Book Review: Constance and the Battle for Wonder

Mackenzie Finn is a rising teen from New England who learned to play the guitar from her worship leader father and participates in the music ministry at her church and Christian school. She has been ice skating for 6 years and has won many first place medals in both solo and syncro competitions. Her artistic talent is evident in her many crafty creations such as jewelry designs and crocheted goods. Her Nana is very proud of her and hopes one day to publish one of Mackenzie's books. And if you haven't guessed by now, she is Miss Kathy's oldest grandchild. Mackenzie was happy to receive Julie Lavender's first book in The Amazing Series: Constance and the Battle for Wonder. Here is her review:

---

When I first got this book by author Julie Lavender, I thought I wouldn’t like it and that it was for smaller children. But once I started to read it, I loved it! I wanted to know what would happen next. 

​The setting of this book is in a place called Graystone Heights, Neumerica, where Constance Faultsom, a twelve year-old girl, lives with her mother, father, three brothers, and a dog named Cornelius. The family built a tall fence to keep the grayness of the town and the people who live there away from their family all because they live in Wonder. Everything about the Faultsoms and the way they think and live is full of color and imagination.

But, Constance is curious about the school and the other kids who go  to the school on the Grey Side, the Dumble Street Center on the top of a big hill. Her parents don’t want her to go to this school because of the gray side’s way of thinking and want her to stay with them in Wonder. She wants to go to the gray side because she feels she is missing out on all of the things that the kids who pass her house talk and laugh about. But after she insists, her parents let her go to the Dumble Street Center. 

What Constance doesn’t understand is that the Dumble Street Center is run by the evil power of the Prescribed Order. These elders don’t want Constance in the school because she has Wonder inside of her. They are afraid that Constance will influence the kids around her with Wonder, so they have Ms. Beasley, the school principal, use Constance’s best friend Ruby to try to bring Constance away from Wonder. They assign a demon-like creature named Grizzard to help bring Constance to the Prescribed Order. 

​Then, at the school fair, Constance has to make a decision if she will become gray like everyone else or keep her color and Wonder, and that is when the Battle for Wonder gets very exciting.

My favorite part of the story is when Constance stands up for what she believes and tells the other kids at the fair about Wonder. This ties in good with what we should do as Christians. We need to stand up for our beliefs even if something bad could happen, like in Constance’s case, getting kicked out of the school. We need to fight off all of the “gray” in our lives and bring in “Wonder!”

I highly recommend this book because when we read it, we are encouraged to be brave and share our beliefs with other people who may be on the “gray-side.” Like Kayla, who endorsed this book too, said, “Wonder is a world full of joy that never fades.” In heaven there is a joy that will never fade because we are in Christ and living with Him forever!

Learn more about The Amazing Series HERE.
Visit Julie Lavender HERE.