Troubled Waters...bk2

Doesn't the song say something about "like a bridge over troubled water..." ?  In the back of this second installment, Dean Hughes makes note of the many comments he'd received about how "different" his Hearts of the Children "feels" compared to the Children of the Promise series.  (See that!  It wasn't just me.)  The author chooses to believe that it is a reflection of the historically documented "generation gap" between the two generations, but we all know the truth.  I think he knew it as well and successfully altered his focus for the second book in this series.  Instead of chapters of Trivial Pursuit in the categories of music, fashion, and history, the characters were allowed to have a story.  Granted, they are still filling out certain stereotypes, but their are some unexpected moments as well that keep the story interesting.