The Magic Bicycle

“That’s quite a bicycle, young man,” Grandfather Kramar said, his bright eyes twinkling in his old wrinkled face. John jumped off the Spirit Flyer, knocked the kickstand down, then ran to hug his grandfather.
”Aren’t you surprised it flies?” John asked excitedly.

“Well, when you’re as old as me you see a lot of strange things over the years if you stay alert,” the old man said and smiled. “Like your face. You’re awful pale, boy. Looks like you’ve seen a ghost. And you’re trembling.

“Something’s after me!” John said. “Something’s in the air. And it’s terrible… it’s big, bigger than tornado. And it looks just like a snake. It has red eyes and red fangs and a white circle with a Z inside on its chest. It was behind me, its mouth open. Then something happened and I was here all of a sudden.”

Book: The Magic Bicycle (Spirit Flyer) by John Bibee, Inter Varsity Press, 1983

Genre: Fantasy/Allegory

Target Audience: Boys and Girls 12-16

Subjects: Family Relationships, Salvation, Good vs. Evil, Truth

Summary: Being raised by an uncle that’s a police officer doesn’t make life easy for John. Everything is about what’s fair and following the rules. So when his bicycle gets run over, there’s no way his uncle is getting him a new one. So it’s off to the dump with his friend to scrounge together parts to make one. He’s thrilled to discover a complete bike on his first look. It doesn’t look the best, but it will get him around… more than he realizes! This bike doesn’t just move along the ground – it flies! Of course John is ecstatic to realize this, but what he doesn’t realize is that the bike is a gift from the Three Kings and because of this, he now has an enemy who wants nothing more than his destruction!

Notes: The Magic Bicycle is the first in the Spirit Flyer series. The series uses a flying bicycle to represent faith in Christ. The bicycles are made by the “Three Kings”. When a person chooses to believe in them, the bicycle arrives and will fly when they are trusting. The series takes place in an end times setting, with it finally ending at the rapture. Throughout the series, the struggle between good and evil is shown in those choosing to ride Spirit Flyers battling Goliath Industries, an organization that desires to see death and destruction. In this book, John first learns about Spirit Flyers and the Three Kings. His grandfather teaches him the truth and John gets the chance to choose whether or not to follow the Three Kings. He is given multiple choices to give up, to trade the magic bicycle in for a newer nice looking one plus a bunch of money. He also learns about the enemy wanting his destruction. I highly recommend this book as well as the others in the series. It offers great spiritual value as well as a creative storyline and enough suspense and adventure to keep readers interested.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.