A Children's Story that is Not for Children

• Sometimes books are not quite what they seem on the opening pages. Hidden deep inside the book, squirreled away, is some deeper meaning or story. Sometimes a book switches gears, much like movies that start out in what a person thinks is one genre to have it actually be another entirely.  Then there are books that tell two stories that seem so far apart but in the end begin to blend until there is only one true story.  Robert A. Krueger tells just such a story in his book The Children's Story About Good and Evil. From the beginning you expect one thing only to find that is a small part of what the author is conveying.

• From Amazon:
• The novel is a mix of fantasy and reality. It defines different forms of evil and contrasts them with goodness and innocence in a format that is both serious and funny. One morning young teen sisters decide to go for a walk, not realizing that this outing will change them forever. They become trapped in a strange land where the outrageous and bizarre seem normal. They only wish to find their way home; but this journey, which is not of their choosing, has a different purpose or so it seems as they are forced on their way. The people and animals they meet are outlandish or eccentric or sometimes normal. Each has a lesson to teach or perhaps not. They are bombarded with sense and with nonsense that may or may not be nonsense. In their minds, they fight to remain children, but they are neither child nor adult. Deep inside the sisters progressively understand that there is a purpose to their journey and that it has to do with good and evil. But they are neither free from torment nor from the absurd. They must overcome the temptation of evil if, in fact, they can recognize it. Interwoven with the sisters' story are real life tales of good and of the arrogance and depravity of evil (as in the Holocaust), thus defining the nature of good and evil. Allegorically, this is everyone's journey and everyone's story. A non-traditional novel for Adults and Young Adults
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• The Children's Story About Good and Evil
• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (October 22, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1475293984
• ISBN-13: 978-1475293982
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About the Book:

The description of the book as listed on Amazon tells pretty much the story of the book. It does not tell you that interlinked in this novel are real life examples of what the sisters are learning. Does evil always look like evil? Can evil slip up on you when you are only trying to do what is right? Can evil disguise itself as good? Can good produce evil?

When I first started this book I felt the kinship of  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  within the text. The two sisters, though from a magical place to begin with, end up in a place that abounds with magic and strangeness much like Alice did. And quite like the Alice story, it appears that the book is going to be a satire of good, evil, and politics. However, Krueger takes this a bit further by including real hard core examples of each bizarre notion the girls stumble into. I did so enjoy those examples, though I was not sure they were necessary to tell the tale. Yet, in the end, it all worked.

I remember the first time I realized the the government lies to people.  I was about the age of the older sister. I see myself in the growing up of the sisters. At some point we leave our childish beliefs behind and learn there is more to the world than we could have ever thought possible; there is more gray than black or white; there is good  disguised as evil and evil hiding good.

My Recommendation:

Do not enter this book lightly. There is a tale to be told and if you look on the front cover, it says :A Novel, Not for Children. Take this message to heart. If you are ready for a book that delves dig into good and evil with excellent story telling and fantastic descriptions, this is for you. Enjoy!