What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
This Side of Salvation
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. YA book about the rapture/ end times, the parents disappear and the kids have to find them. Spoilers ahead. [s]
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Yes this is it, thank you so much!
No prob, glad to help out!
The protagonist is a 16/17-year-old boy whose parents got hooked into this lady's claims that the rapture will happen on a specific date. The main character is a baseball pitcher and his best friend, a very important character, is also on the baseball team. At first the friend is a catcher and then he switches to, like, a first basemen or something.
Anyways it turns out that the main character's older brother was in the Vietnam war and died. Then he died the father kind of lost his mind and would only speak in bible verses. It tore the family apart because the father wouldn't speak and I think he lost his job. The mother went along with this but the older sister, who was going to college the following year was always upset.
Another part of this book is that the main character was homeschooled and a girl joins their homeschool group. While this kid is religious (but still sane, unlike his father) the girl is more of a "I believe in science" person. The book details the relationship and the things they do together, like the main character takes the girl to a Christian rock concert, and she's like "hey this isn't bad".
So at one point the super strict parents find out that the main character's best friend is gay, and they're like "oh heck no". The main character kinda uses this to his advantage and that's why he gets permission to date the girlfriend. But at one point the parents are going to bring up his friend at dinner and the main character gets stressed out about it. He tries to find a excuse to fill the conversation at dinner and ends up telling his parents about the end times women. They look into her and join her and believe in her and all that.
During the course of the book the main character has to make a ton of sacrifices for his parents. They think that his sister is a lost cause since she doesn't believe in God, but because he does they latch onto him. Since they are convinced that the world is going to end they make him give up a ton of stuff so he can spend more time studying the bible and stuff like that. He has to quit baseball (his only chance at a scholarship and college) and he breaks up with his girlfriend and asks her to wait for him.
On the day that they are supposed to be "taken" from earth or whatever, thee main character and his sister sneak out of the house to go to a party. When they go back it's past the time that they were supposed to be taken. They find their parent's clothes on their bed but the parents are gone. They get suspicious when they see that the mother's gold cross necklace that she always wears is related with another one and is missing.
The main character, his sister, his best friend, and his girlfriend all then try to find out what happened. They find another family that was a part of this cult, except there's an 18 year old kid left behind. Since he was an adult he didn't get forced into it, and he tells these kids that the parents really didn't get taken, that they left to some island. Oh yeah, and the father was said to go on "fishing trips" throughout the story when he was really going to the island to help build houses and stuff for the people to live.
So the kids (just the main character and his sister) find the island somehow, I think they used a phone to track someone who was arriving late, and then they get a boat to the island. Long story short, they convince the parents that this isn't a good idea and the father starts a fire to make a diversion to they can all leave. Only the mother and sister leave, though, and the main character and his father stays. But then the women lady leaves and takes all of the people's money.
Another main part of this book was that there was a model of an airplane that the dead brother flew when he was in the military, and the dad destroys it when he gets mad at the kid. Another thing was that the parents were concerned about the main character's friend being gay, and at a birthday dinner they ask him about it. The best friend is religious and just got confirmed, and the parents were all like "did they know about you" and that. The main character defends him and it's a good scene.
The book is written in two alternating parts, one from the past and one from the present. It's like every other chapter is before the rapture and every other is after.
It sucks that I can remember so many details from the book but can't remember any character names or the title. I really want to reread it since I liked it so much, but can't for the life of me find it. Hopefully someone out there has heard of it or has read it. Thanks in advance for helping, and just reading this long-winded thing.