Best Selling Books by Dave Jackson

Stories with accompanying Scripture quotations and discussion questions suggest creative use of imagination to relieve boredom in bad weather or on a long car trip, and to deal with restlessness from overstimulation or excitement.

Stories with accompanying Scripture quotations and discussion questions suggest ways to deal with anger over unfair punishment, conflict with a bully, and damage done by a young sibling.

Thrilling adventure stories introducing young readers (ages 8-12) to Christian heroes of the past. Jerry Newman doesn''t mean to keep getting into trouble -- it just sort of happens. But when a practical joke goes wrong, burning down a church in his small east Texas town, Jerry''s widowed mother quickly sends him to live with his journalist uncle in Los Angeles. Jerry is secretly pleased -- not only to avoid being punished for his crime but also to live in California...the end of the earth! On the night before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Jerry and his uncle go to investigate a popular warehouse church in Los Angeles. There, they hear a man predict the coming quake. But Jerry is even more impressed by the powerful preacher, William Seymour, and by the hundreds of blacks and whites worshipping and praying together in strange "tongues". Jerry wants to believe Seymour''s message, but will he do so when it means confessing his dangerous secret?

Trailblazer Books makes history exciting and relevant for both boys and girls. Mehdi Ksara, a Muslim boy in Morocco, collects items he finds among the foreigners living in his village. He knows he risks his parents'' wrath by treasuring the pictures of Jesus given to him by missionary Maude Cary. Will the missionary''s God save Mehdi when his pictures are discovered?

Asked to help with some university research by Bishop Kivengere, Yakobo and his family are put in danger when Idi Amin''s soldiers attack. Ages 8 to 12.

In "Sinking the Dayspring", 14-year-old Kevin Gilmore is stranded on an island of cannibals when the ship is damaged.

AMBUSHED IN JAGUAR SWAMP, Introducing Barbrooke Grubb -- "Someday, foreigners will come who will reveal the mysteries of the spirit world." It seems clear to fourteen-year-old Kyemap that this ancient Lengua prophecy is fulfilled by Barbrooke Grubb. Kyemap wants to accept the missionary''s teachings. But he fears the powerful witch doctors whose superstitious murders threaten the tribe''s very survival. Kyemap''s older cousin Poit takes an interest in the Englishman, too, offering to help him reach other Paraguayan tribes. But Kyemap knows his cousin only too well and suspects Poit is up to no good. Then Grubb takes a trip home, and Poit agrees to watch his herd of cattle. But Poit soon becomes impatient, butchering some cattle and holding feasts to impress tribal leaders. When Grubb returns and asks to see the herd, Poit leads him deep into the treacherous Jaguar Swamp. Kyemap fears the worst. Must he betray his cousin to protect the man whose message could save the Lengua people? Torn between his family and his future, Kyemap seeks the truth ...

If Sarah''s desperate mission fails, her family is in peril of their lives.

Drawn from the lives of key Christians from the past and present, Heroes in Black History is an inspiring collection of forty-two exciting and educational readings that highlight African-American Christians through a short biography and three true stories for each hero. Whether read together at family devotions or alone, Heroes in Black History is an ideal way to acquaint children ages six to twelve with historically important Christians while imparting valuable lessons. Featured heroes include Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, William Seymour, Thomas A. Dorsey, Mary McLeod Bethune, Martin Luther King Jr., and many more. Includes brand-new material as well as content from previous Hero Tales editions.

Drea Thomas, running against her nemesis Arlene for president of her seventh grade class, fears that she is falling into the same dishonest campaign tactics she despises in her opponent.

Casey convinces his family to join the circus but a terrifying accident leaves him paralyzed with fear. Ages 8-12.

Jova''s search leads him all the way to America. There, he is at last reunited with the missing prince, now known as Samuel Morris. Inspired by Samuel''s faith, Jova returns to Africa with news of a new, even greater Prince for his people.

THE FORTY-ACRE SWINDLE, Introducing George Washington Carver -- To fourteen-year-old Jesse Turner, being "free" in Alabama in 1898 doesn''t seem much better than slavery. The Turners'' forty-acre farm-given to them by the government following the Civil War-is exhausted from growing cotton, they face overwhelming debt, and trouble from prejudiced neighbors makes life difficult and frightening. It seems the only solution is to sell the land and begin sharecropping. But they find new hope in the teachings of George Washington Carver, a Christian agriculturist who travels the South helping fellow blacks with new farming techniques. Inspired by Carver''s advice to "hang on to the land at all costs," Jesse takes a part-time job, and he and his father plant a promising crop of soybeans. But as the Turners race to meet the deadline for repaying their debts, they run into a host of new problems. And when the levee suspiciously bursts one night and floods their land, can Jesse find a way to save the family farm? Someone pulled along from the levee. But who?

Was no one there to care or to help?

Thirteen-year-old Drea learns a lesson about responsibility when she''s forced to cancel her exciting weekend plans to babysit for Rebecca and Matt.

In 1660, after his father is imprisoned in the Tower of London, Richard Winslow goes to stay with his uncle who is in charge of the Bedford jail and there meets and is helped by the Puritan preacher John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim''s Progress.

MASK OF THE WOLF BOY, Introducing Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth -- In the Chinese city of Changte, Chou Fu-lin is known simply as "Wolf Boy." Plagued by recurring nightmares of a childhood accident, Fu-lin hides more than his face behind his carefully tied bandana. Still, he enjoys his job as a house servant for Canadian missionaries Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth, and has recently become a Christian himself, joining their growing church. The Wolf Boy''s faith is soon put to the test with the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The Goforths are forced to flee the country, and Fu-lin gladly goes with them. But as the refugee Christians are greeted with ever louder and more violent protests, Fu-lin is sorely tempted to hide his faith and disappear into the crowd. Will Chou Fu-lin have the courage to face his greatest fears and finally expose the truth? Who will be revealed when the Wolf Boy removes his mask?

While held hostage on a pirate ship in 1700, thirteen-year-old Theo escapes with his sister and enlists the help of William Penn to rescue their mother.

When he is taken aboard a ship bound for China, twelve-year-old Neil Thompson is befriended by Hudson Taylor and shares adventures with him during the voyage and in China, where Taylor sets up a mission.

When those strange Salvation Army people approach them on the street, should Jack and Amy run away? Can the General and Catherine Booth be trusted?

With God''s love, Curly, a young nineteenth-century English boy convicted of armed robbery, reforms his ways after being sent to one of George Müller''s orphan homes.

BLINDED BY THE SHINING PATH, Introducing Romulo Saune -- Bandits are a regular threat to the small Peruvian village Alfredo Garcia lives in. Government protection is scarce and the police never enforce the law. So the village men take it upon themselves to defend their village, but return unsuccessful when Alfredo''s father is killed. Rico, Alfredo''s brother, joins the Communist Shining Path guerrillas hoping to avenge their father''s death. But the terrorists prove to be more dangerous than the bandits they promised to protect the villaters from, and it''s not long before they begin killing followers of Jesus Christ, too. When Alfredo also becomes involved with the guerrillas, he is forced to prove his loyalty or be considered a deserter and risk death. His orders are to kill the evangelist, Pastor Romulo Saune, but when his mission fails, Alfredo begins asking harder questions. CAN SOMETHING GOOD COME FROM SOMETHING SO BAD?"

Godon McLean tells how gang members have been changed through the truths of Jesus Christ and the impact of Christ''s love. From the rough barrios of L.A. to the war zone of Chicago''s West Side, McLean carried God''s message to whoever would listen.

THE RUNAWAY''S REVENGE, Introducing John Newton -- Thirteen-year-old slave Hamilton Jones seizes his freedom when his cruel master dies on a trip to England in 1775. Driven by a desire for revenge after years of mistreatment, the boy hunts down former slave trader John Newton-the man responsible for bringing Hamilton''s mother to the United States. Hamilton wants only one thing: to make the man pay with his life for his evil crime! But the John Newton that Hamilton meets is nothing like the horrible person he imagined. Instead of reacting with fear when threatened with death, the little man seems calm and unafraid. Newton even agrees he deserves to die-and claims to be something worse than a slave trader! Astonished, Hamilton stays to listen to the preacher''s story. What could be worse than being a slave trader? Hamilton sees his chance for revenge . . . but will he go thorough with it?

THE BETRAYER''S FORTUNE Introducing Menno Simons Adriaen Wens was frightened-for his own life and for his mother''s. In 1543, many Christians in northeastern Europe were suffering cruel persecution, even execution, for following the beliefs of Menno Simons, the leader of a group called the Anabaptists. When Adriaen''s mother was arrested, he had to flee during the night with Menno, knowing that to stay in the city would mean his own arrest. Soon after, Adriaen discovered there was a reward of a hundred gold pieces for the capture of Menno Simons. With so much gold, Adriaen could free his mother and rescue his family from the city! But could he turn in the underground church leader, even if it meant the man''s execution? If Adriaen betrays the leader, his family will go free!

Meet Annabelle Fortune, an 1880s cowgirl tougher than Calamity Jane!

After coming to China to work as a missionary in the early 1930s, Gladys Aylward adopts several orphans and tries to save nearly a hundred more during the war between China and Japan.

THE THIEVES OF TYBURN SQUARE, Introducing Elizabeth Fry -- Betsey and Loren Maxwell are on their own in early nineteenth-century England after their mother is deported to New South Wales for stealing two silver candlesticks. Faced with few options, the young Maxwells are forced to live and work in a gloomy London workhouse. Betsey and her brother have a terrible time enduring the harsh treatment and strict rules of the workhouse overseers. Then Loren sees an opportunity to escape, and the pair soon find themselves back on the dangerous streets of London-with only a stolen pouch of money to support them. Their new life takes a disastrous turn when Betsey and Loren are jailed for pickpocketing in Tyburn Square. Betsey is terrified that she''ll never see her brother or mother again, but a visit from a kind Quaker woman named Elizabeth Fry gives her courage. Can this compassionate prison reformer save Betsey and her brother from the gallows in Tyburn Square? Alone and in prison with no one to turn to . . .

His friendship with Peter Cartwright, a Methodist circuit-rider evangelist, enables thirteen-year-old Gil to pursue his dream of locating his mother who was kidnapped by the Sauk Indians during the War of 1812.