About the Series
I started writing the Treasures of the Secret Places Series in October of 2010. I had witnessed the miracle of adoption four times and was daily seeing the Lord’s healing work in the lives of my little siblings. This amazing story of love that I was partaking in had to be shared!
What exactly am I sharing? Well here are a few answers to that question.
The Cooper Family:
These books capture the family life that I’ve grown up with. My parents have always been very involved in mine and my siblings’ lives. Even as teenagers when most parents and children feel a separating, my parents and I actually got closer. I was taught to obey and respect my parents and as a child I was certain they had ALL the answers!
Dr. and Mrs. Cooper are portrayed in this same way. They are respected by their children, and sought out for their wisdom. They are attentive to the challenges their children are facing and are always pointing their children to Christ as the ultimate answer.
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.
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. This loving mother-bear exemplifies to her children the joy in willingly serving others.
The Cooper Children:
My siblings are my best friends, but this didn’t happen by accident. My parents worked hard to teach us to love and respect each other. Name calling, fighting, and physical abuse were not allowed in our home. Sure we had disagreements, but my mom worked hard to teach us how to work things out and most importantly how to forgive.
The Cooper children reflect this same treatment to each other. They aren’t perfect children, 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.
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.
When I first started writing 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 younger 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.
Spiritual Content:
Following the Lord is my whole life. He is the reason I live and breathe and do what I do every day. From a young age my parents taught me and showed me that following the Lord was much more than just going to church every Sunday. It was a daily personal walk with Him.
This same truth fills every page of my books. The Cooper children are taught and shown how to seek the Lord in every situation. Through His word, through prayer, and through praise they grow in their own relationship with Him.
Entertainment:
I never wanted to write a book solely to entertain my reader. I hope these books are very entertaining, but while I have my readers attention I want to give them something more. Something they can take away and apply in their real life.
Still among the real life lessons, is a lot of humor! I have a big family and I know a lot of hilarious things happen when you get so many people all in one place. The Cooper family is no different! These books might make you cry at the tender moments or they might make you cry laughing at the hilarious ones! You'll find that the adventures in these books aren't some wild unrealistic events that could never happen in real life. Instead they reveal the adventure that lays within everyone's real life.
Daily life might seem dull until you stop over at the Coopers!
What exactly am I sharing? Well here are a few answers to that question.
The Cooper Family:
These books capture the family life that I’ve grown up with. My parents have always been very involved in mine and my siblings’ lives. Even as teenagers when most parents and children feel a separating, my parents and I actually got closer. I was taught to obey and respect my parents and as a child I was certain they had ALL the answers!
Dr. and Mrs. Cooper are portrayed in this same way. They are respected by their children, and sought out for their wisdom. They are attentive to the challenges their children are facing and are always pointing their children to Christ as the ultimate answer.
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.
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. This loving mother-bear exemplifies to her children the joy in willingly serving others.
The Cooper Children:
My siblings are my best friends, but this didn’t happen by accident. My parents worked hard to teach us to love and respect each other. Name calling, fighting, and physical abuse were not allowed in our home. Sure we had disagreements, but my mom worked hard to teach us how to work things out and most importantly how to forgive.
The Cooper children reflect this same treatment to each other. They aren’t perfect children, 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.
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.
When I first started writing 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 younger 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.
Spiritual Content:
Following the Lord is my whole life. He is the reason I live and breathe and do what I do every day. From a young age my parents taught me and showed me that following the Lord was much more than just going to church every Sunday. It was a daily personal walk with Him.
This same truth fills every page of my books. The Cooper children are taught and shown how to seek the Lord in every situation. Through His word, through prayer, and through praise they grow in their own relationship with Him.
Entertainment:
I never wanted to write a book solely to entertain my reader. I hope these books are very entertaining, but while I have my readers attention I want to give them something more. Something they can take away and apply in their real life.
Still among the real life lessons, is a lot of humor! I have a big family and I know a lot of hilarious things happen when you get so many people all in one place. The Cooper family is no different! These books might make you cry at the tender moments or they might make you cry laughing at the hilarious ones! You'll find that the adventures in these books aren't some wild unrealistic events that could never happen in real life. Instead they reveal the adventure that lays within everyone's real life.
Daily life might seem dull until you stop over at the Coopers!
~{ The Books }~
The Greatest of These
Book 1 |
Journey 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.
This is 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! |
As We Forgive Our Debtors
"Forgiveness is a choice," her father began...
The 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. This cast of unforgettable characters will have you laughing, crying, and inspired to go and live the same. This book is great for all ages! |
Book 2 |
God's Gracious Gift
Book 3 |
For the baby... for the family... for honor... he thought heroically.
Nine-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! You'll laugh along with the crazy antics, grieve with them in their losses, and be inspired to never give up on even the most lost of people. |
Out of the Ashes
An untold mystery of life, love, and the secret of one woman's past...
When 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. |
Book 4 |
Thrive
Book 5 |
Someone needs you... Grandpa Morgan said.
A 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. |
Echoing Thunder
"Listen to the thunder Daddy," Abby said...
Ten-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? 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. 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. |
Book 6 |
In His Hands
Book 7 |
Will this be their last Christmas together?
Ten-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 say with them. |
One Hope
"Keep the faith... finish the race," Mr. Kaufmann said earnestly. "Finish the race."
Ten-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. |
Book 8 |
For Heroes Proved
Book 9 |
"So I'm putting together my list of suspects," Rafael announced.
Ten-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. |
If You Would Believe
If you would believe... you would see the glory of God...
No 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. |
Book 10 |
The Price of a Field
Final Book |
A moving and inspirational finale to the Treasures of the Secret Places Series, this book is anything but an ending.
It's 1957 and the Cooper family has expanded a great deal! But a story that began twenty years earlier is still awaiting completion... When a little Korean war orphan prays for a family, the answer comes from the other side of the world. 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. 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. |