A Chameleon, A Boy, and A Quest (The Rwendigo Tales Book 1)
$16.99
A Chameleon, a Boy, and a Quest is the first book in the fictional series, The Rwendigo Tales. This adventure story is designed for eight-to fourteen-year-old youth and is written for children and teens who love reading and learning about faraway and different parts of the world, while relating to characters and issues that seem much closer to home.
Ten-year-old Mu, orphaned as a toddler, has lived his entire life in the heart of Africa. For as long as he can remember, he has served in the household of a great-uncle where he is unloved and ignored. In his drudgery-filled life, Mu has little hope of happiness and little hope that anything will ever change. But one day everything does change.
On his way to draw water one morning, Mu is astonished when a chameleon greets him by name and announces that they will embark on a quest together. And what a quest it turns out to be! Mu faces danger and finds unexpected allies as they journey through an ever changing landscape.
Through his adventure, Mu learns many things about himself. Along with Mu, you will walk through Africa, encountering good and evil. Read carefully and you just may find out who you are too.
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Since 2006, New Growth Press (NGP) has provided churches, families, and individuals with life-changing books, small group resources, and minibooks that are grounded in scriptural truth and the gospel of grace. Our goal is to provide resources that are theologically robust, meet the needs of the Christian community, and point people all over the world to Christ.
Publisher : New Growth Press
Publication date : October 1, 2015
Edition : First Edition
Language : English
Print length : 176 pages
ISBN-10 : 1942572085
ISBN-13 : 978-1942572084
Item Weight : 7.5 ounces
Reading age : 8 – 12 years, from customers
Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.44 x 8.5 inches
Book 1 of 4 : The Rwendigo Tales
Grade level : 3 – 9
Best Sellers Rank: #174,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #32 in Children’s Christian People & Places Fiction #157 in Children’s Christian Action & Adventure Fiction #4,957 in Children’s Action & Adventure Books (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 104 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
M. Shirley –
A treasure of a story
We read aloud quite a bit in our family. Reading A Chameleon, a Boy and a Quest was a pleasure for our entire family with kids age 6-9 listening in. My 9 year old said it reminded her of Pilgrim’s Progress and Narnia and my 6 year old was moved by the beautiful truth displayed that sometimes good things are being worked out through bad or scary circumstances.As someone who reads many children’s books aloud the rich vocabulary of this book is refreshing and feels respectful of the reader. It is more in line with much older children’s literature than some of the dumbed down offerings of today’s books.Having spent two years living in Africa it was a joy to read a book that reflects the culture so beautifully and also does not shy away from the harsh reality that is life for so many children in Africa. This books sparked so much wonderful discussion about good and evil, making choices and the impact of those choices. For the first time my children had to consider impossible choices that were made by Mu and understand the circumstances that could lead someone to such a place. This is a beautiful story on many levels. I hope publishers are paying attention when parents stand up and say “Please publish more books like this!”.
Chelsea Skarzenski –
INSANELY GOOD
This book had so many plot twists, so much depth, it was just so good. Tbh, it ties Percy Jackson, and that is saying a lot.
Rebecca Maney –
Engaging Story for Both Emerging and Independent Readers!
“What is a quest without a destination?”Travel the trail of adventure with a ten year old boy, Mu and his highly unusual companion, Tita; a chameleon, as they traverse the diverse African terrain through-out Rwendigo to fulfill a yet-to-be- determined quest.A perfect read-aloud for emerging readers or a pleasant challenge for independent readers. In the author’s own words; the tale “blends magical realism, page-turning action, and subtle gospel themes”.I would wholeheartedly agree!
Retired, but still teaching since there’s more learning to be done. –
A quest that takes the reader on an interesting journey . . .
Having traveled to Africa twice in my life, the author shares many details about life there that helps to provide the reader with the context for this story. While the boy may not have realized that he needed to pursue this quest at first, the last few chapters beautifully weave together the circumstances of his life–and the reason for the quest. I imagine that this book would be a great read-aloud for parents to share with their children, and perhaps for a teacher to read to his or her students. This book wisely tells a story that follows the model of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. I recommend this book to those who wish to enrich their understanding of how others live, sacrifice, and even die.
rapidtraveler –
Quick and satisfying, but mildly disappointing
I am torn about this book. I chose to read it in consideration for a group read aloud with my Montessori classroom of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. We’re studying Africa this semester and I like to tie our books into our continent focus. On the Africa front, I felt this delivered well, with its mysterious folk tale vibe (talking animals, beautiful African landscapes). However, I found the story a bit dull and uninspired. The main character’s journey feels simplistic and despite how epic it’s made out to be, too easy. I didn’t get to know Mu deeply, didn’t get a sense of Tati the chameleon’s real personality, didn’t feel a depth to the story that I was craving. Also, although I enjoy the advanced phrasing and lovely writing as an adult, I find the writing level of this book a bit too advanced for its proposed age range for readers. The first paragraph alone features the words ‘trill,’ ‘raucous,’ and ‘coalesce.’ My students would potentially be stopping me 3-7 times a page to review these challenging words (a little of this is OK but I fear this level may duscourage them), not to mention the complex and extended sentence structures. I will say that the ending epilogue did shift my view positively; it was satisfying to finally know the purpose of Mu’s long quest, and the children would fully enjoy that catharsis. However, I don’t know that my students would have the patience to wait through the whole book to learn the meaning of it all. Ultimately, I wish the characters and plot were more developed (couldn’t the author drop hints along the way about Mu’s identity, or at least find ways to keep the suspense level up through each stage of the journey?). I haven’t fully ruled this out as a read aloud this year, but it’s not my top choice (I’m leaning more towards Orange For the Sunsets now). If I find a better option than this, I will still offer this series to my students for their independent reading and will maybe add it to our book club cabinet. I do love that it’s part of a series and features folk and fantasy genres.
Amazon Customer –
Back to My Childhood in Africa
Having grown up in East Africa myself, I was immediately sucked into the world of Mu and his friends. I loved partaking in Mu’s journey through the savannas and the forest. I found myself smiling as I came across familiar words or scenes that I could picture so clearly in my head. Reading this book took me back to my childhood – I couldn’t put it down; I would definitely recommend it to anyone who’s in for a unique and riveting adventure!
Luke –
at face value this is a beautiful story with endearing characters and a clever fun plot- …
at face value this is a beautiful story with endearing characters and a clever fun plot- it is also one of those stories that is chock full of truth (the kind that hurts and heals to come face to face with).I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying the read.She’s up there with Kate DiCamillo and Leif Enger in my book!
Genevievegardner –
Best for young adult readers
I read this beautiful book and loved it, highly imaginative yet spiritual with a deep, enriching African setting. It really stuck with me and I couldn’t wait for my son to read it. My son is 9 and an avid reader, however, when he read it he was very upset by the scene with the dog and upon hindsight I wouldn’t recommend it for 9 year olds, maybe a little older, or enjoy as an adult.
Aneurin –
The author articulately portrays deep and fundamental truths of reality through the medium of an easy to understand children’s book. Similarly to C. S. Lewis’ work this book should be given to all children as an entertaining read and teaching tool!