blank-slate Californian named Richard Pepen chronicles the coverup. But if you're thinking remorse-drama, conscience masque, or even semi-trashy who'll-break-first? page-turner, forget it: This is a straight gee-whiz, first-to-have-ever-noticed college novel—"Hampden College, as a body, was always strangely prone to hysteria. Whether from isolation, malice, or simple boredom, people there were far more credulous and excitable than educated people are generally thought to be, and this hermetic, overheated atmosphere made it a thriving black petri dish of melodrama and distortion." First-novelist Tartt goes muzzy when she has to describe human confrontations (the murder, or sex, or even the ping-ponging of fear), and is much more comfortable in transcribing aimless dorm-room paranoia or the TV shows that the malefactors anesthetize themselves with as fate ticks down. By telegraphing the murders, Tartt wants us to be continually horrified at these kids—while inviting us to semi-enjoy their manneristic fetishes and refined tastes. This ersatz-Fitzgerald mix of moralizing and mirror-looking (Jay McInerney shook and poured the shaker first) is very 80's—and in Tartt's strenuous version already seems dated, formulaic. Les Nerds du Mal—and about as deep (if not nearly as involving) as a TV movie.

Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1992

ISBN: 1400031702

Page Count: 592

Publisher: Knopf

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1992

More by Donna Tartt

by Donna Tartt

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