The Key of Kilenya by Andrea Pearson

I know what to do with my time now that the kids are in school. I just finished reading this book! It’s actually the second book I have finished, by personal choice, since the kids began school. (I will post a review for the other one a different day)

The Key of Kilenya by Andrea Pearson is a good read and I would recommend it for anyone who likes a clean magical adventure.

This creative story takes the reader on an adventure when two wolves chase Jacob away from his home. While attempting his escape through the forest, he discovers he has actually left planet earth. The creatures, many similar to humans, as well as the humans on the other planet need Jacob to rescue a stolen key from the evil Lorkon.

Here’s the blurb from the back cover:

“When two vicious wolves chase fourteen-year-old Jacob Clark down a path from our world into another, his life is forever changed. He has no idea they have been sent by the Lorkon—evil, immortal beings who are jealous of powers he doesn’t know he possesses—powers they desire to control.

The inhabitants of the new world desperately need Jacob's help in recovering a magical key that was stolen by the Lorkon and is somehow linked to him. If he helps them, his life will be at risk. But if he chooses not to help them, both our world and theirs will be in danger. The Lorkon will stop at nothing to unleash the power of the key—and Jacob's special abilities.”

It took a few chapters of me to get used to the writing style. Honestly, I had a difficult time with the journal entries that began each chapter. I felt like I was reading two different stories at the same time, which made it a challenge for me to connect with the characters at first.

One story emerged about half way through when Jacob is given the journal to help him on his quest. The imagination involved and the level of brain power I used to try to figure things out while reading (like how did the humans get on more than one planet?) made it worth the effort.

Andrea Pearson skillfully blends her own ideas with images of Harry Potter and Peter Pan to create a unique new world where even the vegetation and landscape are exciting. And I really enjoyed the ending. I say this because I often will enjoy reading a book but hate the ending. The author’s writing improved as the book moved along.

I expect the next book in the series to be easier for me to get into as many of the characters and plot have been laid out and explained so clearly in this first book. I look forward to reading the next book.

If you would like to purchase the book you can click this link:

http://www.kilenyaseries.com/p/purchase-information.html

(I was invited to offer my opinion on this book and received a free copy in exchange for my posting. No money was involved and my opinion is my own.)

Knowing when to quit; An adventure in discipline.

Disciplining details get fuzzy after a long lecture. Sometimes you just need to know when to quit. We usually end the “discussion” by asking the child who made the bad choice if there is there anything he or she wants want to say. That way it can be called a “discussion”.

This particular time, Evan was having a difficult time admitting that he had done anything wrong. His teacher gave him a “red ticket” meaning he was in trouble. He was not listening to the teacher and chasing the other kids around the classroom during show and tell. This happened at the end of the day, so she didn’t have time to address the problem completely.

Evan handed me his red ticket with tears in his eyes. The other kids wanted to show me their work for the day. I planned to talk with Evan about it more, but life happened and I didn’t address it completely either.

The next day the mother of the other child involved asked me if Evan got a red ticket, like her son. Then she asked, “Do you know what it was about?”

“No. Just they were running around chasing.” I said.

She informed me that, “It was a booger.” We laughed in secret. Oh, to be in kindergarten and be chased by a booger!

Knowing that Evan has a booger picking problem, I could envision him chasing the other kids easily.

Later that night my husband and I ran through the typical lecture, reminding him of the importance of honesty and the consequences for lying. At the conclusion of the interrogation we asked, “Is there anything you want to say?”

He responded with a miserable, “Yeah.” His lower lip hanging down far enough it could almost touch his knees.

I thought, okay, here comes the confession. We got through to him and now we can make it all better. Perhaps he would say sorry along with the confession.

He didn’t say anything for a while so I asked, “What is it?” I was ready to get out my parenting badge and put a fresh coat of polish on it.

The same miserable voice said, “Goodnight.” Then he kissed both me and his father on the cheek and slunk his way down to go to bed.

I was glad he left quickly so he couldn’t see me laughing. I guess my parenting badge will sit in the closet a while longer.