Caroline R. – A huge impact on my life

Dear Mr. Davis,

           My name is Caroline and I am a HUGE Dragons in our Midst, Oracles of Fire, and Children of the Bard fan. Huge. Like imagine ten blue whales and ten elephants multiplied together, put into one person. That kind of huge. I have read some amazing book series, but I have to say that these are my absolute favorite. It has all the necessary elements to becoming one of my favorite books: romance, a fight for what is right, humor, and yet, there are parts to these series that are serious, and down to Earth. As an added bonus, there is a large element of faith in it. It brought a world of dragons and knights into the 21st century, and it addresses the modern day problems of death of loved ones, abandonment by parents, and the fact that it is extremely hard to believe in God and religion in the world we live in today.

           Although, I have never lost a parent and my parents are still a happily married couple, you somehow made me feel for the kids who have gone through these problems. You actually made me feel for something I had not experienced myself. It has helped me empathize with those kids, and for that, I thank you. I love how you managed to bring faith into an easily understandable world that, as a teen, I could relate to. This is a very hard thing to do because adults tend to regard teenagers as idiots or as impossible challenges. It is a tumultuous time in
everyone’s life, and yet you managed to speak to an ever-changing group of people whose own opinion is not yet fully decided. I believe that through your books I have grown closer in my faith.

          Bonnie Silver was a very relatable character for me. Not because I have dragon wings or anything (sadly), but because she had faith. Her depth of character makes me wonder: Was she based off anyone in your life? Her character was a great encouragement to me. Her strength of faith was truly inspiring to read about. Then, in contrast, there is Ashley Stalworth, who did not quite get the whole “faith” concept at first. This is extremely similar to several of my friends. Do you have any suggestions on how I could bring them closer to God?

The way you showed the whole sin apocalypse really opened my eyes to the brokenness of the world. My church focuses on the six broken places of the world. We consider isolation, pain, hatred, injustice, and decay to stem from the single most broken place of separation from God. Do you think these are right, or should we focus on other places? Do you have any suggestions on how to fix these broken places? In addition, my church is doing an evangelism project, and I was wondering if you had any tips for them regarding that?

           Thank you for writing these books, seeing as how they had a huge impact on my life. Most importantly, as you say, “Hear the truth, Speak the truth, Be the truth. Don’t let faithless ones change any of these three principles.”

Sincerely,

Caroline R.