Middle School Book Review: "A Dark and Desperate Race"

What do you do when your two older brothers have left home, you’re convinced your father hates you, and you accidentally stumble across a dastardly plot by traitors intent on overthrowing the king and invading your home, but you’re only a 14 year old farm boy, a “nobody” from the sticks? And on top of all that, you’ve got dyslexia, so that numbers constantly jump around and change shape? 

This is the situation young Will Pennington finds himself in. Just as he’s on the verge of running away from home, he suddenly finds that he’s the only one who might be able to save it. 

A Dark and Desperate Race, a new book for Middle Schoolers written by Stephanie Weller Hanson and published by Pauline Books and Media, tells the story of what young Will decides to do in the face of grave danger. Although he hates being talked down to by his father, Will quickly learns that being an adult means a lot more than just not being bossed around. To save not only his family and the farm, but the entire country, Will has to grow up in a hurry, and learn that being courageous doesn’t mean not feeling scared. Instead, through the many twists and turns of trying to save everyone and everything he loves, Will comes to know that doing the right thing often means overcoming immense fear, and facing down enemies much larger than himself.

Not on Our Own

But as he confronts challenge after challenge, from navigating a flooded river to traveling in the dark in the rain with the very man who wants to kill him, Will learns that he is not actually traveling alone. In fact, a lot of the story relates how Will comes to know and truly believe that God travels with him, in the dark and the rain, as well as in the sun and the breeze. God does not reveal himself to Will like a flash of lightning, but rather as a steady, loving presence who is always there.

This doesn’t mean that Will does not experience heartache and sadness. God is not a lucky charm who wards off bad things. But the book does a good job of showing that God helps Will through the bad times, bringing him through to the other side, and never leaves him alone. 

Besides revealing his own presence to Will, God also helps Will, and the kingdom, by giving him helpers along the way.  Without the assistance of Matthias, a mysterious yet noble-hearted hermit who lives alone by the river, and spunky Lady Madelyn, an orphan about Will's age and a ward of the king, Will would never have been able to finish his race. Even Matthias’ dog, Barnabus, has a special role to play in saving the kingdom.

Matthias becomes a type of second father to Will, giving the young boy sage advice that would be appropriate for any boy to hear. When Will wonders why one of the characters, an angry man named Cathar, is so full of venom and vice, Matthias just says that everyone is broken. But within that brokenness there is a choice - to be broken like glass, i.e. useless and even harmful and hurtful, or to be broken like bread, a sacrificial breaking that gives sustenance to others. How the characters respond to their brokenness is at the heart of this story.

The Way to Love Anything is to Realize that It can Be Lost

The book is 208 pages in length, and is appropriate for stronger readers in older elementary school and up. It begins with a quote from G.K. Chesterton, who says “The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” This is a lesson Will learns again and again, as he is faced with the very real possibility of losing everything he loves. During the course of the book, he comes to realize just how much his family and home mean to him. 

As a book written for Middle Schoolers, I appreciated its continual reference to religion. Will and his family attend St. Michael's church, and there is an abbey with monks who set a good example of men who live a life of service and prayer. Crucifixes and examples of adults praying are also presented throughout the book, but religion is never portrayed as something to be controlled, or pulled out only in times of trouble. Rather, religion is presented as a relationship with God that deepens as one matures.  That’s a good message for anyone. 

The book also has a map in the front pages, which is helpful in imaging the lay of the land. I would have liked to have seen some illustrations inside the book as well, along the lines of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, especially when the author is describing a certain specific area. What the author has in mind and what is presented isn’t always clear. I also would have liked to have seen the cultural differences between some of the people in the book explored a little more, so hopefully that will happen if there’s a “next” book detailing Will’s adventures. But I certainly recommend this book as a good and thoughtful read, as a type of The Hobbit for younger readers, or similar to the Percy Jackson series, minus the Greek gods. 

Released in May, A Dark and Desperate Race is now available on Amazon for $19.99 (paperback), $9.99 (Kindle), or at the Pauline Books and Media website.