Journey to Joona

Stumbling upon this Trilogy was what I considered the best find of the year for my children. Since our purchase of it three years ago, we have read it twice as a family and now the children are consuming them independently.The three titles in this set, Journey to Joona, Defenders of Joona and The Crown of Joona tell the story of Man, his fall, and his redemption and the Millenial Kingdom through an engaging fantasy centering around a Swan named Laurel.The first book, Journey to Joona, introduces us to the key players, Laurel, Margaret, Ryan and Craig. These middle school children learn about the secret land of Joona, swan heaven, where old, sick and dying swans go to experience rest from their trials on earth. The villian is a dark swan named Sebastian, symbolic of Satan. The story unfolds telling us the history of Joona and how Sebastian came to become what he was. The children are picked by Laurel (symbolic of Christ) to help open the passage to Joona closed by "you know who." Throughout the book the author weaves a wonderful engaging simile of the redemptive plan of God, keeping children and adults enchanted.The second book, Defenders of Joona, returns the reader to Joona with more adventures, new characaters and more lessons to learn, insuring stimulating conversations on those abstract and lofty concepts and ideals we try to teach our children in regards to our faith.Finally the trilogy comes to a dramatic crescendo merging all three books into an awesome finale in The Crown of Joona. Old friends from previous books are skillfully woven in, climaxing into an incredibly exciting and familiar Biblical theme of the Millenial Kingdom, leaving the reader fully satisfied and wanting to come back for more. Of all the books we have read together, none have been as delightful and gratifying as this trilogy. The fantasy using Biblical precepts and principals lends itself to great family discussions and introspection unlike any other book we have read. Althought C.S. Lewis' classic, The Chronicles of Narnia, are rich in content, it is a bit of a stretch for young children to relate to much of the analogies and even more difficult for independent reading. This series lends itself beautifully in both regards. It is truly Christian Fantasy at it's best. I highly recommend them and wish the publisher would consider a reprint as it is a very difficult set to acquire.