Carlos Aguilar Aguilar itibaren Nakano, Nakano, Nagano Prefecture 383-0013, Japan
I'm not sure what exactly it is about Francine Rivers books, but they somehow manage to be both restorative and addictive. Perhaps it's partly her romance novel writing history, but she pulls you in and onwards while giving you more substance (and less purple prose) than your average romance novel. Being reminded of spiritual truths is comforting and helpful, I find. I can understand why some people don't like The Voice in the Wind series, but the heroine of this novel is very different to the wise and holy Hadassah. I like them both, but the flawed Angel is perhaps more relateable! (Note: this is NOT a holier-than-thou book. I don't think. It probably would be interesting to get an non-Christian's opinion, though...) :)
Class nerd becomes unsung unknown hero as he joins with the star basketball jock and the scary eccentric spazz girl in their underground lab, where they assemble their inventions, which ultimately come in handy when they need to foil a robbery at a museum. The illustrations are busy and full of copious detail.
An excellently conceived but bleak story. It serves as a persuasive fable with two key morals: first, that all totalitarianisms (be they ideological or religious) are doomed by the the simple unchangeable fact that 'people are people'; and second, that from the perspective of an individual, that doom may be a long time coming down a road of misery - so it's much better to be alert and fight to preserve genuine liberties now, rather than to struggle to get them back once lost.