Imagination Station–Attack at the Arena

The Imagination Station Book 2 – Attack at the Arena
Written by Marianne Hering
Published at Tyndale

About the book

Patrick and Beth learn that Mr. Whittaker’s fancy ring can be seen inside the Imagination Station but not outside of the machine. A mysterious letter leads the cousins to fifth-century Rome in search of a special cup that belongs to a monk. If found, the cup could keep the mysterious Albert out of prison.

At the Roman Colosseum, Emperor Honorius is hosting a gladiator battle in celebration of a war victory. Beth attends the event as the emperor’s slave; Patrick attends as a monk’s apprentice but is taken prisoner and sent to fight in the arena. During their adventure, the cousins meet Telemachus (a true historical figure), a monk who believes that fighting is wrong. Telemachus is willing to risk everything—even his life—to stop the killing. When the cousins return with the cup, they find that a third letter has been sent with more information about Albert’s fate.

Who is Marianne Hering?

Marianne Hering is a prolific writer, having written hundreds of articles and a number of books for children and parents. For nine years she worked for several magazines in Focus on the Family's periodicals department and became the editor of Clubhouse, a Focus on the Family children's magazine with a circulation of over 100,000.

Marianne's book titles include two series for girls (Lights, Camera, Action; and White House Adventures) and a recent biography of William Bradford. Her most recent title is a compilation of activities from Clubhouse magazine, the Focus on the Family Clubhouse Family Activity Book.

As a mother of three children, Marianne is interested in parenting and education issues, including home schooling and tutoring reading. She graduated from Biola University (La Mirada, California) with a degree in psychology and has continued her education with courses in writing and editing. She and her husband, Doug, live in Colorado with their nine-year-old daughter, Danielle, and two-year-old twin sons, Justin and Kendrick.

My Thoughts

I am a fast reader – faster than my kids.   So the next few books from the Imagination Station, I will review myself.

Attack at the Arena will bring you to the Roman time.    However, you don’t have to have read the previous book before reading this one.   A nice prologue at the beginning of the book will explain what is going on and what adventures the cousins have lived before.  

The second trip of Patrick and Beth will bring them to Rome.  They will encounter real historical figures and experience the last Roman games.  Once again they will be separate but no worries they will found each other again.   Impersonating a slave and a  monk, they will be part of the event when Telemachus will convince the Emperor Honorius to stop the madness linked to the games.  

This book will be a wonderful addition to “live” history while studying the Roman times.    It describes and provide information about the games as well as how Romans lived.    Knowing that this series is attached to the popular radio show Adventures in Odyssey, I have no hesitation whatsoever to let my kids read them.   

At the end of each book, the child can decipher a puzzle and get a secret word which he/she can enter at TheImaginationStation.com to get a prize.   So far the first two prizes are some AIO episodes which I find is totally fantastic as my kids absolutely LOVE these.

I highly recommend The Imagination Station series for any family who have kids.

Attack at the Arena is available at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: I have received the above mentioned products for review purposes from Tyndale and Side Door Communication . I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.