Sunday, November 27, 2011

Review of Texting Through Time A Trek With Brigham Young By: Christy Monson

Texting Through Time: A Trek With Brigham Young
 By: Christy Monson
Amazon

Summary from Amazon:
When 12-year-old Micah borrows his father's experimental time-travel phone, his hopes for seeing the future are dashed as he and his sister, Alicia, end up trapped in the past at Brigham Young s boyhood home. This book is a fun way for kids and adults to dive into Church history and learn that no matter what time period you are in, God is still aware of you.


















My Review:

First let me just say I am not Mormon. But that didn't stop me from appreciating this book, it was really nice.  
It follows Micah and his sister Alicia through time, after they mess with their dads experimental phone and are sent back to the time of Brigham Young.  I found the book very informative, both about the man and the religion that he was such an influential figure in. The children first meet Brigham when he is a young boy and subsequently follow him through his life. Along the way they learn lessons about themselves and their own personal faith in God.  
The only part I didn't like so much with the story was when the kids were given choices as to which event in Brigham's life they were going to next.  I only didn't like it so much because there were choices given that weren't chosen and I would have liked to find out more about them...
I know, I know I can always look it up on my own! But I guess, even though I didn't like that part, it is still a good thing that it made me interested in finding out more about Brigham Young, right?  The book has a section in the back that "translates" the journal entry texts of the two children.  Since the phone puts them into shortened text lingo.  It also has discussion questions in the back that kids and adults can go over together.  
This book is cute and fun as well as educational. Just because the book is based on Mormon religion, it still does teach good lessons that even non-Mormon children could appreciate, such as hard work, faith, kindness.  
I'd like to end this review with one of my favorite lines from the book.  It is when  Brigham is explaining to the children why he is nice to the Indians.  He says:
"Some of them may join the Church and some may not.... I want to be nice to them no matter what. Many of them don't want to change...that's fine with me. I just want to live in peace."


No matter what your religious views this is a sentiment everyone should be able to get behind. 





****In compliance with FTC guidelines, I'm disclosing that I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads Giveaways.****
(I recommend everybody should go check out all the awesome first read giveaways they have!)

No comments:

Post a Comment