Homeschool Crew Review: 12 Gates Publishing

We recently had an opportunity to read and review the first two books in a brand new series called  The Hamelin Stoop Series from 12 Gates Publishing.  The books we received were:

Hamelin Stoop: The Eagle, The Cave, and the Footbridge (Book 1)
Hamelin Stoop: The Lost Princess and the Jewel of Periluna (Book 2)


The Hamelin Stoop Series  is written by Robert B. Sloan father of 7 and grandfather to 20.  He is president of Houston Baptist University and has a passion for higher Christian education.  This series of books is his debut as an author.  The first book was published in 2016 and the second in 2017.  They predict 6-7 books to complete the series. These books were intended for middle grades through young adults.  The books are written at a higher reading level then typical middle grade books but do not contain mature content that is typically found in books for young adults.

 The Hamelin Stoop Series  is a fantasy series that tells the story of a young boy is is found abandoned in a box on the "stoop" of an orphanage with a note showing the only visible word "Hamelin" and Hamelin Stoop becomes his name.  He stays at the orphanage but longs to find out who he really is.

Hamelin Stoop: The Eagle, The Cave, and the Footbridge (Book 1) is a 325 page paperback book with 41 chapters.  In this story you learn about Hamelin being left on the stoop and why he was abandoned by his parents.  You experience some of his upbringing: people that come and go in his life, friendships, trouble that he has with a bully, his longing to discover his identity and to feel like he really belongs.  On his 8th birthday he sneaks away from the orphanage and ends up in a strange situation being guided by an eagle into a cave and cross a footbridge.  He does not succeed in this task the first time and a few years go by before his courage is tested again.

Hamelin Stoop: The Lost Princess and the Jewel of Periluna (Book 2) is a 295 page book with 41 chapters.  This story continues where Book 1 left off.  Hamelin finds out that his quest is about more then just finding his parents.  Hamelin is thrown into a war which is being fought between The Ancient One and the evil Chimera.  He meets some friends on his journey, Lars, and Eraina, that need his help to find a missing jewel and a lost princess using the tools given to them by the Hospitable Woman.  These quests are only a small part of a larger story that involves Hamelin and Chimera's plan to use him to seize kingdoms on both sides of the Atrium of the Worlds.

I read these books myself because even though I am not a big fan of fantasy books, my children are and I wanted to see if this series would be something they would enjoy.  I could not stop reading them.  The story pulls you in right away and you have to keep going to see what will happen next.  Even though the books look a bit lengthy, the chapters are short keeping the readers interest.  There is a bit of violence in the story as it does deal with good and evil but it is not graphic or inappropriate for middle school and up, the age range the books are intended for. There are a lot of great messages throughout both stories: trust, overcoming ones fears, following directions, some things are not what they believe, and that there are consequences to everything whether those are good or bad.  Our decisions do affect other people and even when we do make mistakes those mistakes can still be used to achieve a good purpose.

I look forward to reading further books in his series with my children and find out what happens next! To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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