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Readers who remember the Frank Peretti books from the 1980s - This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness - will notice similarities in Battleground right from the start. As the title suggests, a battle is raging in the spiritual world, and the effects of this warfare wreak havoc in our own world. The scenes of interaction between demonic angels and God's messengers are at times engaging and even humorous. At other times, this battle brings tears, as the reader realizes how true it is that we are living in a spiritual war zone. The stakes are high--human souls. Demons with names like Rejection, Strife, and Disillusionment take hellish joy in planting thoughts in people's minds. Only constant, fervent prayer can unleash the angels to do battle on behalf of the five teenage characters (the world changers) and their families and friends.
However, the similarity between Battleground and the Peretti books ends here. Battleground is 458 pages of postmodern-culture teens and their numerous temptations, failures, repentances, and prayers--pages of prayers. The book opens with the hint of a years-old murder mystery that I kept waiting to see solved by this group of spiritually aware teens. Instead, the plot jumps around between the individual spiritual battles of the five main characters. One conflict involves a mother in an unrepentant affair with her boss. I'd hoped to see this man come to justice. The author dropped hints that he was somehow tied in with the murder. Sadly, I was left hanging. The murder mystery disappeared entirely from the plot, and I found myself holding a rather noticeable "loose end."
There is an audience for Battleground, but I don't believe homeschooled students are that audience. Most of the "battles" revolve around public school themes like drinking, partying, fighting, and worse. Many public-schooled Christian teens will relate to the scenarios described in the book, and they could be encouraged to stand firm in their faith. However, there are a number of things you should consider before putting Battleground in your homeschool library:
- The cover depicts five teens surrounded by an angel. While this is a positive image, the teens themselves are not the images of good role models. A skull on a skateboard, magenta hair, and a T-shirt with "It's All About Me" clinging to a girl--clearly showing every curve--caused me to move this book out of the line-of-sight of the younger children.
- The inappropriate language sprinkled throughout the book is certainly today's reality, but I can go to the pubic market to hear it. I don't want to give my teens any ideas.
- The one Christian teen in the opening chapter is not a beacon of righteousness. Although he repents quickly of his thoughts, I was disappointed. Could he not have upheld a few standards and still been "cool" to readers? On the positive side, all five teens become believers, purposing to honor God in word and deed. They accomplish this very well by the end of the book.
- One of the most disturbing and unnecessary scenes involved a secondary character. A Christian girl goes against her good sense and the Spirit's implicit warning and attends a party. Within minutes she is drugged with a spiked drink, carried into the bedroom by an unsavory young man on the lookout for just such a "conquest," and raped. While not graphic, it put plenty of pictures into my mind--none of them of the Philippians 4:8 variety: "Whatsoever things are ... pure ... think on these things." I could not figure out the purpose for this scene. The girl was a minor character who only showed up once or twice in the book.
There is no doubt our nation's teens are in trouble, and a battle is raging over their souls. Again, I emphasize that Battleground has a place on the shelves of many libraries. However, we homeschool for a reason. Should we encourage our kids to peer through this wide window into a public school peer group we prefer they not become a part of? I believe not.
Product review by Susan K. Marlow, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, January 2008
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