Book Ideas

The Proxy: a Tale of Two Sisters

"Boy on a Book" by Peter Griffin

Identical twin sisters Petra and Kathe live in Mainz, Germany during WW2. Petra works for the Resistance, and Kathe dates a Gestapo agent, Anselm. Anselm mistakenly arrests his girlfriend Kathe instead of Petra, the Resistance worker. Kathe goes to jail and a concentration camp. She experiences hardship and small miracles. Petra is trapped with evil Anselm, but she has to find a way out. Another Gestapo agent, Dietrich, steps in to marry her, so she doesn't have to marry Anselm. Dietrich is an unknown, but he is better than Anselm. Dietrich falls in love immediately and knows he married Petra, not Kathe. They continue Resistance work.

Mainz, Germany suffered heavy bombing during WW2. There's a saying "Save one for Mainz" that Allied bombers supposedly said. Urban legend says that Mainz tortured a downed pilot and killed him (don't know if I have the legend right). In the book, Dietrich and Petra discover the downed pilot and fake his death so he can escape. This is based largely on The Hiding Place.

The Dragon Caves

Ten-year-old Longwei is trying to fit in at a boarding school in China. He brags that he found a dragon scale in some Buddhist monk caves located by Nine Dragon Falls in the Yellow Mountains. Other boys tease him and say it's not true. Longwei says he'll prove it to the other boys. One of the boys joins Longwei during a school break in the Yellow Mountains. They explore the caves and almost get caught by a monk. Longwei and the other boy lie about their adventures and the other boys say they want a look. All the boys go there on vacation and explore the caves. A bad monk locks them away from finding treasures. They discover the dragon artifacts are real. A good monk saves them. The bad monk is sentenced to cleaning bathrooms for the rest of his life because he is selling dragon artifacts on eBay.

The series continues with the boys' adventures finding various dragon artifacts in the caves.

If I Could, Jack

Jeri and Jack live across a ravine from each other. They become best friends. Jack is adopted from Utah. Their senior year, Jack has flashbacks and remembers abuse as a child. He wants to know what happened. He meets a long lost cousin and discovers his biological grandfather molested him. Jeri helps Jack go through the healing process and the legal process. They find comfort through Jesus Christ.

I'm trying to decide how much LDS ideas to put in. Should they convert? Should I follow them into college with the healing process? Should they get married to other people?

Fetters of Our Fathers

A soldier in Vietnam is at a dying soldier's side. The dying soldier tells the Soldier to marry his fiancee when he gets home. The Soldier finds the fiancee only discover she's LDS. He doesn't know what to do. They marry, but have a tenuous relationship. Eventually, they come together, but he struggles with gambling, maybe drugs or maybe some other vice.

I'll follow the children's stories. One son marries a survivor of Hurricane Katrina who moved to Utah with her grandmother. (Cherish Me) Another son has a bitter divorce and has to start again. He rescues a neighbor from an abusive husband. He helps her and they marry, but deal with the aftermath. (Delight in My Plainness) The daughter April feels plain and unattractive. She's just boring and she struggles to find self-worth. Her journey leads her to find self-worth and that her husband loves her even if she's a "plain Jane."

The Some Day

I have others that I thought of as a teenager, but they don't quite fit anymore. One was Survivor of Masada. Another was Chains of Fear, Elizabeth the Embarrassed, and others. I might work on those some day.