Perhaps I ought to start checking my Early Reviewer requests more carefully. Let me just say first that Orchard of Hope (as far as I read) is by no means a bad book. However, the 8-13 age range claimed by the ARC info page is a little ridiculous. The dialogue in the opening bits is often unrealistic and stilted in a manner suggestive of picture books for preschoolers, and it feels a little patronizing. Eventually, I gave up, since the dialogue kept ruining my immersion.

That said, I have several small children in my life, and I think I'll see what they think.

(Just in case this doesn't tag properly, I received this book through the Early Reviewers program. I accidentally deleted it from my collections, and am reposting my review for ARC review completion purposes. I never did get an actual child to read the book, either.)

I had a really hard time getting going in this book. I love a lot of children's books, but this is no Narnia or Edith Nesbit. The language is a little oversimplified, even for a children's book, and often the dialogue is a bit awkward. That said, once I got going, it was a cute story, and did get suspenseful. It won't win any literary awards, but I am sure it will entertain its' share of ten year olds. ( )

This was an Early Reviewer book. It is a sequel and I haven't read the first one. I am horrible at writing summaries, so I will stick with just the review. I wasn't overly thrilled with the book. I felt it was slow and I had a hard time getting into the characters. I felt it was slow going as well. ( )

I thought this was really entertaining for a kids' book. I thought the plot had a lot going on, with several episodes illuminating twin plots that re-connect late in the book. A few of the book's lessons are on the heavy handed side, but several of the interactions between the characters are pretty subtle. I hadn't read the first book in the series, but I liked this enough that I might read the second. ( )

When I got this I had no idea it was part of a series. I didn't even find out until I was almost done with it! So needless to say is was easy to understand even without reading the last book, although I may have missed things because of it as well. This book was a great read and I'm very excited to read the first one now! ( )