I remember the first time I read Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites. Well, listened to it, because my mom read it to me as she sat at the end of my bed, trying to put me to sleep. Garth, the cave, the Book of Mormon lands coming to life; it was all mesmerizing. How was I supposed to sleep when mom was reading an adventure novel, then letting me sit and stew in my thoughts for the next hour. I was six, and this was the beginning of my love affair with Latter-day Saint literature.
Recently I picked up a copy from Deseret Industries and brought it home for my book-loving 10-year-old. I started reading it to him, but the beginning was a little more dry than I remembered. He wasn’t too interested, and that bummed me out. I tried a few times to get him to start it, but after about a year he finally had run out of “Keeper of the Lost Cities” books to read, and he picked it up. After a slow start, he raced through the book and then came up to me, “Dad, so what happens next?” Excellent. He’s hooked. That’s good too, because there’s 13 more books in the series to quench the thirst for Book of Mormon Adventure genre.
They sound like kid books, and surely that’s how they were intended, but if you’ve never given them a read, I’d suggest you pick up a copy and try them out. As one of the quintessential Latter-day Saint novels, you’re practically obligated to add it to your list. It may not be the first book to imagine a fictional story in the setting of the Book of Mormon, but it jumpstarted a sub-genre that’s still thriving to this day.
How about a book synopsis to whet your appetite? This one is from Amazon:
Jim Hawkins has a bad attitude. What's more, he enjoys having a bad attitude about everything--especially about church. Garth Plimpton is a fanatic. He's spent so much time studying the scriptures and thick books on archaeology that that he can't carry on a normal conversation with other kids. That's why they consider him a nerd. Through an unusual chain of events, these two opposites become fast friends. It all began when Garth told Jim a simple truth: "They really existed once, you know." "Who?" Jim asked. "Nephites," Garth replied. "Every character in the Book of Mormon ate, slept, died, was buried . . ." That statement, taken for granted before, would soon echo deeply in the two boys' minds--because they were on the trail of a chilling secret.
Pretty vague, I know, but I’m a little old fashioned. Don’t give me too many spoilers in the trailer! The book is still in print, available from Amazon and Deseret Book, and since it’s been in print for over 30 years, you can probably pick up a copy at any Utah library, or maybe even a thrift store if you’re lucky like me!
