Ayers Family Happenings: The Blue Umbrella!

The Blue Umbrella: A Novel

We were so excited when we got the chance to review The Blue Umbrella, by Mike Mason this week. Ally and I both really enjoyed reading this book! Ally devoured all 425 pages in no time! She listed it in her all time top five, which is really saying something since she has read most of the books for this age group in the library. What she loved was the unpredictable-ness and originality of this book. I liked the depth of it -I can see the potential for some great literature study. I would say partly because of it's length, and some scary elements that the book is best for 9 and up.

The book isn't exactly an allegory, but it certainly has some deep spiritual elements, (good ones) and you can see a definite faith connection. In a world saturated with dark spiritual influences aimed at our kids, this book was so refreshing and wonderful! It has the feel of the Series of Unfortunate Events books but without the depressing feel they have. Although the circumstances described are bad, there is a hope and a goodness about the Blue Umbrella. My favorite quote from the book kind of hints at the depth this book develops, hints at the allegorical feel of the book,

"For the first time in his life, he noticed three distinct aspects of a window. First there were reflections on the surface of the glass. Then there was what you could see through the glass, inside. Finally there was the glass itself, an object in is own right, transparent yet substantial. It occurred to Zac that he was about to pass through this barrier from the outside to inside - from the outer world of mere reflections to the inner world where things were real. It was, for him, a strange thought."

We loved it! It was fun to read, not just for kids, grownups will love this book too. The book is published by David C. Cook and is available for $14.99

Enjoy a free excerpt of this book at Mike Mason's website.

The Blue Umbrella, by Mike Mason from David C. Cook on Vimeo.