Learning (32 page)

N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
K
AREN
K
INGSBURY
is America’s favorite inspirational novelist, with over 15 million books in print. Her Life-Changing Fiction™ has produced multiple bestsellers, including Leaving, Take One, Between Sundays, Even Now, One Tuesday Morning, Beyond Tuesday Morning, and Ever After, which was named the 2007 Christian Book of the Year. An award-winning author and newly published songwriter, Karen has several movies optioned for production, and her novel Like Dandelion Dust was made into a major motion picture and is now available on DVD. Karen is also a nationally known speaker with several women’s groups. She lives in Washington with her husband, Don, and their daughter and five sons, three of whom were adopted from Haiti.

“Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.”

Karen’s book
Oceans Apart
changed my life. She has an amazing gift of bringing a reader into her stories. I can only pray she never stops writing.

Susan L.

Everyone should have the opportunity to read or listen to a book by Karen Kingsbury. It should be in the
Bill of Rights.

Rachel S.

I want to thank Karen Kingsbury for what she is doing with the power of her storytelling — touching hearts like mine and letting God use her to change the world for Him.

Brittney N.

Karen Kingsbury’s books are filled with the unshakable, remarkable, miraculous fact that God’s grace is greater than our suffering. There are no words for Ms. Kingsbury’s writing.

Wendie K.

Because I loaned these books to my mother, she BECAME a Christian! Thank you for a richer life here and in heaven!

Jennifer E.

When I read my first Karen Kingsbury book, I couldn’t stop…. I read thirteen more in one summer!

Jamie B.

I have never read anything so uplifting and entertaining. I’m shocked as I read each new release because it’s always better than the last one.

Bonnie S.

I am unable to put your books down, and I plan to read many more of them. What a wonderful spiritual message I find in each one!

Rhonda T.

I love the way Karen Kingsbury writes, and the topics she chooses to write about! Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us, your readers!

Barbara S.

My husband is equally hooked on your books. It is a family affair for us now! Can’t wait for the next one.

Angie

I can’t even begin to tell you what your books mean to me…. Thank you for your wonderful books and the way they touch my life again and again.

Martje L.

Every time our school buys your next new book, everybody goes crazy trying to read it first!

Roxanne

Recently I made an effort to find GOOD Christian writers, and I’ve hit the jackpot with Karen Kingsbury!

Linda

When Karen Kingsbury calls her books “Life-Changing Fiction™,” she’s merely telling the unvarnished truth. I’m still sorting through the changes in my life that have come from reading just a few of her books!

Robert M.

I must admit that I wish I was a much slower reader … or you were a much faster writer. Either way, I can’t seem to get enough of Karen Kingsbury’s books!

Jillian B.

I was offered $50 one time in the airport for the fourth book in the Redemption Series. The lady’s husband just couldn’t understand why I wasn’t interested in selling it. Through sharing Karen’s books with my friends, many have decided that contemporary Christian fiction is the next best thing to the Bible. Thank you so much, Karen. It is truly a God-thing that you write the way you do.

Sue Ellen H.

Karen Kingsbury’s books have made me see things in ways that I had never thought about before. I have to force myself to put them down and come up for air!

Tabitha H.

I have read many of Karen’s books and I cry with every one. I feel like I actually know the people in the story, and my heart goes out to all of them when something happens!

Kathy N.

Wow, what an amazing author Karen Kingsbury is! Her stories are so heart-wrenching … I can’t wait until the next book comes out…. Karen, please don’t ever lay your pen down.

Nancy T.

Karen Kingsbury’s words leap off the page…. I just finished a new series last night and once again she has touched me beyond compare!

Kendra S.

Other Life-Changing Fiction™ by Karen Kingsbury

Bailey Flanigan Series

Leaving

Learning

Longing (Fall 2011)

Loving (Spring 2012)

9/11 Series

One Tuesday Morning

Beyond Tuesday Morning

Remember Tuesday Morning

Lost Love Series

Even Now

Ever After

Above the Line Series

Above the Line: Take One

Above the Line: Take Two

Above the Line: Take Three

Above the Line: Take Four

Stand-Alone Titles

Oceans Apart

Between Sundays

This Side of Heaven

When Joy Came to Stay

On Every Side

Divine

Like Dandelion Dust

Where Yesterday Lives

Shades of Blue

Unlocked

Redemption Series

Redemption

Remember

Return

Rejoice

Reunion

Firstborn Series

Fame

Forgiven

Found

Family

Forever

Sunrise Series

Sunrise

Summer

Someday

Sunset

Red Glove Series

Gideon’s Gift

Maggie’s Miracle

Sarah’s Song

Hannah’s Hope

Forever Faithful Series

Waiting for Morning

Moment of Weakness

Halfway to Forever

Women of Faith Fiction Series

A Time to Dance

A Time to Embrace

Cody Gunner Series

A Thousand Tomorrows

Just Beyond the Clouds

This Side of Heaven

Children’s Titles

Let Me Hold You Longer

Let’s Go on a Mommy Date

We Believe in Christmas

Let’s Have a Daddy Day

The Princess and the Three Knights

Go Ahead and Dream

Far Flutterby (Fall 2011)

Miracle Collections

A Treasury of Christmas Miracles

A Treasury of Miracles for Women

A Treasury of Miracles for Teens

A Treasury of Miracles for Friends

A Treasury of Adoption Miracles Miracles — a Devotional

Gift Books

Stay Close Little Girl

Be Safe Little Boy

Forever Young: Ten Gifts of Faith for the Graduate

www.KarenKingsbury.com

F
OR A NUMBER OF YEARS NOW, I’VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF
offering Forever in Fiction
^®
*
as an auction item at fundraisers across the country. Most of my more recent books have had Forever in Fiction characters, and I love that you, my reader friends, look forward to reading this section to see which characters in the coming pages are actually inspired by real-life people.

In
Learning,
I bring you three very special Forever in Fiction characters — all of whom are friends with my character Betty Keller. Betty offers her home as a place for Bailey Flanigan to live while she’s in New York City, and Betty’s three friends are part of her weekly summer Bible study. Each brings their own unique personality, likes, and strengths to the study — creating a rich context from which Bailey is able to learn much. And learning is the whole point of this chapter in Bailey’s life.

The first of Betty Keller’s three friends is my auction winner — Barbara Owens. Barbara won the Forever in Fiction package at the Owasso Community Resources Benefit Auction in April, 2009. A beautiful woman known by her friends and family as being friendly and orderly, passionate and giving, Barbara is also the CEO of her own company. No one ever forgets Barbara’s smile, or the way she helps those in need. She is married with three children and seven grandchildren, and she likes to decorate, sew, cross-stitch, and spend time with her family. Barbara, I hope that you enjoy seeing your name here in
Learning,
and that in years to come you and your family will be touched when they read about your character here, Forever in Fiction.

The second of my Forever in Fiction winners won the Crossings Christian School Auction in March, 2009. She chose to name her mother Maria “Irma” Rangel as a character in my Forever in Fiction program. Irma has been married more than fifty years to Al, and together they have four daughters and five grandchildren. The family loves to gather around Irma at any get-together, where she’s often the silliest one in the mix. She loves telling jokes and laughing, and she is loving and loyal to all people — especially her family.

Irma retired from working on an assembly line and she lives a simple, quiet life. People easily recognize the petite Irma for her high cheekbones, olive-toned skin, and full smile — features that make her extremely beautiful, especially in her younger days. Irma, I am certain you and your daughter will smile when you read about yourself here in
Learning,
where you will be Forever in Fiction.

Finally, the third winner is Laura Rogers, who won the Simmons Cooper Cancer Institute Auction in October, 2009. Laura chose to honor her mother Sara Quillian, who died at the age of seventy-three. Sara was married for more than fifty years, and together she and her husband raised five children and enjoyed seven grandchildren. Sara was a trailblazer for her time, and worked as the first female editor of her university newspaper. She went to law school for a year, just to prove she could. She was an intelligent woman, always in the middle of all things social.

Sara constantly opened her house to the friends of her kids, or Campus Crusades workers. She also frequently hosted missionaries in her home and her pastor and his wife, for dinner. Sara was opinionated in her love for God, church, family, and a good conversation. She liked iced coffee and she loved a new pair of red shoes. Laura, I hope that you smile when you see your mother as a character here in
Learning,
and that you will forever be touched by the way she has been honored here, Forever in Fiction.

A special thanks to all three of my auction winners and your belief in the power of story. I pray that the donations you made to your respective charities will go on to change lives, the way I pray lives will be changed by the impact of the message in
Learning.
May God bless you for your love and generosity.

For those of you who are not familiar with Forever in Fiction, it is my way of involving you, the readers, in my stories, while raising money for charities. The winning bidder of a Forever in Fiction package has the right to have his or her name or the name of a loved one written into one of my novels, forever in fiction.

To date, Forever in Fiction has raised more than $200,000 at charity auctions. Obviously, I am only able to donate a limited number of these each year. For that reason, I have set a fairly high minimum bid on this package so that the maximum funds are raised for charities. All money goes to the charity events. If you are interested in receiving a Forever in Fiction package for your auction, write to
[email protected]
and in the subject line write: “Forever in Fiction.”

BAILEY FLANIGAN SERIES

Leaving

Karen Kingsbury,
New York Times
Bestselling Author

The Bailey Flanigan Series begins with Bailey leaving Bloomington for the adventure of a lifetime. She has won an audition for the ensemble of a Broadway musical in New York City. She’s determined to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but is she really ready to leave family and friends for the loneliness of the city? And what of Cody? His disappearance has her worried about their future and praying that their love can survive.

In order to be closer to his mother in jail, Cody takes a coaching job in a small community outside Indianapolis. New friends, distance, and circumstances expose cracks in his relationship with Bailey Flanigan.

Love, loneliness, big opportunities, and even bigger decisions highlight the first book in the new Bailey Flanigan Series that features members of the popular Baxter family and finally completes the Bailey Flanigan/Cody Coleman story.

Available in stores and online!

The four novels of the bestselling Above the Line Series follow dedicated Hollywood producers, as they seek to transform the culture through their film. The books also feature characters from the much-loved Baxter Family. Follow Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison as they journey through the world of moviemaking and learn all that glitters is not gold, and that success could cost them everything — their relationships and their ideals. Each book in the series focuses on a different part of the process and the various struggles they face to reach their goals of making a movie that changes lives.

Available in stores and online!

A Love Story

Karen Kingsbury,
New York Times
Bestselling Author

Before You Take a Stand …
You’ve Got to Take a Chance.

Holden Harris is an eighteen-year-old locked in a prison of autism. Despite his quiet ways and quirky behaviors, Holden is very happy and socially normal — on the inside, in a private world all his own. In reality, he is bullied at school by kids who only see that he is very different.

Ella Reynolds is part of the “in” crowd. A cheerleader and star of the high school drama production, her life seems perfect. When she catches Holden listening to her rehearse for the school play, she is drawn to him … the way he is drawn to the music. Then, Ella makes a dramatic discovery — she and Holden were best friends as children.

Frustrated by the way Holden is bullied, and horrified at the indifference of her peers, Ella decides to take a stand against the most privileged and popular kids at school. Including her boyfriend, Jake.

Ella believes miracles can happen in the unlikeliest places, and that just maybe an entire community might celebrate from the sidelines. But will Holden’s praying mother and the efforts of Ella and a cast of theater kids be enough to unlock the prison that contains Holden?

This time, friendship, faith, and the power of a song must be strong enough to open the doors to the miracle Holden needs.

Available in stores and online!

Karen Kingsbury,
New York Times
Bestselling Author

In between a checkered past and a fairytale future, a decision awaits.

Brad Cutler, twenty-eight, is a rising star at his New York ad agency, about to marry the girl of his dreams. Anyone would agree he has it all — a great career, a beautiful and loving fiancée, and a fairy tale life ahead of him … when memories of a high school girlfriend begin to torment him. Lost innocence and one very difficult choice flood his conscience, and he is no longer sure what the future will bring except for this: He must go back to the shores of Holden Beach in search of his first love, and a forgiveness neither of them has ever known.

Three people must work through the repercussions of a decision made long ago before any of them can look toward a new future.

Available in stores and online!

Karen Kingsbury,
New York Times
Bestselling Author

Based on the tragedy of the Twin Towers … two powerful novels of heroism, loss, and redemption that commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11.

One Tuesday Morning

The last thing Jake Bryan knew was the sound of the World Trade Center collapsing on top of him and his fellow firefighters. The man in the hospital bed remembers nothing. Not rushing with his teammates up the stairway of the south tower to help trapped victims. Not being blasted from the building. And not the woman sitting by his bedside who says she is his wife.

Jamie Bryan will do anything to help her beloved husband regain his memory. But that means helping Jake rediscover the one thing Jamie has never shared with him: his deep faith in God.

Beyond Tuesday Morning

Determined to find meaning in her grief three years after the terrorist attacks on New York City, FDNY widow Jamie Bryan pours her life into volunteer work at a small memorial chapel across from where the Twin Towers once stood. There, unsure and feeling somehow guilty, Jamie opens herself to the possibility of love again.