The Imagination Station by Marianne Herring (Light in the Lions' Den Book 19)

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Description:

This easy-to-read adventure is number 19 in the successful series that has now sold over 1 million books. The Imagination Station has been acting wonky for several adventures now, handing out the wrong gifts and traveling unexpected paths. Patrick and Beth must call upon their courage, strength, and resilience in order to help others and survive real dangers that threaten them as they travel through time and space to encounter the prophet Daniel and the deadly lions’ den.

Age Recommendation: 9-12, 3rd-5th Grade

General Content:

Language: 1/10- Some characters speak poorly of/ speak unkindly to their slaves, servants, and jews.

Alcohol & Drugs: 0/10- No alcohol or drug content.

Violence & Gore: 3/10- Biblical violence (ex., Thrown in the fire/lion's den demonstrating God's power), injustice, and keeping/mistreatment of slaves.

Sexual Content: 0/10- No sexual content.

Parent Guide:

Tropes: Time travel, Biblical history, injustice/persecution.

*Not a trope, but many characters speak openly about the gods they serve and what they believe their gods do for them. Out of fear, the main characters go along with them at first, but later reveal that they serve the one true God. Daniel then leads them into repentance for staying silent out of fear, and they spend the rest of the novel proclaiming God's goodness.

Prologue

-Eugene, a friend of the cousins, Patrick and Beth, gets stuck in history, locked in a jail cell. The cousins try to rescue him when they get trapped in the cell by the detective as well.

Ch. 2

-The imagination station car goes back in time just in time to see everyone bowing to the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar, except for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The three men get tossed into the fiery furnace when a fourth man appears. Just then, there’s a storm, and the imagination station gets struck by lightning, sending it to the desert.

Ch. 4

-A soldier and captain (Anu) of the king’s army approach the cousins, they’re riding chariots and carrying spears and bows. The soldiers ask if the cousins have “come from the sky?” With no better answer, they say yes. The soldiers then get excited, saying it’s a good “omen” from their god Adad. The soldiers believed that the lighting created by the imagination station was sent by Adad.

-Once inside the Babylonian walls, Captain Anu orders a slave to get them all water. He addresses the man as “slave”, not by name. Captain Anu then mentions to the cousins that slaves tend the water system, garden, and animals.

Ch. 5

-The soldier tells the cousins about the “lion hunt” that they hold, where the king and his guard chase down and kill a lion, showing his power to protect his people.

-Within the Babylonian walls, there are paintings of lions. The soldier tells the cousins that the lion is the symbol of Ishtar, the goddess of war. He then shows them other painted animals and the gods and goddesses they represent.

-Slaves open a heavy set of doors. Behind them are soldiers with whips. Beth acknowledges and feels sad for the hard-working slaves.

-In the distance, Patrick sees a tall building. Duzi, the soldier, explains that it’s a temple to another one of their gods, Marduk. “‘Is everything here dedicated to the gods?’ Patrick asked. Duzi turned around. He had a puzzled look on his face. ‘What else is there in life but to honor the gods?’ he asked. ‘We owe our very lives to them. Without their protection, we would surely die.’”

Ch. 6

-Duzi brings the cousins to the priestess (Anatu) in the temple of Adad, telling her to take them as servants. However, she dislikes them and tells Duzi to throw them in the river and “let them serve the god of the underworld”.

-Anatu decides that she will keep Beth, but she doesn’t like Patrick because “his blue eyes frighten” her.  Thus, the cousins get separated, with Beth having to stay at the temple of Adad with Anatu. Anatu tells Beth she will learn her place, that she can obey her and “become a temple priestess” or disobey and “become a temple sacrifice”.

Ch. 7

-At the end of ch.6 Anatu calls for Tanzi, saying, “Come here, you good-for-nothing dog.” We find out in this chapter that Tanzi is actually a slave who has been working in the temple of Adad since he was 5.

-Tanzi tells Beth that his home country was Syria and states, “King Nebuchadnezzar attacked my city. My parents died in the battle. I was taken captive and brought to Babylon”.

-Tanzi gently slaps Beth’s hand when she makes a mistake.

-Tanzi tells Beth that he and everyone else believe that Adad lives in his temple and speaks through “signs and omens”.

Ch. 8

-Tanzi tells Beth that it’s very important that she obeys Anatu or she could be killed. However, as Anatu is preparing the altar to offer a blood sacrifice, via a dove, to Adad, Beth feels heavy. She tells Anatu she can not and will not worship a false god. She then tells Anatu that she will only worship the one true God, the God of the Jews. Anatu tells Beth to leave, or the king’s advisors will arrest her, “or worse”.

Ch. 9

-Patrick shares with the King of Babylon about Jesus, who isn’t just a king but the Messiah. The king requests that Patrick be removed from his court. There is, however, one man who is interested in what Patrick has to say. This man takes Patrick into his home as a servant; his name is Daniel.

Ch. 10

-Angry soldiers come to arrest Beth, but she escapes out a window.

Ch. 12

-The king has just signed a new law; anyone who prays to any god other than him will be thrown into the pit of lions. Beth tells the king he has made a mistake, and he begins to cry as he can’t undo his law, and his friend Daniel will suffer for it.

Ch. 13

-Daniel, Beth, and Patrick immediately return to Daniel’s house and begin to pray to God. Soon after, they are arrested for treason.

Ch. 14

-When the people in the city see the three bound and led out of Daniel’s house, they begin to chant “kill the Jews” and “cleanse the city of traitors”.