In Speed of Sight, C. R. Flamingbush presents Jericho, a drab town where everyone observes rigid rules. So when his friend hands him a banned comic book for safekeeping, Pete can’t resist opening it. It’s no ordinary book: with a bright light, it rescues Pete and his friend from bullies. Pete, meanwhile, gets tagged by the author of his own story for some special super powers. Now he can run amazingly fast instead of stumbling all the time. Echoing the stories he reads in the banned comic books, Pete fights the shadowy spirits that egg on the bullies, sicken his friend, and separate Pete’s parents. It’s a fun concept—comic book stories within Pete’s comic-book-style story, like plays within a play.

Best for: Older children and young teens who’d enjoy a comic book told in prose.

Discern: Themes of spiritual warfare, which lack a mention of Jesus or his place in this kind of world.