SHINE A LIGHT TODAY. AKA: SALT
The Christian & Faith-Based go-to media review series that spotlights faith-driven books, films, and podcasts worth your time.
Arcane (Season 2)
Arcane (Season 2) is the final season of Riot Games’ animated epic, based off of their international hit video game League of Legends. In it, conflict is brewing between the upper city of Piltover and the disarrayed Zaun as various factions and individuals struggle for power and control of the Arcane.
Raising Dragons (Dragons in Our Midst #1)
Raising Dragons is the first of Bryan Davis’s Dragons in Our Midst series. This modern Arthurian tale of good and evil, dragons and knights, and the collision of the mundane and the fantastical is a riveting and action-packed book with a heart of gold.
Invisible Tales (Series)
Davy Liu’s Invisible Tails or IT Series is a collection of stories from the perspective of an animal or set of animals that may have witnessed a significant event in Biblical history (i.e. animals heading to the Ark before the flood, fish in the Red Sea when Moses divided it, the colt that Jesus rode on during Palm Sunday). This mixed bag of art, story, symbolism, and historical fact is in many ways charming and delightful, even as it has a few confusing elements.
Arcane (Season 1)
Arcane is an animated story based off of the famous (or infamous) League of Legends videogame. The first season of this series is full of breathtaking animation, tight, expert writing, and entirely real and believable characters. Given the material it is based off of, however, is it worth the Christian viewer’s time?
Take That, Hurricane!
Take That, Hurricane! is a kids’ illustrated book by Rebekah Hair featuring Super Tess and her Sidekick Nick as they work to clean up their town after a devastating hurricane.
Jake Muller Adventures: Unidentified
Unidentified is an action-packed supernatural thriller audio drama by Darby Kern in the Jake Muller Adventures series. Security consultant and bodyguard Jake Muller find himself in the midst of a global conspiracy involving UFOs, misplaced teenagers, and cruel demonic forces.
Atypical Family
Atypical Family is a South Korean drama about a down-on-their-luck superpowered family on the brink of destitution. Barely hanging onto their abilities, the family must struggle to survive the past, present, and future, as well as the marriage scammer that has set her sights on their dwindling fortune.
Goodbye Earth
Goodbye Earth is a South Korean drama based off of a Japanese novel with the same name by Kotaro Isaka. The main premise is observing the lives and decisions of people living 200 days before an asteroid strikes their hometown. With no way to escape or evacuate, the people turn to a variety of different methods to cope with the situation.
Hymns for the Church
Hymns for the Church is a new EP by musician Luke Hill designed to take the beauty of old hymns and put them to a more approachable sound, suited for modern churches.
Buzzle Billy
Buzzle Billy is a picture book written by Michael P. Waite and illustrated by Jill Colbert Trousdale. In it, kids are introduced to a message about sharing in the delightful world of the Buzzles.
King of Justice (Volume 1)
King of Justice is a Christian manga by Andrew Rowland. In this first issue, the homeless Jaden Theologia is given incredible power become Elohim’s champion against evil. After an arduous journey to gain these new powers, will he be able to vanquish the first villain he encounters?
That Hideous Strength
The final entry into C.S. Lewis’ The Space Trilogy is an author-described “fairytale for adults”. That Hideous Strength is part Arthurian legend, part dystopic nightmare, part study on the intricacies or both human nature and spiritual warfare, pulling no punches on any of these topics.
Perelandra
The sequel to C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet and second installment of his space trilogy, Perelandra, is a blunt, breathtaking, and intricately crafted allegory on the temptation of sin and retelling of the Biblical story of Eden.
Out of the Silent Planet
Out of the Silent Planet is the first installment of C.S. Lewis’ space epic The Ransom Trilogy. In this 1938 novel, a philologist named Elwin Ransom is kidnapped by two scientists, Devine and Weston, and taken to the planet of Malacandra to be handed over to the natives. Through a twisting and turning adventure across this alien world, Ransom confronts new species of sentients, strange ethereal beings, and perils of all kinds, including hunger and cold. Through this, Ransom discovers the cosmos is not what he thought it would be and that it is, in fact, teeming with life and sentient creatures beyond his imagination.
More Pawverbs for Kids
More Pawverbs for Kids is a soon-to-be-released collection of animal-centric short stories for kids. Each one is delightfully written, with beautiful corresponding pictures and an apt verse from Proverbs.
Rescue Me! (Collector’s Edition)
Rescue Me! is a superhero-themed comic book devotional by Bryce Morgan and Mitch Martin. In this comic, the super powered Captain Sun must rescue Capital City from the evil Black-Out, a villain bent on covering the entire city in darkness.
The Hiding Place (Graphic Novel)
Corrie Ten Boom’s The Hiding Place has a new, graphic novel adaptation for kids by Mario DeMatteo and Ismael Castro. Taken from the original book — with help from one of the three authors of the initial biography — this graphic novel strikes the perfect balance of kid-friendly without softening the overall history of what happened or the core message of hope, love, and forgiveness.
Magnificent Mulligans: Dolphins in Danger
The Magnificent Mulligans: Dolphins in Danger is another outstanding middle-grade adventure novel written by Bill Myers. In this story, the Mulligans — two parents, eight children, and a whole park full of animals — encounter rogue dolphins, errant tennis players, hungry flamingoes, one giant cougar in a tiny airplane, and a variety of lessons on disobedience and its consequences. All of which are narrated by the delightful Winona, the family chimpanzee.
Magnificent Mulligans: What a Croc!
The fourth book of the Magnificent Mulligans series, What a Croc!, sees the Mulligan family racing around town to catch their wayward animals, all while battling against a supposed curse and preparing for an upcoming mayoral election. With a core message of trusting in God to work out all things for your good, the Mulligans must serenade irate elephants, corral hungry crocodiles, and hunt down…ghosts?
Smoke in the Air!
The Mulligan family is back for another messy and heartfelt adventure in Smoke in the Air! written by Bill Myers and published by Tyndale House Publishing. This third entry into the Magnificent Mulligans series is a red-hot disaster as a raging fire threatens the wildlife park. Split into teams, the family must race to protect each other and the animals under their care, learning important lessons about sacrifice, love, and salvation.