Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The King Will Make A Way

I'm so excited to share about the book, The King Will Make A Way: a story for the last days saint!  I got a PDF copy from the author, Lee Giles, before the book was published.  The kids and I read the book in two days in the beginning of this school year!  We didn't read the book so fast because the book is short (it's 187 pages), but because the story was so good we couldn't put the book/computer down.  We probably would have stayed up late and finished reading the book all in one day, but Daddy came home and wanted to use his laptop.  I knew when I skimmed the book, that we would not want to stop reading, so I waited until I knew we had time to read the book at our own pace (I didn't figure in the Daddy factor though....).

The King Will Make A Way is the story of a boy, Gabe, and his relationship with the true King of the land.  The place where he lives, they have all but forgotten the King, his rules, and the words he shared with them.  Although the story is set in an historic village, the society reminds me much of today's society, and how so many people have forgotten our true King.  The book is an allegory of the book of Revelation, so that shouldn't surprise me.

Gabe goes to see the King, and the King makes a way for him to pass by the guard and visit him.  The boy and the King develop a loving relationship, such that like friends we have, Gabe becomes like the King.  I didn't actually realize until this last year that our purpose in life is to know God.  I would have said our purpose was to share the good news, but that is only a result of knowing God.  I love that knowing the King is a theme throughout this book.

Not very far into the story, the King must not be visible or tangible for a while, but Gabe is able to continue learning about the King by reading his words on the old scrolls saved by his grandfather, and kept by his father.  Gabe can't help but share the truth and the wonderful relationship with his family and others.  Gabe grows into a young man during the course of the novel.

Gabe and the others who desire to follow the true King call themselves "servants".  I don't know many books that I've read where a group calls themselves servants, but I like that they use that name.  Gabe and his friends truly are servants, they remind me of descriptions of the early church:  serving, sharing, and spreading the good news.

There is so much excitement in this book!  There are natural disasters, evil guys, bad guys who don't want to be bad, arrests, and so much more.  I don't want to spoil someone else's reading by sharing too much.  I really like to figure out what's happening next when I read a book, and most of the time I can figure out what will happen next... not with this book!  I was constantly surprised by the turn of events.  There was a particular scene that struck me during the persecution of the servants.  I was waiting for a certain happy ending, but the King made a different way.  This in not a fairy tale, there is a lot of reality in this story.

This book had just the right amount of description.  I can't stand books that have so much detail of surroundings, or people, that I have to skim past them to move on to the actual story.  The King Will Make A Way gives just the right amount of information so that I get the basic picture of scenery and characters to know what the author had in mind, but leaves me enough room to put the finishing touches on with my own imagination.  Having the right amount of details helps the story to move along at a nice pace.

The King Will Make A Way is a book rich with vocabulary, similes, and metaphors.  Since the author is a homeschool mom herself, she has created FREE downloadable lessons to go along with the book including a Language Arts Lesson, Comprehension and Vocabulary, Unit Study Lessons, and Bible Lessons for Students.   I have only skimmed and downloaded these, but I am very excited to use them.  I purchased the paperback book after Christmas (hurray for Christmas money!) and we are going to use the book again this coming school year.

Gabe's story is one that will inspire you, make you think, and is both timely and timeless.  Wyatt was heard commenting "God will make a way" many times after reading the book.  I have to say that although this may sound like a "boy book", since the main character is a young boy who becomes a young man, Ellie loved this book, too.  We used the book as a family read aloud (though we didn't wait for Daddy, he was playing tennis).  If you are someone whose children are not exposed to death and war types of things yet, I would wait to read this book, as the author recommends the novel for teens and adults.  I highly recommend The King Will Make A Way, by Lee Giles.   I do love to read books again, but there are not many that I want to read again so soon.

You can purchase the book through The King Will Make A Way website, or Amazon.com.  You can read more reviews here.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you, Misty, for writing this. My favorite thing is Wyatt saying, "God will make a way." That's exactly what I wanted to happen. I didn't want to create entertainment. I wanted to share what the Lord has taught us. We have been in need of food and "the King made a way." We have been in need of money and "the King made a way." We have been in need of healing and "the King made a way."

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  2. I loved that he "got it" that the King was God. The kids also enjoyed the scroll/scripture references. They love to see parallels in books to the Bible. He listened to me read over the post before I published it, and now he is asking to start reading The King Will Make A Way tonight! I guess we're starting earlier than I planned. I better dig into those studies you made!

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  3. I have to re-word that: I love that Wyatt got the idea that Lee wanted to get across AND that the King represented God. UGH! My words just seem so inadequate tell you all about this book... and like I said, I don't want to tell too much and ruin the fun of reading the book... I'm good at that.

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