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‘Tis the season for graduations. Right now some students are happy to leave their textbooks behind. But what sorts of books should faithful readers want to take with them, not just in their childhood and teenage years, but into their lives as Christ-following grown-ups? Today’s guest has given many a graduation speech, and he’s also the author of middle-grade fantasy: Houston Christian University president Dr. Robert Sloan.

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4. Earthburst by Dan Megill

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Backstory: Dr. Robert Sloan

Robert B. Sloan is the author of the young adult fantasy series Hamelin Stoop. Having grown up in West Texas, Robert says the setting of the Hamelin Stoop series is near to his heart. He is married to his college sweetheart, Sue. With seven married children and over twenty grandchildren, they enjoy large family gatherings with good food and lively conversation around the table. Favorite family activities include playing games, writing and reading stories, and, of course, storytelling. Robert is also a scholar and president of Houston Christian University.

• RobertBSloan.com
• Facebook: @DrRobertBSloan
• X: @DrRobertBSloan
• Instagram: @robertbsloan
• YouTube: @RobertBSloan-eg8xv
• In the Lorehaven Library: the Hamelin Stoop middle-grade fantasy series
• The Hamelin Stoop books are available from Amazon or from the 12 Gates Publishing website.

In the Lorehaven Library: the Hamelin Stoop middle-grade fantasy series

1. Children need adults’ rules for great fantasy

• Stephen: backstory about learning to love biblical truth at a young age.
• At the same time, I was enjoying cartoons with time travelers and robots.
• Later I entered Narnia (at first in many wrong ways) and other worlds.
• Other kids, I’m sure, grew to love more better stories at a young age.
• Yet I was blessed simply because books=unlimited, computer=limited.
• At this age, I’d strongly recommend the same general approach for kids.
• Game/screen time is fine, but should be saved for “dessert.” Books first!
• Most essential: books that illustrate biblical truth, beauty, and goodness.

2. Teens/YA may like more challenging stories

• By this age some stories may “break” some preexisting assumptions.
• Teens by nature will test beliefs to find weak points, not always sinfully.
• This includes ideas in books that challenge evangelical worldview tenets.
• Great stories reflect this struggle and illustrate the student’s struggles.
• Of course, there is some risks. Some stories will provide false answers.
• Secular (and even “clean”) YA-marketed stories can be very shallow.
• But we sell these readers short by viewing teen/YA stories are cheap.
• They’ll be prepared for the good stuff if they already know great stories!

3. Adults grow enough to enjoy fantasy again

“I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis.”

from the Dedication to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

• We must of course cite Lewis’s quote that emphasizes the circle-back.
• Stephen: I don’t think adults age out of reading books for younger ages
• In fact, for the really good “younger” books, they’ll now be unlocked!
• Great “children’s” fantasy and “teen/YA” fantasy will reveal their secrets.
• Adults can, however, enjoy more substantive novels and many classics.
• That’s the ideal; a greater challenge, now, is making adults keep reading!
• We face challenges of time, interest, and ever-present screen distraction.
• Yet we, perhaps as much as children, need illustrations of biblical gospel.

Com station

What books have you loved ever since childhood?

Next on Fantastical Truth

Kathryn needs no magical stone, slingshots around the sun, or fantastic phone box. She can time travel quite naturally, falling sleep in Victorian London only to wake up in World War II London. Now she’s caught up in a quest to save her sister from Jack the Ripper and choose only one timeline by her 25th birthday. Every Hour Until Then author Gabrielle Meyer joins us to explore: What is time travel romance, and why do readers love it?