The Runaways Revenge: John Newton

Trailblazer Books (Chronological) #9

by Dave Jackson, Neta Jackson

Thirteen-year-old Hamilton Jones seeks revenge against the former captain of the ship on which his mother had been taken from Africa to slavery in the Colonies

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Christian Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Juvenile

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Dave and Neta Jackson are a full-time husband/wife writing team who have authored and co-authored many books on marriage and family, the church, relationships, and other subjects. Their books for children include the TRAILBLAZER series and Hero Tales, volumes I,II, III, and IV. The Jacksons make their home in Evanston, Illinois.

Reviews

[Grace Lynch]

Assigned to read this whole series in middle school, and I learned a lot. Great educational read!

[Candace]

3rd - 6th grade reading level
A good introduction to the life story of John Newton, who spent years as a slave, a slave trader and then became a vocal member of the abolitionist movement alongside William Wilberforce. The story here is fictional, there's no record of any slave ever confronting John Newton for his part in the slave trade; however, the facts presented within the book - the tale of John's life and his conversion - are based in recorded history
The Trailblazer books are an amazing series, and a great way to introduce older elementary school children to the Christian heroes of the past. I look forward to reading more of these with my kids.

[Rachel]

Even though this book depicted a fictional encounter with John Newton, it still served as an interesting and short biography of John Newton's life. I would take the information contained with a grain of salt and do my own research into his life to make sure that his life story presented was accurate. It still made for a good read for a middle grade audience. The Gospel message was a little on the nose but perhaps also accurate to John Newton's life, so I can't complain about that. I only noticed one typo while I was reading but it did not take away from the story.

[6thbreed]

Read aloud by my favorite person. :) I really enjoyed this little pre-teen story about John Newton's life. It has enough action and energy to even keep anyone entertained :) The son of a slave who was brought to America by the sea captain John Newton, gets free in England and seeks revenge on John, now a clergyman. Read this Christian book for young and old alike and even as a complement to John Newton's hymn, Amazing Grace.

[Caleb]

The story of John Newton is incredible, it is good enough without a fictional account. The book is well-written, but honestly, it's very boring.

[Micah R]

I really enjoyed this book. I like how the author wrote so many colorful words to help explain what was going on. I would surley read this book again. The book brings you back a couple hundred years! Enjoy!

[Cws]

JAR5-Jac

[Jessica]

See the first book in the series (Spy for the Night Riders)for a full review.