The Fight for Kidsboro

Adventures in Odyssey: Kidsboro #1-4

by Marshal Younger

Kidsboro is a small town in the woods behind Whit’s End in Odyssey. It’s a nice little place. It has a church, a store, a police station, a bakery, a weekly newspaper . . . and a total of zero citizens over the age of 14. It’s a town run by kids. Ryan Cummings, the mayor, helps enforce the laws, create new job opportunities, and in general, keep the peace in a town where he seems to have lots of friends and only a few enemies. The Kidsboro series teaches not only moral and biblical principles, but also concepts of government, politics, economic principles, the judicial system, United States history, and Bible stories. The Fight for Kidsboro is a compilation of the 4 books from this popular series.

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Christian Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2011

About the author

Besides numerous scripts for the Adventures in Odyssey radio drama series, Marshal's work includes the book series Kidsboro, the musical drama Man of God, an Adventures in Odyssey video adaptation The Last Days of Eugene Meltsner, the radio drama Just South of Normal, due to air soon, and numerous other sketches and plays. Marshal attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas and graduate school at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was at Regent that he wrote a radio drama for a class he was enrolled in. The production was sent to Paul McCusker at Focus on the Family, who asked him to write more. His first full Adventures in Odyssey script was "The Living Nativity", and after four more were written over the course of the next year and a half, he was asked to come on staff in 1993. He worked at Focus until 1995, when he became a freelance writer. Marshal recently returned to Focus as a staff writer once again. Marshal currently resides in Colorado Springs with his wife, Stephanie, and three daughters, Bryn, Paityn and Kristyn.

Reviews

[Zielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book a couple of times, and each time I am not disappointed. It's full of family, loyalty, freedom, action, faith, and justice. It's a perfect book for kids ages 8+.
I really liked Ryan as a leader for Kidsboro, and I think my favorite book in this series would be the last three, although I loved all of them.
Every time I read these books I'm always so jealous that I can't be part of Kidsboro! Everything is so real in their town; real businesses, and real life struggles. I love these books so much and I wouldn't hesitate to read them again!

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've listened to Adventures in Odyssey since I can remember, so I liked these books. I would have liked it better if there were more characters that you heard in the episodes. The main character, Ryan Cummings, didn't appear in any episodes. (To my knowledge- correct me if I'm wrong) Of course Mr. Whittaker was there, as well as Eugene. Other than that, I don't think anyone else in the books matched the people in the CD's. Besides that fact, the other problem that I have with this 4-book series is the lack of realistic events. I get that there are some rude kids that only want power or 'fame'. But how many of them are in Odyssey? Okay, Rodney Rathbone and the Bones of Wrath. I believe that. But more? Okay... I also found Alice to be a little far-fetched. Not that girls wouldn't want to be police officers, but that she never smiles, and is stronger than most boys around town.

I don't mean this whole review to be all negativity. When I read the books, I liked them. They were interesting, and that's all I really cared about. So I recommend these books to a younger audience, which would be about ten years old or younger. Especially because the younger crowd doesn't understand as much about how government works. Because if you have any inkling how government works, these books are pretty ridiculous.

[Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm definitely mood reading right now. Quarantine isn't the happiest place and I rely on things like old favourites to keep my spirits up. This book is going to stay at a five star because I used to read it, like, once a week and it was basically the only thing I read for quite a while. I hadn't read it for around three or four years and I decided I had to go back into it.
I will say that this has its issues. Basically these twelve year olds seem to have no parents. No one cares that they're staying out all night and fighting wars... but overall it's a fun middle grade read.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good!

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty good!

Dislike:
Page 14:
“Roberto Santana. I barely knew him, though I knew he had moved to Odyssey from the Dominican Republic about two years earlier. He didn't appear to have many friends. I knew what Mr.
Whittaker wanted me to do, though he refused to say it. I felt a little ashamed. I was picking people based on what they could do for Kidsboro, not for what Kidsboro could do for them.”
Page 16:
(Concerning Roberto, whose dad is in jail)
“Some studies indicate that criminal behavior is genetic.”
Page 17:
Sid — one of the two African-Americans in Kidsboro — made his own pastries and sold three day old doughnuts, until he went out of business.
Page 20:
(Somebody ransacked someone else’s playhouse.)
Robert was there too. Alice (a huge girl bigger than the boys in town) grabbed him. She started searching him, fust in case he was actually carrying a weapon. She stood him straight up facing the outside wall of the clubhouse, bending his arm across his lower back, and read him his rights which she'd memorized for just such an occasion as this.
I went up to her. "What happened?"
"Marcy came home, and the door was wide open. The whole place was trashed. When I got here, this little punk was still standing here like the cat that ate the canary," Alice said, bending his arm farther toward his head.
Roberto winced.
"You saw Roberto trashing your place?" I asked Marcy.
"No. But he was here. Standing right outside the door."
"Roberto, were you in Marcy's house?"
"Yes," he said, "but ... I-I did not do it."
The crowd, all ready to hang somebody after Valerie's speech, didn't believe him. Alice took Roberto away and put him in the town jail.
(Uuuuuuuummmmm, that’s racism, police brutality, and assault)
Page 22:
Roberto barely looked up when I walked in. He acted like a guy who'd just missed a million-dollar free throw. Being a part of Kidsboro was his chance to fit in somewhere, and it looked like it was slipping away.
I sat at Alice's desk outside the cell and looked into his eyes. He stared back at me blankly. I decided to be up front. "Did you do it?"
"No," he said sincerely. He explained in his accent, "I was in my house putting pictures on my walls. Then I heard someone call me. So I went to see who, and I saw this girl Marcy's door was open. I thought that maybe the voice came from inside. So I went in and saw the whole place was torn up. Then I turned around and Marcy was there watching me. She yelled. I did not know what to do. Then that big police girl came and pushed me up against the wall."
Page 24:
“Everyone knew the verdict was already decided. They returned in 30 seconds to declare Roberto guilty. Punishment was banishment from this town.”
Page 26:
I told the city council what was going on, and they agreed we needed to make sure that everyone had a legitimate job. I proposed that we establish a law where every person had to find some way to make at least 10 tokens a week. Those who failed to do so three weeks in a row would lose their houses for a month. I thought this was tough, but fair. I called it the Everybody Works program.
Making 10 tokens a week should be a cakewalk. All these people needed was incentive. I knew that every citizen of Kidsboro had enough creativity and intelligence to come up with ways to make money. But until now, there had never been anything there to push them to do so. This program would force them to think for themselves and become productive members of society.
(This fails, of course)

What in the Racist, Police Brutality, Immigration, Social Justice PREACHINESS is this??
Preachy
Bratty
Boring

[E.K.]

Holy shit. I’m reading We Can Live Like This, Lisa Vogel’s memoir about Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. I just realized my fixation on Michigan is the grown-up, lesbian feminist version of the fixation I had on Kidsboro growing up. This fascination and desire has been in me longer than I thought. Mind blown.

[Lilly Roepnack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoy this book. I loved the idea as a child of making my own town and this book always heightened my imagination. There's also an all out war. Who doesn't love a good Adventures in Odyssey war? 🤣

[Melody M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot and characters: 5/5
Writing: 0/5

I really enjoyed the first 2 books but expected it to keep getting better but it didn't so books 3 and 4 seemed lousy in comparison. I was expecting a better ending. It left a couple things unresolved that I really wanted to be resolved.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it and can't wait to read it to my son when he's old enough to understand it.

I won this in a giveaway

[Missm]

This book is awesome!

[Zizi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this boolk!!
I got it at my local library and have to find it AGAIN!!