Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Mischief and Mercy
Jean McClung · 1993
65/100
👎 Skip It
McClung's twelve saint retellings have genuine charm — blending the miraculous and the humorous is not easy, and the choice of figures like Francis and Joan gives the collection real range. But the audience here is fairly narrow: families in a Catholic or broadly Christian context who want lively hagiography for their 8-12-year-olds. Secular readers will find limited appeal, and the book is now difficult to track down. Worth seeking out if it fits your household, but it won't find you.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: Explicitly Catholic/Christian content; some historical martyrdom violence at middle-grade level. We still scored it 65; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety82
substance65
craft66
originality64
accuracy72
hype58
age-fit80
human-eye63
Penny’s verdict65
Cross-pollinate