Reviewed by: Gabby Carlson, Professional Writing student at Taylor University.

Introduction

Title: Beyond the Attic Door

Author: Tracy Del Campo

Publisher: Westbow Press

Publication Date: June 13, 2014

Format: Paperback

Length:87 Pages

OVERVIEW

Children have wild imaginations. But, in this short novel, their Uncle Hugh has the biggest imagination of all. The conflict in this book is centered on a true historical event. Mr. John Scopes has been arrested for teaching evolution. The Scopes Trial became a huge ordeal in the ‘20s in the Christian and secular communities alike. Lulu and Buddy seek to understand more on what the Scopes Trial means for Christianity, and what it means for their own faith.

The book begins at a slow pace, but an epic adventure awaits Lulu and Buddy as the two kids find a time machine beyond the attic door of their grandma’s house. While they toggle with switches and levers, the children find themselves in Noah’s time, the Flood ready to drown the earth. They are followed quickly by their father and Uncle Hugh, who created the time machine to disprove evolution. In a race against time, they struggle to make it back to 1925. Del Campo does a wonderful job of incorporating adventure and mystery in this short novel. This book is a little long to be a bedtime story, but it serves as one, as I flew through it in one night easily.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5)

4 out of 5 stars

Suggested Audience

Youth and early teens

Christian Impact

Lulu and Buddy struggle to believe there is really a God who cares for them. Through questions and adventure, they find that God is so much bigger than they once believed. Del Campo uses biblical scenarios to help her young audience see how big God really is.

Gabby Carlson is a freshman Professional Writing student at Taylor University.

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