Imagine… The Fall of Jericho (Imagine #3)

Title: Imagine… The Fall of Jericho
Author: Matt Koceich
Series: Imagine Series #3
Genre: Adventure/Time Travel
Target Age-Group: 8-12
# of Pages: 112
Publishing Date: October 1, 2018

About the Book:

The Third Release in an Epic Bible Adventure Series for Kids

The last thing fourth-grader Jake Henry remembers (before the world as he knew it disappeared) is napping at summer camp. What happens next can’t be explained as Jake finds himself surrounded by massive stone walls that rise up all around him—in ancient Jericho! Imagine. . .The Fall of Jericho is the third release in an exciting epic adventure series for kids ages 8 to 12 written by schoolteacher Matt Koceich. The Imagine series brings the Bible to life for today’s kids as they ponder what it would be like to live through a monumental biblical event.

Don’t miss Book 1 in the Imagine Series–Imagine…The Great Flood or. . . Book 2–The Ten Plagues!

Review:

If you’re looking for more biblical accuracy then this wouldn’t be my first suggestion, but if you’re looking for something with adventure and in the Christian genre then this could be a great choice.

Shortly after arriving to summer camp, Jake finds himself sent back in time to the city of Jericho during the week before the fall of the city. He quickly makes some friends but then spends the majority of his time on rescue missions. Ka’nah is the evil man after Jake and his new friends. He is known as a very powerful and rich man in the city.Really that is the focus of the story. Jake marks each day as one more closer to the fall of the city, and he tries to share about what he knows will happen, but they think he’s crazy. At the same time, when he talks about God they listen and know there is “something” about him that they can’t quite grasp, but they know he’s there for a reason.

I really didn’t like how this story ended though if I’m being honest. Because this is a kid’s story and therefore it’s more likely that parents are reading this instead of the kids themselves, I will share the reason why. But here’s my *SPOILER ALERT* warning. Skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know. When Jake returns to modern time, some of the new faces he meets have names either the same or similar to those from Jericho. When he runs into the camp guard though, he doesn’t like him for some reason, and there’s even a fire in one of the camp buildings. It isn’t until he leaves camp that he sees the name tag of the guard and it says “Ken Nah” which would reference Ka’nah. I personally don’t like that the villain defeated in Jericho, becomes a person at camp. The others I thought were cute, but I really can’t bring myself to be comfortable with the last connection. Camp should be a safe place for kids, and kids have enough “adventurous minds” on their own. This just didn’t sit well with me.

Other than that part though,  I found the story engaging and I think it’s one kids would enjoy. Although I’m sure girls could enjoy it too, it’s almost all male characters so I would say it’s more marketed for boys. I wouldn’t recommend looking to this story for it’s biblical accuracy, but it’s something fun and adventurous. Some of it reminded me of the beginning of the story of “Aladdin” when he was a “street-rat” because of the amount of chasing through the rooftops. There’s plenty of action throughout the whole story to hold kids’ attention.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to share a positive review. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.