|
Over
twenty years ago, Crossway Books (and over a dozen other publishers)
rejected Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness.
Next, Peretti sent The Door in the Dragon’s Throat,
the first book in The Cooper Kids Adventure Series, to Crossway books
and they accepted it. His first published work. In that acceptance
letter, Crossway Books also asked if Peretti would send them This
Present Darkness again. They wanted to take another look.
We all know what happened after
that.
Frank Peretti became a
publishing phenomenon. Today Peretti has over 12 million books in
print, and his The Cooper Kids Adventure Series has sold over a million
copies.
What I find inspiring is that
the publisher was willing to take that first chance on a teen novel and
that Peretti’s teen books have gone through several printings and are
still in print today.
What is so appealing about The
Cooper Kids Adventure Series and The Veritas Project?
Both series have a male and
female teen lead point of view characters. Both include smart, caring
adults. Both deal with spiritual warfare and fighting the dark things
of this world with God’s truth. Both are suspenseful and action packed
with mystery elements and life-threatening danger. Both appeal to boy
and girl readers . . . and adults.
And good always triumphs over
evil.
In his books, Peretti shows us
how to face the things in life that haunt us. His characters urge us to
rely on God despite our fears, to commit to him prayers of faith, and
to trust that He is bigger than any demon of this world, whether they
are monsters or personal afflictions.
My theory? Frank Peretti loves
the Lord his God and has made Proverbs 16:3 a life verse. “Commit to
the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed” (NIV). Let us
all learn from one whose plans have succeeded far more than he likely
ever imagined. Let us all commit to the Lord whatever we do.
And if you have never read a
Cooper Kids book or one of The Veritas Project novels, check them out.
Here are a few.
The Door in
the Dragon’s Throat (The Cooper Kids Adventure Series, book
1) by Frank Peretti
 Jay and Lila Cooper
travel to Nepur with their archaeologist father to uncover the truth
behind an ancient legend. The people of Nepur fear a dark cavern called
the Dragon’s Throat. Deep under the earth the Coopers discover a bronze
door that is said to bring death to any who tries to open it.
But the Coopers are not afraid
of any legend. They study the door, try to open it, and go on a
mysterious and dangerous hunt for a special key. Is there really a
massive treasure behind the Door in the Dragon’s Throat? Or could there
be a reason no one has ever managed to open it?
Escape
from
the Island of Aquarius (The Cooper Kids Adventure Series,
book 2) by Frank Peretti
 Jay and Lila Cooper
join their
father on a trip to the Island of Aquarius to rescue missing
missionary, Adam MacKenzie. When they arrive, they discover a man
claiming to be Adam has declared himself the leader of a bizarre
colony. The man claims his people want to live in peace away from the
modern world. But people keep dying. And when Jay, Lila, and their
father start investigating, they become the next targets of the
mysterious Moro-Kunda. And to make matters worse, the island is in big
trouble. Earthquakes and erosion are tearing the island apart. Will the
Coopers have enough time to find the real Adam MacKenzie before the
island destroys itself?
|
Hangman’s
Curse
(The Veritas Project, book 1) by Frank Peretti
 In Baker, Washington,
three
football stars fall into mysterious, hallucinating comas. Rumor is they
are victims of Abel Frye, a dead student’s ghost who curses those who
would pick on the less popular. Enter the Springfields, an undercover
family of four who are secretly commissioned by the president to
investigate strange mysteries, crimes, and unusual occurrences. They
are The Veritas Project.
Elijah and Elisha, teenage
twins, go undercover at the school but what they find only leads to
more questions. All the victims are school bullies. Abel Frye was a
high school student who hung himself in the 1930s. A stick figure
hangman was etched into each victim’s locker. Is it really his ghost
casting judgment or a secretive form of revenge? And what exactly goes
on in the sectioned-off old basement of the high school?
Nightmare
Academy (The Veritas Project, book 2) by Frank Peretti
 (Summary by Gretchen
Hoffman)
A fifteen-year-old boy shows up along a highway interstate. He doesn’t
know his name, how to dress himself, and has no memory of what’s
happened to him. He simply repeats the words “Nightmare Academy.”
This is when teenage detectives
Elijah and Elisha come into play. They go undercover as runaways where
the boy and his friend were last seen before their disappearance. The
twins are quickly headed on the right track, but things change when
they, too, disappear. They investigate the goings-on but are unable to
contact anyone from where they are. But once they find out what’s
really happening, will they have a chance to escape and save
themselves?
|
