Espiritu

“’Dear King,’ I said in my mind, unsure of how to address a king, ‘if you can hear my right now, and if you even care about what’s going on in my life, I just want you to know that I read your book today. It said that in order to go live with you in Paraiso some day I needed to believe in your son, the Prince. I do believe in him, King of Paraiso. Save me and help me to want to follow you. Doing things my way never has worked. Help me learn how to do things your way. Change my heart and give me the courage and strength I need to come into the light. If coming into the light means reading your book and doing what it says, I’ll try.’ I sat there waiting for something magical to happen, but nothing happened. ‘I guess that’s the end of that,’ I said to myself. Little did I know it was just the beginning.”

Book:Espiritu by B. K. Miller, Xulon Press, 2005

Genre: Allegory

Target Audience: Boys and Girls 11-14

Subjects: Salvation, Spiritual Warfare

Summary: Not again! The last thing Sara wants is to spend another summer at her Uncle and Aunt’s house wondering why her dad will talk to them but not her. Being ten doesn’t give one a whole lot of choice in such decisions though so here they are, spending another summer talking to others but not each other. Little does Sara know that she will soon be extremely grateful for her time on the ranch! A beautiful huge white horse appears and ushers her off to the land of Paraiso where she learns about the King and His love for her! When she returns, her life is forever changed and she is able to face the challenges of her world with a very different perspective.

Notes: Espiritu is the first in a two book series about a young girl who gets to visit an allegorical Heaven, become saved, and start receiving parts of the armor of God to fight against the demons around her. The book is a mix between using allegory to represent a concept and simply keeping it the same but giving it a Spanish name. It is speculative – the Bible does not allow room for people to visit Heaven and come back, but nearly everything in the book could be found in Scripture. There are figures representing all three parts of the Trinity, there is a book representing the Bible that uses light to show how powerful it is and to represent the concepts of the armor of God it has physical armor appear on Sara. The book does a good job presenting a picture of someone’s faith journey – of hearing the Gospel, choosing to respond to it by putting trust in God for salvation, growing spiritually through learning more of the Bible and sharing faith with others.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 4.5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Ephesians 1:13 - And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit

Thank you to the author for providing me with a free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. I appreciate it!