Andrew Peterson

Strange title for a blog entry, huh?  Not if you’re familiar with the work of Andrew Peterson.  I first became aware of Andrew when a friend introduced me last year to his Christmas themed album Behold the Lamb of God. “Another Christmas album” I thought.  Man was I blown away!  What an true and honest look at the incarnation of Christ.  My heart was overjoyed as I grasped in a fuller way the humiliation of God to redeem fallen man.  I immediately began to scour iTunes for everything I could find from Andrew.  Behold was released 4 years earlier, so I had a lot of material to cover.

It was then that I ran across a oddly titled book.  On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.  I ordered it thinking it would make a neat Christmas gift for my 13 yr old.  It arrived a couple days before Christmas.  I flipped through a few pages to get a feel for it.  Needless to say, I read through the entire book before it ever made it into the wrapping paper.  I was drawn into the warm home of the Igiby’s and found that I couldn’t leave.  Andrew had created a world of characters and places that I had never known yet was instinctively familiar with.  Fangs, Ridgerunners and Quill Diggles had somehow already existed in my mind.  Andrew drew them out.  I wished I had paced myself, because I had a 9 month wait for volume 2.

North! Or Be Eaten

Which leads me to my post title.  North! Or Be Eaten is book two in the The Wingfeather Saga.  I pre-ordered months before it was available and anxiously awaited it’s arrival.  My thirteen yr old son and I promised that we would read the book together.  So most every evening we sit on his bed as I read the story.  We were supposed to take turns reading each chapter, but I got so caught up in creating voices for each character that I guess I sort of took over the story teller’s role.  He doesn’t seem mind.  The only part that he does seem to mind is the ending of that nights reading.  Andrew just will not let you off the hook at chapters end.  Each time I begin to say “good night bud”, he grabs my shirt and says “no way, your not leaving me hanging.  Just one more”.

The Igiby’s have been driven from the comforts of Glipwood Township to face the perils Fingap Falls, the Stony Mountains and the Ice Prairies.  Villains stalk their every movement to stop their escape.  Fearsome toothy cows and horned hounds return, along with new dangers: a mad man running a fork factory, a den of rockroaches, and majestic talking sea dragons.  I can’t tell you how exciting the ending was.  Or how the Igiby’s escaped the Fangs of Dang.  I haven’t finished reading it yet.  I learned from book one that I was gonna enjoy this one.  Let the cliffs hang and hear as many “just one more” ’s as I can.

I have an autographed copy of North! Of Be Eaten that I’d like to give away. Just comment on this post by telling me what your favorite book is and why.  Just a couple sentences.  I’ll pick an interesting one out and email you for your address on Friday the 25th.

Lyrics

Every time I lay in the bed beside you
Hosea, Hosea
I hear the sound of the streets of the city
My belly growls like a hungry wolf
And I let it prowl till my belly’s full
Hosea, my heart is a stone

Please believe me when I say I’m sorry
Hosea, Hosea
You loveable, gullible man
I tell you that my love is true
Till it fades away like a morning dew
Hosea, leave me alone

Here I am in the Valley of Trouble
Just look at the bed that I’ve made
Badlands as far as I can see
There’s no one here but me, Hosea

I stumbled and fell in the road on the way home
Hosea, Hosea
I lay in the brick street like a stray dog
You came to me like a silver moon
With the saddest smile I ever knew
Hosea carried me home again, home again

You called me out to the Valley of Trouble
Just to look at the mess that I’ve made
A barren place where nothing can grow
One look and my stone heart crumbled
It was a valley as green as jade
I swear it was the color of hope
You turned a stone into a rose, Hosea

I sang and I danced like I did as a young girl
Hosea, Hosea
I am a slave and a harlot no more
You washed me clean like a summer rain
And you set me free with that ball and chain
Hosea, I threw away the key
I’ll never leave