The Vanishings: Four Kids Face Earth's Last Days Together

Left Behind: The Kids #1

by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye

In one shocking moment millions around the globe disappear. Those left behind face an uncertain future—especially four kids who now find themselves alone.

As the kids search for help and for answers, they are told the truth behind the disappearances. But are they ready to believe it?

In this new series based on the best-selling book Left Behind, Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye present the Rapture and Tribulation through the eyes of four young friends—Judd, Vici, Lionel, and Ryan. As the world falls in around them, they band together to find faith and fight the evil forces that threaten their lives.

Genres: Christian, Young Adult, Fiction, Christian Fiction, Religion, Dystopia, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 1998

About the author

Jerry Bruce Jenkins is an American novelist and biographer. He is best known as the writer of the Left Behind series of books for Tim LaHaye and The Chosen novels to accompany his son Dallas's TV series. Jenkins has written more than 200 books, including mysteries, historical fiction, biblical fiction, cop thrillers, international spy thrillers, and children's adventures, as well as nonfiction. His works usually feature Christians as protagonists. In 2005, Jenkins and LaHaye ranked 9th in Amazon.com's 10th Anniversary list of Hall of Fame authors based on books sold at Amazon.com during its first 10 years. Jenkins now teaches writers to become authors here at his website. He and his wife Dianna have three sons and eight grandchildren.

Reviews

[Reads With Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’d give this a zero if I could. All it is, and I’m being so serious, is a book written for/about and targeted at children in the hopes to emotionally manipulate them. I’m not kidding. I’ll talk about this more in a video but I’m not kidding you when I tell you that this series caused me childhood trauma to the point where I was still having nightmares about this book until I was 19 years old, even though I read it when I was eight. Shame on everyone who created this.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my jam. 😟

[Chantal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because of the story, but then found out it was based on believing or not believing in Jezus. The whole story could have been better without it. What a shame.

[Cara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read a whole bunch of these as a young teenager, and for kicks and giggles I'm rereading them now. I just finished the first one, and my, oh my, judging it as YA fiction in general without even considering the religious propaganda, it's pretty rough. Concerns:

-Each character seems concocted as a caricature of their respective demographics - trailer trash, spoiled rich kid, the obligatory minority, etc. - and it's cringe-inducing to read. Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan aren't people; their personalities are kept broad and bland as a way to provoke you to see yourself in them. And considering that they're all about to go through the same radical transformation, it's only going to get worse from here.

-It's clear from the first page that the writers think very little of young people, while obviously not having a single memory of what it's like to be a teenager. If you're going to try to indoctrinate this age group into your belief system, at least pretend you think of them as actual people and not literal human waste. Particularly with Judd and Vicki, you can practically see the authors salivating over all they're going to put these brats through for *gasp* being normal teenagers!

-I'm a bit of a dialogue snob, and this book is full of problems in this area. Everyone uses the same cheesy vocabulary, whether they're saved or not, no matter how old or young they are, and all of it is dated, even for the 90s. Again, you can hear their disdain for non-believers oozing in the way they have the characters speak, and it's just a bad strategy for witnessing, let alone bad writing.

I'm kind of bummed that I spent so much of my adolescence reading this nonsense at the expense of other books (not that I didn't read other stuff, but these books were pretty central to my early teenage years). At least this time around I can be truly entertained instead of trying to glean actual insight and wisdom from them. I've got the first six of these already, and we'll just see how far I can carry on with this.

[Bluefactories · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this from a well-intentioned grandmother of mine and desperately hated every page of it. The characters are utterly bland and while the idea of people disappearing and leaving their clothes behind in weird places is a vaguely interesting one, the entire book was poorly executed and poorly written. There's a lot of pointless angsting that seems to be interchangeable between the characters, as the disappearances of their families and friends seems to effect them all in entirely identical ways. Until I reread the summary, I could not remember a single name of any of the main characters, even after reading up to book 6 or 7 for lack of any BETTER books to read.

To sum up: forgettable, clumsy, overly preachy.

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 4 out of 5]

About this book:

“This series is based on the best-selling adult Left Behind series. Readers will see the Rapture and Tribulation through the eyes of four kids who have been left behind.
In one shocking moment millions around the globe disappear. Those left behind face an uncertain future--especially four kids who now find themselves alone.As the kids search for help and for answers, they are told the truth behind the disappearances. But are they ready to believe it?”


Series: Book #1 (of forty) in “Left Behind: The Kids” series.


Spiritual Content- Lots of Witnessing & getting saved; Many Talks about God, Jesus, Christians, forgiveness & the Rapture; Talks about Church & loving Jesus; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; All four main characters are/were left behind; Judd feels/felt like he outgrew Church & was too cool for it; Vicki doesn’t get God; Lionel knew the truth but didn’t truly believe; Ryan didn’t know much about God before the Rapture happened; Many mentions of Church, sermons, Sunday School, & memorizing Scriptures; Mentions of Bibles; Mentions of witnessing & witnesses; Mentions of religious people;
*Note: Threats of going to hell; A mention of superstitions; A mention of someone thinking the Bible is fairy tales.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘what in blazes’, a ‘wuss’, two ‘idiot’s, six forms of ‘stupid’; Judd swears (once, not written); Mentions of curses (said, not written); Comments about skin colors & a man thinking that those with a certain skin color are criminals; Lionel & Ryan bicker at each other a lot; Many, many mentions of smoking, beer, drunks, drinking, highs; Many mentions of crimes, fighting & prison; Mentions of liquor & tobacco; Mentions of deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of bodies & morgues; Drinking champagne (barely-above-not-detailed).


Sexual Content- Noticing pretty girls;
*Note: Mentions of Vicki dressing to get attention from girls & guys; Mentions of short skirts.

-Judd Thompson Jr., age 16
-Vicki Byrne, age 14
-Lionel Washington, age 13
-Ryan Daley, age 12
P.O.V. switches between them
148 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- One Star (and a half)
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)
These ratings are for content, since everyone has a different opinion on the Rapture and how it will happen.
This is my second or third time re-reading this series, it was a favorite when I was twelve. I read them all as quick as I could get my hands on them, Judd & Vicki were my first ship (the original OTP, hahaha!). Since I’m older now and re-reading them all, I’ve noticed different things that I didn’t notice before. Like, the writing is a bit bland (he said, she said, said, said, said…). Or that there is lack of adjectives. And the characters being brats in this first book. (And also some comments of prejudice towards African Americans.)
There is a lot of Spiritual Content in this series, no doubt, but my main advice is to not take what these books say about the Rapture (& how it will happen) as Gospel. Read your Bible alongside and compare to what the Bible says (Truth) to what these authors made up (fiction inspired by The Truth). This series is to get people thinking, not to be taken as what will happen exactly.


Link to review:
http://booksforchristiangirls.blogspo...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[Spork · Rating 1 out of 5]

The entire first book doesn’t do very much other than introduce the four main characters of the series, kill off or rapture their parents, and show some of them getting saved.

Judd is the first character to be introduced. He’s the oldest of the kids, and if the blurbs on the backs of the books are anything to go by, he continues to be a PoV character throughout the series. Spoiler alert: not all of the other kids do.

Judd is also a Bad Kid.

He’s rebellious! He dresses in leather! He hates going to church, even though his parents make him! How could he possibly be like this? Well, as a kid, he knew he hadn’t really accepted Christ, but he was always embarrassed to admit it. Now that he’s older, he’s embarrassed by everyone else’s faith. This could be presented well–I’ve met kids like this–but it comes across as extremely snide here. LaHaye and Jenkins just don’t like teenagers, it seems, and are baffled by the fact that a sixteen-year-old kid from a comfortable upper middle class background could feel malaise or angst or anything but immense gratitude for his position in life.

This is far from the last instance in which LaHaye and Jenkins display their complete inability to write compelling characters. They put their lack of talent on full display with Vicki, who is introduced next. Vicki is also a Bad Kid, but it makes sense because she lives in a trailer park! (This is not my perspective, but it seems to be the authors' perspective.)

Her resistance to Christianity is genuinely a bit more understandable to me because she’s introduced to it by an evangelist who shows up at her trailer park’s regular Friday-night dance. Her parents are both immediately enthralled and decide to dedicate their lives to Christ. Their behavior changes almost immediately; they stop drinking and smoking, they start attending church, and Vicki’s father even gains the ability to hold down a job. I’m not saying that the gospel never changes people so suddenly (even, seemingly, miraculously), but I too would be suspicious if my parents suddenly changed the entire direction of their lives after one presentation by a stranger. That’s how people end up joining MLM schemes, or cults. Besides, I personally find that sanctification tends to be a process. Your mileage may vary.

That doesn’t mean that Vicki is presented with sympathy or understanding. Her reservations regarding her parents’ sudden about-face are treated as simple teenage rebellion. Her struggles with drug use are easily overcome once she converts (I wish that could be true for everyone, but I doubt it’s as common as LaHaye would have us believe).

Then there’s Lionel. Suffice it to say that LeHay and Jenkins seem to have forgotten to give him a consistent personality, other than what they can cobble together from hasty generalizations and stereotypes. They do, however, spend a few pages explaining how his affluent background (a result of his mother’s prestigious job) has caused tensions with some members of his family, who accuse him of not being black enough. When Lionel’s relatives appear in the story, they invariably speak with strong accents that are reflected in the way their dialogue is written--but it doesn't feel natural. It feels awkward to read. I wonder if LeHaye and Jenkins found it awkward to write.

The other thing you should know about Lionel is that, intellectually, he’s in lock-step with his uncle Andre, who pretends to be Christian in order to curry favor with the rest of his family but is in reality an unbeliever. Andre is also involved in some vague, shady business, which later results in his creditors coming to collect.

Our last character is Ryan. Ryan really feels like he’s only here as an afterthought. He’s the youngest of the group, and most of his introduction is actually about his friend Raymie, who ties into the main Left Behind series. Ryan’s not saved because his parents aren’t saved, and when they later die tragically in the aftermath of the rapture, the rest of the kids have to awkwardly admit to him that his parents are probably in hell. Unsurprisingly, Ryan is the last of the group to accept Christ into his heart. At this juncture, it seems like LaHaye and Jenkins really don’t like Ryan very much.

Once we’ve been introduced to the four main kids, we get each of their perspectives on the rapture. Most of them end up sleeping through the fun part, but Judd is in the act of using stolen money (from a credit card accidentally approved in his name but intended for his father?) to escape from his parents and start a new life in Europe (remember how boring his parents are?). He sort of dozes off and then wakes up to general consternation. His seatmate has vanished, leaving his clothes behind, and dozens of others on the flight are gone as well. The flight is turned around. Everyone else just wakes up to a completely empty house (the rapture happens at exactly midnight EST, which is amusingly America-centric).

With that over, we can get on to the part where the kids meet each other. It doesn’t take very long; through a complicated series of voicemails (a contrivance that seriously dates the book, but then again, LeHaye and Jenkins probably thought the rapture would happen before the book started to feel dated), the kids all end up meeting up at the same church–New Hope Village Church. Once there, they meet a man named Bruce Barnes, an assistant pastor who was left behind (and, to be fair, if dispensationalists are correct about the rapture, it would make sense to have one guy who's almost-but-not-quite-saved on your church staff so that he can keep the place running after the rest of you are gone). He shows them a VCR that explains what just happened (the rapture) and what to do next (get saved). It’s another instance of dated technology, and it occurs to me that counting such would make for a good drinking game. Of course I don’t expect authors to predict the future of technology accurately–or even avoid the backdrop of technology in a story like this one–but it still amuses me because the urgency that the authors intended for readers to feel is no longer very potent.

The book ends with Bruce Barnes asking the kids if they will be saved.

It’s not a long book at all (146 pages of rather large type), and it barely has a narrative. It was still exhausting to read. Part of this has to do with the language. Tedious exposition is used at every possible juncture, and things that are explained once are explained again in greater detail later on. This book is intended to win people over, so maybe the authors don’t want to leave anything to chance, but it seems to me that they’re shooting themselves in the foot with this approach. I didn’t believe in the rapture when I started, but I believe in it less now. I found it annoying to read a description of what Vicki watches on TV (a montage of people around the world vanishing), but I found it even more annoying to read the exact description again, almost verbatim, in the second book when Judd watches TV. (There's also a segment in the adult series that uses almost the exact same language as well.)

Next we have to reckon with the tension inherent in creating an evangelistic tool that is also supposed to make money. When Christians create art (especially in Evangelical-land), they usually seem to feel that the work has to explicitly present and defend the gospel. At the same time, the work has to be commercially successful. But the only segment of the population that will pay to be preached at is the same Evangelical subculture that gave rise to the work (and does not need to hear its central message). Thus, American Christian art has become a kind of apologetics theater, where born-again believers pay for saccharine, moralistic slop in the (largely mistaken) belief that it is doing some good in the world, and that they are successful Culture Warriors. This book could only arise in that environment.

[Sharon Mariampillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engaging read. The story revolves around 4 kids: Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan. They were left behind during the rapture. The journey from the beginning of the book to the end was really powerful in my eyes. I thought that the characters were really interesting as their rebellious attitudes towards Christianity made the story more enjoyable. The message of the story is powerful as well as the story is about how Jesus will take his followers one day to Heaven to be with him.

The first part tells us how each of the characters do not care that much about Jesus. Judd is the Runaway. He is rude to his parents and steals. He was on the plane that Raymond Steele from the original Left Behind series was piloting. Vicki is the Rebel. She is the one who drinks and smokes cigarettes. She thinks Christianity is a waste of time. Lionel is the Liar. He is a good kid who feels out of place and made fun of. He lied often about loving Jesus. He is a lot like his Uncle André, who also was left behind during the rapture. Finally, Ryan is the Skeptic. He believes that Jesus is not real. He thought his best friend Raymie Steele was insane for believing that God exists.

The second part tells us what happened the day before the kids lives changed. It talked about how they saw one another at school or in church when they did not want to be there. Whatever the circumstances, they never really knew each other. The third part tells us what happened the morning after the rapture and that they were left behind. The reason why they were left behind was because they were not true believers. They all met at New Hope Village Church and watched a video about what had happened. Then they were all mourned for their losses and were asked if they were ready to accept Jesus into their lives.

The ending was very satisfying. As a Christian, I thought the writing was fantastic. The story was great, and engaged. I can't wait to see the journey that these kids have to go through. I am excited to see what is in stored. I feel like the story will be more exciting. I can't wait to read Book 2. Overall, a great read.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Obviously written for children, but still very poorly written. Typecasting and stereotypes run rampant through the "story" which is a word I use very generously. I can't believe there's at least 40 of these books written to indoctrinate and terrify children.

[Renata · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok bye

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...

[sunny (jael’s version) · Rating 1 out of 5]

reading this at 10 yrs old felt so scandalous. it’s actually just a poorly written book with racism and cigarettes. the shame and guilt this series and rhetoric put on young children is insane. it read like a horror book with these poor kids trying to escape most of their abusive/radically religious parents.

[84-The_enlightment_of_Doctor_Grace_part5_Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book freaked me out. Every time I read a word, I expected the rapture to happen then and there. It really makes you think about where you will be when the rapture happens. If this book makes you worry try reading the adult series!
Four kids, Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan are about to face the most scary/exciting event of all time. The end of the world. Judd ran away only to awake to see people missing from the plane he's on. Returning home he finds his family members clothes and other earthly things in the positions they were when they disappeared. Vicki drinks and smokes and thinks church is stupid. When her parents and sister vanish, she starts to regret her path. Lional grew up in the church. But he and his uncle aren't saved. They wake up to only the two of them. Ryan's best friend tries to help him. His parents died because of accidents caused by people vanishing, but they weren't saved. These four kids are linked by things they don't know about, but they are about to discover that the key to salvation is through salvation Himself.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored the Left Behind adult series and didn't find the characters in this to be as relatable, probably because I'm not within the target demographic. I did like the inclusion of characters from the adult series, but find it odd that none of these children were mentioned in that series as they all end up at the same church. It also felt like the children accepting Christ was more out of obligation after the rapture than out of true belief and repentance.

[Cade Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really taught me what is going to happen after the rapture. When i read the book of Revalation I thought it was symbolic, Now I know it is quite literal. The book itself is action packed, yet suspenseful, it always leaves you hanging. I love The Lord and i think you should start a relationship with him as soon as possible, or hey if you don't pray in time, whats happening to the kids in the book right now could very well happen to you :-)

[Emily B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave The Vanishings: Four Kids Face Earth’s Last Days Together three stars because I thought it was great and I loved how they learned to live for the Lord at the end, but once again it was very predictable. You almost know exactly what will happen, and I think that because the adult version of Left Behind is much better at not being predictable! At times I felt very emotional for the characters because I would have no clue what to do if my parents left for heaven and not me! I think all of the Left Behind series are great books and they show that without faith in Jesus Christ you are trapped and are hopeless! That is what this book taught me and I loved how they come together to learn more about the love and compassion of God! I’m hoping to read more of these books soon because I truly enjoy them a lot!! Overall this book was pretty good but not as good as other books I have read!

[Minervinij · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is now officially my most favorite book of all time. To be honest I hate reading but I just could not put this book down and I finished it the same day I got it and stayed up past midnight reading it. It is about four kids.... each of their families have all been saved and go to church every sunday, but these kids think all of it is stupid and that they are "too cool" for it. But when the Rapture occurs they soon realize that IT IS real and that they need to turn their lives around.... I HIGHLY recommemed this book to EVERYBODY.... If you have no idea what the rapture is then you definitely should read this book, because when that day comes, you will want to be with Christ. - But that's just my opinion -

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

As absolutely devastating the story is, it is written in such a way that it’s not too overwhelming for kids, while still making clear the seriousness of the subject. I believe in the pre-trib rapture based on my own studies of scripture, but I’ve also discussed with the kids that these books are simply a fictional interpretation of what might happen. What we do KNOW is Jesus is coming back and we had better be ready.

The gospel is beautifully spelled out in this book and from what I’ve heard, is shared in all subsequent books. We plan to continue this series.

[R.J. Rodda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how this ended (spoiler alert: on an important cliffhanger). This is easy to read and interesting enough. You basically met four teens, their lives are described, they are left behind and then they meet each other. Lots of telling, not showing, and some Christian lingo but the Christian message is clearly presented. This is probably most suitable for teens in content but the writing style is fairly simple. For tweens?

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the adult series years ago... wanted to read this one.

[Hannah:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been waitinggg to get to this and finally did - no regrets!!

[Cathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this for Middle-Grade March. Even as an adult this was riveting. I knew what had happened but I was worried about these kids.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A decent companion series to the original Left Behind series. Or a good alternative to read for younger readers. It overlaps and mentions characters in the main series but stands on it's own.

I am not sure what I think of the characters. Judd had too much an attitude but I hope and think his might soon change. Vicki makes sense for her backround but seems a bit of an attitude. Lionel I cannot figure out his age or behavior. And the one adult we get a lot from is his uncle-who really has issues. Ryan seems to be the youngest (but I am not sure about Lionel's age) and I got the least about his personality yet I also felt the most for. Good luck figuring that one unless you read this.

I felt like I was barely getting ot know them and not much story happened before it was over. While I like the style of writing the pace needs to pick up.

[Ryan Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never knew of this part of the series and despite it really being for youth I thought I would give it a shot. It’s not horrible and it does overlap the original series. Quick read and it is interesting to hear the things that happened to the youth who where left behind

[Abigail Matheny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who decided it was a good idea to write a horrific and traumatizing theological discourse for children and disguise it as fiction?

Nope.

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Vanishings is a short story (maybe a long short story) about the Rapture. Going into this, I had no idea that is what it was about. The book begins with four kids, who are not necessarily all bad, but are "lost". They have either been raised in the church but are not true believers or just kids who want to do things for themselves and not "waste" time with religion. I don't really want to go over all of the characters, but I didn't really like any of them. I felt bad for Lionel because if it hadn't been for his Uncle, there was a good chance he might have become a true believer in time. But because he looked up to his Uncle so much, he fell astray. I also felt bad for most of the parents of these kids. Vicki's parent's both have made drastic lifestyle changes. Giving up drinking and really doing all that they could to become good people and spread the word of God. The way Vicki acts is ridiculous. She purposely tries to get her father to start drinking and become abusive, she completely ignores her mothers cries to change.

At the end of this, I actually feel a bit renewed. I don't discuss religion much and I don't have much of a presence in church, but what I do have is faith.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago and stopped reading the series because I couldn't find all the books. Now I've started it back up because I have them all again! This book is about Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan all being left behind by their parents because they were firm believers in God. Judd and Vicki both treat their parents awful and disrespect both of them. Judd is on the plane running away with a credit card he stole from his dad when he finds out what really happened. Vicki lives in a trailer park and she is coming home late from being out when her family is taken. She doesn't realize until the morning when this happens though because everyone is gone, but their clothes have been left behind. Lionel wakes up in the morning to find that everyone is gone except for his uncle and him. I find this concept of left behind interesting because it makes you think of what you would do in this situation. I found how odd it was that they just happened to guess what happened after maybe 3 minutes of realizing their family is gone.

[Makenzie :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how much this book brings to life what is going to happen in the end.
Such a good book to get you thinking about the end with the Lord. I love how the characters act together when they first meet. It is so real.
Definitely recommend reading this series!!

~ Matthew 6:34 ~
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s troubles is enough for the today.”
So why should I be worrying about the end when I could be telling people about the new beginning they could have with Jesus.

If you do read this and have trauma or get scared about any of it. I encourage you to reach out to your local church community or just simply talk to God about it I guarantee He will be listening. If you have any questions or concerns about your life and the way you’re living know that the Lord is always with you even in the darkest of times even when you feel alone he will always be there to guide you.
♥️Happy Reading♥️ Jesus Loves You so much! :)

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

i saw this book in a hotel lobby and remembered i read this series all the way through in... the 5th grade, maybe. it was just when i was getting into sci-fi too so thankfully i compartmentalized it with that instead of, like, internalizing all the crassly propagandistic bs. seriously, tho, parents, if u want ur kids to respect religion teach them to interact with it in a critically instead of "scaring them straight" with such images as, say, a left-behind punk girl who shuns her old lifestyle and literally dons her enraptured mother's clothing in a godly attempt to honor her wishes / change for the better

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recognized many of the names from the movie, even though I haven't read the Left Behind series, but these people were more in the background. In Left Behind: The Kids series, the focus is on four kids named Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan. All of them are young people who have been left behind, most know exactly what has happen because they had family members who were believers and are now gone. I'm hoping the future books will have more to them, because this book was strictly about setting up the story and the rapture. All in all, it was a good book.

3.5 stars

[Barbara Dougherty Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!

Read this series years ago and it was calling out to me to read it again.
Mr. Lehaye brings the bible to life.
This is obviously fiction, but it realistically portrays the events that most likely will occur directly after the rapture.

I am moving on to book 2.

This series was written for kids. There is another Left Behind series Mr. Lehaye write for adults, but at 61 years of age I am enjoying both.