An Adventure Story for the Whole Family

Leslea Wahl reviews Be: The Journey of Rol, the debut novel by Catholic author Ric Colegrove.

Be: The Journey of Rol by Ric Colegrove

Summary

In a time and place different than our own, a fourteen-year-old boy named Rol sets out on a journey, alone. He faces incredible challenges and makes lifelong friends. Rol learns what it takes to be who he is truly meant to be, with help from those he encounters along the way.

Be: The Journey of Rol is a story of adventure and hope. It is a tale of friendship, humility and thankfulness, overcoming challenges, the consequences of decisions you make, and the importance of laughing a little as you go through life.

Be-The Journey of Rol

Review

I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun reading a book. This author has quite the imagination and created a story that reminded me of the journey in The Hobbit with the humor of The Princess Bride. This fantasy novel is filled with humorous passages, silly descriptions, and several laugh-out-loud moments, as well as a few clever moments of breaking the fourth wall (that’s probably not even a thing in books, but I don’t know how else to describe it).

I mean, who can’t appreciate these descriptions on Rol’s map:

The Straits of Straight-up Pain, the Cave of We’ll Have None of That, and the River of Aaaaaaaaaaaagh ... Splash ... Ohnooooo.

Or this:

“What we need—us, right now—is an adventure song or ballad ... a Salad. About our adventures so far,” Rol added excitedly as they continued walking.

Rol was such a great character. I loved his decision to focus on being happy and not to worry, even when things go horribly wrong. When his mentor is taken by a horde of grumblegoblins—yep, you read that right, grumblegoblins, he makes the decision to embark on an epic journey, with the help of his trusty map.

Along the way, Rol meets two traveling companions who join him on the journey. The unique villages and situations they come across challenge the three new friends in many unexpected ways, forcing the trio to rely on their smarts, faith, determination, and dumb luck to overcome all obstacles.

Be: The Journey of Rol would be a fabulous story to read as a family. There are some wonderful discussion topics about friendships, courage, and self-discovery hidden amid the humorous gems.

null