We’ve continued with our slow, steady, and FUN family Astronomy study this month. So far we’ve already seen and documented several moon phases including a full moon and a new moon; visible Jupiter; visible Mercury, and learned to recognize the Big and Little Dipper.  We’ve also watched several space and sci-fi movies as a family, including a special at-home family movie night presentation of Rogue One (which my kiddos hadn’t seen yet) and a splurge on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 in the theater. We’ve been keeping a list of all our “space” movies in their notebooks and they’ve been clipping their movie ticket stubs in there as well–both the “real” ones and the ones I’ve made them.

Besides movies and their outside observations, we’ve been doing a lot of reading.

(Remember! Book + Movie + Field Trip = Unit Study!)

Previously I shared with you a list of good choices for Sci-Fi and space related fiction that would work as family read-alouds, along with what we picked to use this summer. Today I’ve got a super-exciting GIVEAWAY for Walking in High Cotton readers to start your summer off with some fun adventure!

As I mentioned in that post, I’m not a big Science-Fiction reader. The genre was unfamiliar to me and I had to do quite a bit of research to put together a list of what meets our criteria for good books. I searched Amazon and read tons of reviews. One of the books I came across–and which made it onto our read-aloud list–was Taken, Book 1 in the Quest for Truth series by Brock Eastman. I ordered it and started reading to preview it for the crew…

I LOVED IT!

Not being a science-fiction fan myself, I was reading to see if it was appropriate for our kiddos. I was looking for an ethical “hero” characters, respectful family structures and descriptions, a solid and fairly uncomplicated plot, and lots of action. It had all those things.

It’s also completely PG–no bad language, no steamy relationships, no substance abuse, and no magic or witchcraft (not a big deal for us, but I wanted to mention it for other parents). There are risks, danger, minor siblings conflicts, and mild violence.

The basic story for the series:

The Quest for Truth series follows the four Wikk kids in their desperate race to find the mysterious planet Ursprung and stop the Ubel renegades from misusing its long-lost secrets. Ancient cities, treacherous villains, high-tech gadgets, the Phoenix–encounter all these and more on this futuristic, interplanetary adventure.

Science-Fiction is naturally full of tricky ethical questions. What is the appropriate use of technologies? What does the future hold for cultural and social structures? How do we judge and interact with cultures and societies with different ethical and moral standards? What is our purpose and value in the great big entirety of the universe itself…and that doesn’t even get into any aspects of the simple intersection of biblical vs scientific creation theories.

This is our children’s introduction to the genre and while I’m ready to start those conversations, it was important for me to find material that was not overly murky or complex for our first family forays into space adventures. The Quest for Truth series was a perfect fit! The good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. There’s normal family conflict, but it’s all rooted in love. There are challenges and adventures and mistakes and reconciliations and the main characters are trying to do the right thing.

There’s normal family conflict, but it’s all rooted in love. There are challenges and adventures, mistakes and reconciliations, all formed around a solid quest-and-rescue” storyline. While there is no doubt there are Christian sub-themes my children will pick up on throughout the story, you will not see a church, praying, worshipping, witnessing or salvation testimonies in the story. You’ll see a group of good kids trying to do the right thing through some crazy space adventures. As stated at Fundamentally Reformed “…if you’re worried about the potential for a cheesy Christian production that overdoes the Christian themes to the detriment of the story, then I’m with you. And this book is nothing of the sort.”

And friends–there is a lot of action. One review described it as Indiana Jones meets Star Wars. We started it at bedtime and our boys were hooked!

So I reached out directly to Brock and he was excited to be able to collaborate with me on this great GIVEAWAY for Walking in High Cotton readers! Let’s get your adventure-loving reader off to a strong start this summer! {smile}

Enter below to win a copy of Quest for Truth Book 1 (Taken) AND Book 2 (Risk)–both signed by the author.

You can also enjoy $12 off the entire series (because you’re gonna want it!) at Brock’s website with the coupon code below. His website also has a sneak peak and some reviews of his other books and anthologies and fans can join his book clubs.

**Please note: I was NOT provided a free copy to review. We purchased our own copy and reached out to the author for collaboration on this giveaway for you because we just thought the book was that good!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All the fine print stuff:

Giveaway ends June 9, 2017 at 12:00 AM EST. Open to Residents of the US and Canada only.  Prizes cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.  Winner will be randomly selected and will be notified by email. Winner have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation.  By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to myself and the book author (Brock Eastman).  Walking in High Cotton does not share or sell the information of users or subscribers.

Please note that Walking in High Cotton is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.  I have represented each sponsor with the full and honest expectation that they will fulfill their prize in a timely manner. I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsor is shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you in obtaining your prize(s). If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify Walking in High Cotton within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you. 

**Publishing images and quotes provided directly by author, Brock Eastman.