The Fourth Nephite

MormonTimes.com article about The Fourth Nephite by Trent Toone (Click Here)

Busted. Football star Kaleo Steele is caught under the high school bleachers with the wrong group of friends. Even worse, he's caught by his seminary teacher, Brother Mortensen. If Kaleo gets turned in, he'll be in jeopardy of missing the regional championship game.

It doesn't help that Kaleo has been cutting seminary class. But what's the point? Mumbo jumbo stories about angels and gold plates and Joseph Smith? Brother Mortensen decides Kaleo is ready for an extraordinary “field trip” — one that could alter the course of his life and his heart.

Reluctantly, Kaleo meets with Ladan — a mysterious old blind man — and unknowingly begins a quest through time, landing in Palmyra, New York, in the fall of 1827.

Soon, Kaleo and a nineteenth-century girl named Jennie are caught up in a battle between treasure seekers — led by Alistair Blackburn, a necromancer hired to steal the gold plates — and the young Joseph Smith, who has sworn to keep them safe.

In his quest to find a key that will send him back to his own time, Kaleo will have to decide for himself what to believe and who to trust. Before it's too late.

Note from the Publisher:
As a publisher I’m always bringing home books for my children to read. I have a 14-year-old son who is not particularly fond of “church” books. I finally convinced him to read The Fourth Nephite. He was determined not to like it. A few days later my wife called and told me that this son of ours was telling her how much he was enjoying the book. (I don’t think he would’ve admitted that to me). Anyway, the next day I asked him if he was still enjoying it and he being “Mr. Cool” casually said that he was enjoying it. But here’s the real surprise. Last Sunday during fast and testimony meeting my 14-year-old got up on his own to bear his testimony. This hasn’t happened in years. He’s too “cool” to bear his testimony in public or so we thought. He then began to bear a powerful testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, how he risked his life to protect and translate the gold plates, and how the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God. I was stunned and saw my wife wiping tears from her eyes. There is something powerful in the pages of The Fourth Nephite. I think the fact that the author uses the very words of Joseph Smith creates a powerful spirit that even a 14-year-old boy can’t deny. I hope your children and grandchildren have similar experiences.
— Chris Schoebinger