It's April 21st, time for the Teen FIRST blog tour!(Join our alliance! Click the button!) Every 21st, we will feature an author and his/her latest Teen fiction book's FIRST chapter!
My Review: Ted Dekker's books never fail to amaze me! They show the powerful and wonderful love God has for us, in spite of our sins. They show that God can use anyone one, no matter how imperfect that they seem for the job. He does a wonderful job of weaving fantasy and the supernatural into his stories, and making them sound believalbe. Like I can imagine, in Black that the Colored Forest, perfect world really exists, and then evil enters the world. In Chosen, part of the world of the Circle Trilogy, he has a story about the Forest Guard going on a mission into Horde territory. In chosing the 4 leaders, Thomas Hunter does something not normally done in the "real" world when choosing people for battle, or teams for football even. He choses Johnis, one of the smallest and weakest, who had already been rejected in the Forest Guard recruitment. But he is very good at using his mind and his love. Love for Elyon (God), and love for his mother who was killed by the Horde. He wants to seek justice for his mother's death, and he does just that by involving himself, although reluctanly, in the Forest Guard recruitment process, even after he was rejected. He stands up for Elyon and his mother. That's what it's about, not just a fight, not just an army that wants the strongest, but an army that knows how to love! The most important thing is love, but when the enemy attacks, and they don't want to be saved, you have to fight. You can show them love, but when they are so blind to it, when they don't want it, you need to fight, and Johnis is the perfect 16-year-old teen for the job.
and his book:
Thomas Nelson (January 1, 2008)
Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.
After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.
Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. To see a complete list of Dekker's work, visit The Works section of TedDekker.com.
Here are some of his latest titles:
Adam
Black: The Birth of Evil (The Circle Trilogy Graphic Novels, Book 1)
Saint AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
beginnings
Our story begins in a world totally like our own, yet completely different. What once happened here in our own history seems to be repeating itself thousands of years from now,
some time beyond the year 4000 AD.
But this time the future belongs to those who see opportunity before it becomes obvious. To the young, to the warriors, to the lovers. To those who can follow hidden clues and find a great
treasure that will unlock the mysteries of life and wealth.
Thirteen years have passed since the lush, colored forests were turned to desert by Teeleh, the enemy of Elyon and the vilest of all creatures. Evil now rules the land and shows itself as a painful, scaly disease that covers the flesh of the Horde, a people who live in the desert.
The powerful green waters, once precious to Elyon, have vanished from the earth except in seven small forests surrounding seven small lakes. Those few who have chosen to follow the ways of Elyon now live in these forests, bathing once daily in the powerful waters to cleanse their skin of the disease.
The number of their sworn enemy, the Horde, has grown in thirteen years and, fearing the green waters above all else, these desert dwellers have sworn to wipe all traces of the forests from
the earth.
Only the Forest Guard stands in their way. Ten thousand elite fighters against an army of nearly four hundred thousand Horde. But the Forest Guard is starting to crumble.
one
Day One
Qurong, general of the Horde, stood on the tall dune five miles west of the green forest, ignoring the fly that buzzed around his left eye.
His flesh was nearly white, covered with a paste that kept his skin from itching too badly. His long hair was pulled back and woven into dreadlocks, then tucked beneath the leather body armor
cinched tightly around his massive chest.
“Do you think they know?” the young major beside him asked.
Qurong’s milky white horse, chosen for its ability to blend with the desert, stamped and snorted.
The general spit to one side. “They know what we want them to know,” he said. “That we are gathering for war. And that we will march from the east in four days.”
“It seems risky,” the major said. His right cheek twitched, sending three flies to flight.
“Their forces are half what they once were. As long as they think we are coming from the east, we will smother them from the west.”
“The traitor insists that they are building their forces,” the major said.
“With young pups!” Qurong scoffed.
“The young can be crafty.”
“And I’m not? They know nothing about the traitor. This time we will kill them all.”
Qurong turned back to the valley behind him. The tents of his third division, the largest of all Horde armies, which numbered well over three hundred thousand of the most experienced warriors, stretched out nearly as far as he could see.
“We march in four days,” Qurong said. “We will slaughter them from the west.”
Check out the book here:
This week, the 
Jenny B. Jones is the author of A Katie Parker Production series. The other books in the series are In Between and On The Loose. Though now an adult, she still relates to the trauma and drama of teen life. She is thrilled to see her writing dreams come true, as her previous claim to fame was singing the Star Spangled Banner at a mule-jumping championship. (The mules were greatly inspired.)
Sometimes there’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy—and Katie Parker is walking it.
