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The Youngest Hero

Name: The Youngest Hero
Author: Jerry B. Jenkins
ISBN: 9780446567886

by Jerry B. Jenkins

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Overview

In this emotional story of parental love, a single mother of a teenage baseball player who exhibits the batting eye of a professional athlete, tries to shield and protect her son from the world of over-zealous scouts, hard-nosed coaches, and money-hungry agents. Guided by his mother's firm and steadfast wisdom and his extraordinary talent, both mother and son make it to the major leagues. In the end, "The Youngest Hero" reveals that when it comes to finding your way in life, a God-fearing mother is more important than God-given talent.

About the Author, Jerry B. Jenkins

Jerry B. Jenkins & Tim LaHaye

When the Left Behind series became a publishing phenomenon, no one was more surprised than its authors, evangelical preacher Tim LaHaye (left) and fiction writer Jerry B. Jenkins. Audiences gobbled up the duo’s thrilling novels, which combine romance, morality questions, and high-tech gadgetry against the dramatic backdrop of the apocalypse.

Biography

Sometimes, while sitting on airplanes, evangelical preacher Tim LaHaye would ask himself, “What if the Rapture occurred on an airplane?" That germ of an idea grew into the phenomenally successful Left Behind series, which LaHaye coauthors with fiction writer Jerry B. Jenkins. The books combine Biblical prophecy with speculative fiction to produce an action-packed thriller about events between the Rapture, when (according to one Christian tradition) the faithful will ascend to heaven, and the Second Coming.

Before the series began, Jenkins had carved out a career writing other people's autobiographies -- he ghostwrote or co-wrote those of Billy Graham, Orel Herschiser, Hank Aaron, and Nolan Ryan, among others -- as well as writing novels and a few inspirational books on marriage and parenting. Tim LaHaye also wrote books on marriage and faith, served as the pastor for a ministry in California, and co-founded The Pre-Trib Research Center, a Bible scholarship group dedicated to the study of end-times prophecy. LaHaye spent several years searching for a coauthor who could take his vision of the earth's last days -- including that intriguing image of passengers vanishing from an airplane -- and spin it into fiction. Finally, LaHaye and Jenkins were introduced by their mutual literary agent at Alive Communications, and Jenkins began writing the story of airline captain Rayford Steele, whose wife and son vanish along with millions of other true believers. Those "left behind" on Earth have a last chance to choose sides in the ensuing battle between good and evil.

The books became a blockbuster hit. Sales of the Left Behind series soared with each successive volume, and by 2001, ABC News reported, 50 million had been sold. "The formula combines Tom Clancy-like suspense with touches of romance, high-tech flash and Biblical references," The New York Times wrote, explaining how its authors pulled off "an unparalleled achievement for an evangelical novel." LaHaye and Jenkins were stunned by their own success: "I've been writing for 40 years, with 12 million books in print, but I've never seen anything like this," said LaHaye.

The series has spawned a slew of spinoffs: comic books, calendars, a young adults' series, dramatized audio recordings and a movie based on the first book. It has also generated controversy, both within and without the Christian community, for issues ranging from politics (the U.N. figures into the story as a tool of the Antichrist) to Scriptural interpretation (many New Testament scholars reject LaHaye's belief, first popularized by John Nelson Darby in the 1830s, in a seven-year tribulation period following the Rapture).

But LaHaye and Jenkins are convinced that their message is getting through to their readers. They estimate that more than 2,000 people have converted as a result of reading the Left Behind books. "And needless to say, for us that's more important than bestsellers, or money, or anything else," says Jenkins.

Good To Know

Jerry Jenkins is also the writer of a syndicated comic strip, "Gil Thorp," which runs in 60 newspapers nationwide.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Jenkins's goal in high school was to be a professional baseball player, so it's not surprising that the coauthor of the popular Left Behind series and numerous "as told to" baseball autobiographies would pen this light yarn of a young prodigy who makes it to the major leagues. Elgin Woodell comes by his talent honestly: his daddy, Neal, was once a major league prospect. But with Neal in the Alabama State Penitentiary, Elgin's mother, Miriam, is left to raise their 10-year-old son on her own, moving from Hattiesburg, Miss., to Chicago to escape the stigma of her divorce and her husband's bad reputation. Elgin hones his talent on the streets playing fast pitch and trying to fit into local leagues that are correct for his age group but not his talent. Success, however, is just around the corner. Fans of the Left Behind series will recognize Jenkins's trademark touches of humor, as well as his predisposition to be long on dialogue and short on characterization. There's a nice romance between Miriam and Lucas Harkness, the owner of Lucky's Secondhand Shop. Although Elgin's raw talent is believable for this type of tale, his precocious wisdom is unlikely. Like Hometown Legend, much of the book reads like it was made for the screen (and with Jenkins's new entertainment company transforming several of his novels to film, perhaps it was). Baseball fans will gladly stick with the story until the final inning, when 14-year-old Elgin steps up to the plate and achieves his dreams. (Apr. 3) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.