In the small town of Ashwood Creek Colorado there lives a family known as the Coopers. A kind doctor and his wife, with their house full of children who make even ordinary days an extraordinary opportunity to change the lives of others.
Book One - The Greatest of TheseJourney with the Cooper family as they discover the challenges and joys of adoption. In the Great Depression era story, nine-year-old Birdie finds herself on an adventure to discover what love really is. Having been taken in, along with her big brother, by a kind doctor and his wife, she struggles to trust that her new family and home will really last forever. After meeting a mysterious new girl at school who seems to need her, Birdie resolves to help. But will her efforts be cut short by her own fears? Follow along as Birdie uncovers the truth about love and what it really means to give it away.
The first book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series. This humorous and touching story, teaches that adoption is forever; parents are trustworthy, wise and loving caregivers; and that every day life can be a big adventure!
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Book Two - As We Forgive Our DebtorsThe Cooper family has once again opened their home to the needy, but this time it's a whole family that moves in! The stir this causes in town ultimately has a destructive effect on the Cooper house and challenges the already shaky security Margie is finding in her new home. When Margie's new friend at school starts avoiding the Cooper's house guests, Margie and Birdie try to figure out why. Yet before they can solve the mystery tragedy strikes and Margie finds her lessons in forgiveness taking a painful turn as the scars of her past collide with the hurts of the present.
The second book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series, this story set in 1937 weaves the powerful truth of forgiveness into the humorous and challenging daily life of the Cooper family.
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Book ThreeNine-year-old Dwight Cooper's imagination constantly pulls him away to heroically save the day in his worlds of play. But this Christmas, Dwight learns that he can be just as much a hero in his real life. When a bus load of foster children arrive in town, Dwight's new resolve to be a dependable man is challenged by the Children's Home bully. In these pages of adventure, challenge, and laughter, Dwight learns what it takes to be a man of character, and how to keep believing even when things don't turn out the way you had hoped.
The third book in the Treasures of the Secret Places, this story set in 1937 is a hilarious and inspiring tale filled with a fun collections of new characters, as well as the old favorites!
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The Cooper Family
Even though each book is about a different child in the Cooper family, Dr. and Mrs. Cooper remain the same, as the one constant throughout the entire series. Dr. and Mrs. Cooper are attentive to the challenges their children are facing and are always pointing them to Christ as the ultimate answer.
You’ll come to love Dr. Cooper’s calm manner, and dry sense of humor, as he instructs his children with gentleness and love. And Mrs. Cooper will have you standing up to change the world as her passion for the least and the lost is evident in her every action.
You’ll come to love Dr. Cooper’s calm manner, and dry sense of humor, as he instructs his children with gentleness and love. And Mrs. Cooper will have you standing up to change the world as her passion for the least and the lost is evident in her every action.
Book FourWhen Linus and the Cooper family travel to the South to visit relatives, Linus finds out that the world is not as kind as he had always believed it to be. Caught up in the middle of a long standing mystery, Linus and his siblings are in a race against time! Can they uncover the truth before it's buried forever? Follow along as Linus crosses the lines of race, to find that friends come in all ages and colors.
The fourth book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series, this book is set in 1938. In their trip to Tennessee, Linus faces the realities of Jim Crow, slavery, and his own past while searching out the hidden life of a forgotten slave child.
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Book FiveA life of survival is all 10 year old Ivan has ever known. Yet a grumpy teacher, a mysterious barn, and a challenging question launch him on a quest to find there is more to life than this. When two lonely Mexican children come to stay with the Coopers it seems the whole town has turned against them. Will Ivan be able to find strength to fight with something other than
his fists? This is the fifth book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series. Set in the fall of 1938, Ivan struggles in his school work and his life as he tries to rise higher than the failure that had been pronounced over him as a young child. Encouraged by his parents and his new foster siblings, Ivan discovers he was created to be so much more than the labels people put on him.
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Book SixTen-year-old Abby Morgan is overjoyed to finally have a family of her own. When Abby's neighbors, the grumpy Mrs. Toss and her husband take in a foster child, Abby and the Cooper children swoop in to help. Undaunted by Abby's blindness, these new friends work together, to prepare for the town rodeo. But when their new friend mysteriously disappears, are the Toss's truly to blame?
The sixth book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series, this story is set in 1939 and reveals that a blind world is anything but dark. Abby's blindness has taught her to fight for independence, but when her dream of a forever family finally comes true she learns that to be a part of a family is to depend on others.
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The Cooper Children
The Cooper children aren’t perfect, but you won’t find sibling rivalries, fighting, or verbal mistreatment in these books. The Cooper children have been taught to love and respect each other. They look out for each other and take care of one another. They all have friends at school, but they also have friends in their siblings at home.
Book SevenTen-year-old Emma is excited for Christmas and tries not to think about the looming war that everyone is talking about. But when two Jewish refugees come to stay with the Coopers, Emma is forced to face the realities of a war that has already been going on and ultimately learns what it really means to be, In His Hands.
This is the seventh book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series. Set in December of 1941, war is on the horizon and it's effects in Europe are already being felt in the Cooper home, as two displaced Jewish children come to stay with them.
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Book EightTen-year-old David Kaufmann seems to have fit right into his new home with the Coopers. Yet behind his quiet and polite exterior is a tragic story known only to him. When Pastor Rosen and his family reach out to an abandon teenage girl, the hopelessness in her eyes awakens the past David had so carefully hidden away. As images fill his journal, David finds healing amongst the hurt and rediscovers the One Hope that was always with him.
The eighth book in the Treasures of the Secret Places, this story, set in the early 1940s, gives a glimpse into the painful reality of pre-war Nazi Germany as seen through the eyes of a young Jewish Christian boy.
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Book NineTen-year-old Rafael is in search of a spy that could be right in Ashwood Creek, but with so many new people in town, who could it be? A mysterious young girl begins showing up around every corner, seeming to find refuge with the Coopers, leaving them to wonder from whom and what she is escaping. Then when a friend is arrested for being a Nazi spy Rafael goes searching for the truth. But as the secrets unravel he fears he may be getting more than he bargained for. Will his friends turn out to be his enemies?
The ninth book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series, this story, set in the middle of the Second World War, reveals that people are not always as they seem and that the truth will ultimately show itself.
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Adoption
Adoption is a theme throughout this entire series, but it’s not always the main storyline. Each book is about a different child in the Cooper family (with the exception of book 6) and for the most part the main character has already been adopted by the Coopers.
In these books I wanted to write a truthful story about adoption. Adoption isn’t easy, and healing isn’t instant. Every orphaned child has suffered at some level and the Lord’s healing work comes as those past experiences are worked through and dealt with.
I didn’t leave this part out. Every child in the Cooper family has a different story to tell because of the situation they came from. Some of the children have been home longer and have fewer struggles, while others are still taking their first steps of healing. Yet with every dream, flashback, or memory, Dr. and Mrs. Cooper are there to guide their children into the loving and healing hands of the Father.
Note to Adoptive Parents: Having adopted siblings I was very conscientious about what I did and did not talk about as far as the Cooper children’s past experiences. Adoption being forever is heavily conveyed and I kept Dr. and Mrs. Cooper close by when their children were going through their most vulnerable moments.
If you think your adopted child might enjoy these books but you know of certain things that might trouble them please feel free to email me your questions! I’d be happy to share more about any of the books in the series.
In these books I wanted to write a truthful story about adoption. Adoption isn’t easy, and healing isn’t instant. Every orphaned child has suffered at some level and the Lord’s healing work comes as those past experiences are worked through and dealt with.
I didn’t leave this part out. Every child in the Cooper family has a different story to tell because of the situation they came from. Some of the children have been home longer and have fewer struggles, while others are still taking their first steps of healing. Yet with every dream, flashback, or memory, Dr. and Mrs. Cooper are there to guide their children into the loving and healing hands of the Father.
Note to Adoptive Parents: Having adopted siblings I was very conscientious about what I did and did not talk about as far as the Cooper children’s past experiences. Adoption being forever is heavily conveyed and I kept Dr. and Mrs. Cooper close by when their children were going through their most vulnerable moments.
If you think your adopted child might enjoy these books but you know of certain things that might trouble them please feel free to email me your questions! I’d be happy to share more about any of the books in the series.
Book TenNo one sees the seeds in the ground until they start to spring forth. Ten-year-old Shana Cooper likes to keep to herself, seeming to prefer her plants to people. Yet behind her tough exterior, her tender heart is drawn to the ones who have been overlooked. And in her own way, the love she has for her family starts to spill out through the plants that at one point seemed to separate them. The Cooper's home is once again an open door to old friends, new friends, and relatives in need as Shana discovers the new life she has found in Christ, and the love she was made to give away.
The tenth book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series, this story is set at the end of WWII and shows the challenges as well as the healing that can come during seasons of change.
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Final BookWhen a little Korean war orphan prays for a family, the answer comes from the other side of the world.
Eleven-year-old Matilda loves spending time with her many siblings as well as her herds of nieces and nephews. So when a school wide essay contest requires each student to write about their role model, Matilda and her big brother Andrew struggle over whom to pick. In the end Andrew's role model choice surprises everyone, and we witness the significance each life holds when Dr. Richie LaComb reveals a story twenty years in the making. The final book in the Treasures of the Secret Places series, this story is anything but an ending. It's 1957 and though fully into grandparenthood, Dr. and Mrs. Cooper's hearts are still open to the cry of the fatherless, and soon they find themselves with one more.
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Spiritual Content
The Cooper children are taught that following the Lord is a daily, personal walk with Him. They are shown by their parents, grandparents and older siblings, how to seek the Lord in every situation. Through His word, through prayer, and through praise we see them grow in their own relationship with Him.
Evidence Publishing
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