The Door Within
Wayne Thomas Batson
2006- Tommy Nelson Pub
Youth Fantasy.
Reviewed by: Barb Radmore
“Adventures
are
funny
things.
They
may creep out of
holes,
Appear
down a seldom
Trodden
path,
Fall
out of a tree,
or even
Arrive
in an
envelope,
But
they always start
the
same way.
Adventure
always
begins
with
the
unexpected…
And so begins the journey through The Door Within.
Aidan Thomas is not a happy boy. He
is forced to move with his parents across
the country to take care of his grandfather who is confined to a
wheelchair. Small,
round and shy he is not one to make friends easily. It is summertime
and as far
as he can tell there are no other kids in the neighborhood anyways. One
day,
completely bored, he decides to explore his least favorite space, the
basement.
There he finds the three scrolls that tell the story of the land
of Alleble and its fight
against
the evil Paragor. He excitedly tells his parents of his discovery but
they
dismiss his story as pure imagination. His support comes from an
unexpected
source, his grandfather who tells him the key to the land
of Alleble is to believe.
And deep
inside himself, Aidan finds the power that unlocks the door between
worlds.
Suddenly Aidean is thrust into a fantastic world of castles,
dragons and kings. He is chosen to be the twelfth knight to join those
chosen
to help safe Alleble from the wickedness of Paragor. With the help of
his
fellow knights, including the beautiful Gwenne, and creatures such as
flying
dragons and the monstrous but appealing Falon, he finds his own
courage, skill
and valor. This is a rocking adventure story with all the style
elements that
keep the reader eagerly reading to the next chapter, then the next and
the
next. The Door Within will keep many youth, and their parents, up way
passed
their bedtimes.
Wayne Thomas Batson is a middle school teacher. He set out
to write an engaging, high interest novel that would appeal to his
students. As
the author says, “one of the coolest things about The Door Within is
that it
was written with the constant feedback of the middle school students I
taught
from 1993-2003. As a middle school Language Arts teacher in Anne
Arundel County, MD, I
sponsored
a Short Story writing contest for my students. Well, long story short,
they
said, "Mr. B, you make us do all the work! Why don't you write a
story!" So, not one to turn down a challenge {Esp. in front of the
kids!},
I wrote one. That 17 page story became The Door Within!” This challenge
from
the students has led to a wonderful fantasy that, lucky for us, is the
first in
a trilogy.