Most popular teen novels – chapter five
Most popular teen novels include The Olive Tree Covering. Scavenger Hunt is the title of the fifth chapter in one of the most popular teen novels.
I followed Mike through the warehouse to a room filled with round tables and a longer side table loaded with sandwiches, chips, salad, and beverages. We piled food onto our plates, and found a place to enjoy our repast at one of the round tables. Mallory, two other fellows, who I had seen earlier working on the second temple reproduction, and another girl, whom I had not seen before joined us at our table. Mike introduced me to Paul, Andrew, and Helen.
I nearly choked on my sandwich when the man following me in the car on Robin Run Way stood at the podium facing our table. Tears filled my eyes as I swallowed some water.
“He’s our new youth pastor, Chris Throckmorton.” Mike patted me on the back.
Most popular teen novels include story symbols.
The youth pastor placed a miniature olive tree on our table and handed a tall, multicolored, striped hat to Mallory, a top hat to Mike, and a baby bottle and infant’s bonnet to me. I thought this was very strange and wondered what this had to do with Messianic Judaism.
“The olive tree placed on each table represents the body of believers in the Commonwealth of Israel.” Pastor Chris broke a branch from the olive tree on the table next to his podium. “This broken branch represents the Jewish unbelievers still worshipping in the synagogue today.” He pointed to another branch on the tree. “This unbroken olive branch symbolizes the Jewish believers in Ohev Shalom from birth.” He taped another broken branch onto the olive tree. “The newly baptized members of our congregation, including Jews and Gentiles, are symbolized by the re-grafted broken off branches.”
Characters in most popular teen novels sometimes identify with symbols in the story.
“I must be the broken off gentile branch.” Mallory put on her hat.
“I’ve been a Jewish believer for as long as I can remember so I must be one of the intact branches. Hey I like this top hat!” Mike took off his hat and tipped it at me. “You are a new believer Tamara, and the baby bonnet and bottle are perfect symbols for you to wear.”
“This must have a connection with the olive branch that you gave me at the farm.” I tied the bonnet under my chin and pretended to drink from the baby bottle.
“Hi cutie. You look sweet and innocent.” Mike led a loud chorus of laughter.
Most popular teen novels include action scenes
“Our second temple recreation is almost finished and should be ready in time for our fall feasts of Israel service and celebration.” Pastor Chris walked around the room. “We have planned a scavenger hunt for this afternoon to find items to place in the temple for the fall celebration. I’d like you to form six teams with four people in each team. Mallory drew maps for each team that you can use to look for the items in Franklin Park.”
Most popular teen novels have activities to move the story along and make it more interesting for readers.
Mike and Mallory joined two others at the next table to form a team of four. Disappointed that I wasn’t on the same team with Mike, I joined Helen, Andrew, and Paul’s team. We studied the map and the items on our list. Looking for the pinecones, rocks, and some of the plants would be easy.
Andrew, Paul, and Helen lived close to Ohev Shalom. They rode their bikes to the youth group meeting like myself. We decided to ride our bicycles to cover more territory to look for the items on our list.
“Where are we going to find the gold?” I studied the map.
“There’s an old mine in the park. We will go there first.” Andrew pointed to the symbol for the mine on the map.
Some teens in most popular teen novels aren't old enough to drive. So, they depend on bicycles for transportation in most popular teen novels.
I retrieved my backpack from the closet where Mike had stored it. The others in my group gathered their belongings and we headed for the bicycle rack on the side of the building. We put our bicycle helmets on our heads for protection in case of a fall. Paul carried an extra knapsack with him to carry our treasures when we found them.
Riding across the parking lot was easy and we rode fast. However, when we were on the rough wooded terrain the going was harder and we slowed down pushing our way along the rough dirt path. I lost control of my front wheel and it bumped into Paul’s rear tire. He almost fell to the ground but managed to steady himself before losing his balance.
Teens look out for each other in most popular teen novels.
“Hey, watch where you are going,” he shouted at me.
The angry tone in his voice put pressure on me to slow down to maintain my balance. Eventually we reached the creek that Mike and I had thrown our stones in. We stopped for a drink of water and studied the map.
“The foot bridge is a few feet to our left upstream.” Andrew steered his bicycle to the left and peddled faster along the stream.
Most popular teen novels include nature scenes.
We rode in silence, looking at the gurgling creek to our right and steering around the roots of the trees that poked up from beneath the ground. A narrow, rickety bridge appeared. Andrew explained that we would have to walk our bikes across the bridge one at a time over the shallow water in the creek.
Andrew led the way across the bridge. Paul and Helen were next and I was the last to go. We heard the creak of some wood and then a loud crash. The rotting wood of the beams underneath the footbridge, from the extra weight of our bicycles, could no longer support the narrow plank across the creek. The bridge crashed into the swirling creek water. We had crossed just in time. We needed to find another way back to the industrial park around the creek.
We mounted our bicycles and rode on. The terrain was rising in a sharp incline and it was getting harder and harder to peddle up the hill. We guided our bikes through the tree-lined path.
Main characters have conversations in most popular teen novels
“Are you a new believer?” Helen rode her bike beside me.
I turned my head to answer her. “Yes. This is my first visit to Ohev Shalom. Earlier Mike and I threw stones in the water and prayed.”
“My mother and I recently moved to this area from California.” Helen took one foot off the pedal to stop her bicycle.
“Really. Do you miss it out there?” I slowed down using my foot as a brake on the ground.
“I miss my old friends but I have made a few new ones since coming to Ohev Shalom.” Helen remounted and steered her bicycle slowly through a large clump of grass.
“I wish my family thought the way I did. They don’t believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Jewish people.” I followed her lead, standing up to pedal my bicycle over the rough terrain.
Teens like to read action scenes in most popular teen novels.
We concentrated on pushing our bicycles uphill. The going was hard and we steered our bicycles away from large rocks, tree roots, and small plants. I panted with the effort I was exerting from the steep climb. The muscles of my legs hurt as I strained to push both pedals to their limits to propel the wheels of my bicycle over small stones and clumps of grass up the incline. I wanted to stop and rest but didn’t want to fall behind the others. The clean mountain air, intermixed with the freshness of pine trees filled my nostrils.
Eventually we arrived at our mountain top destination. The view from above was amazing. We looked at a steady stream of treetops stretching out for miles. We saw houses in the distance surrounding both sides of a large body of water. We knew this was the Rahway River meandering gracefully in between the trees.
Most popular teen novels include dialogue to allow story characters to share life experiences with one another.
“I know what you mean,” Helen picked up a rock. “This looks like quartz.” She handed the smooth, white stone to Paul to put into the knapsack. “My father is Jewish and is not a believer like us.” Helen lowered her bicycle kickstand with her foot.
“Your father doesn’t come to this congregation with you and your mother?” I parked my bicycle beside Helen’s bike.
“No. He is still in California. My parents are waiting for their divorce to become final. Mom had relatives in the east, so we came here to be near them. We are still unpacking the boxes we had shipped out here from California during the summer.” Helen leaned over her bicycle seat.
“That’s too bad. At least both my parents are together. If it wasn’t for the differences in our beliefs, I would be happy. I wish I could do more things with my friends outside of my family life.” I pulled out a copy of the scavenger list from my backpack.
I found some of the small plants and flowers on our list and handed them to Paul. After we finished gathering as many of the small items on the list as we could, we took another sip from our water bottles. Paul sat down under a tree admiring the view. Andrew had taken out his pocketknife and was busy carving initials in the base of one of the huge maple trees. A woodpecker tapped away in one of the trees not far from where we had stopped to rest.
Paul pushed himself off the ground and kicked his bike stand up. We followed Paul down the steep slope. It took all my strength to keep my bicycle from rolling down the hill without me. The steep incline leveled off and we rode slowly in the direction of the river.
The wind from the river blew through my hair and I pushed it away from my glasses. It was cooler on this side of the mountain because of the river breeze. I stopped for a minute to pull out my jacket from my backpack and put it on. Helen dismounted from her bicycle to wait for me. Andrew and Paul continued riding far ahead of us. We mounted our bikes and pedaled faster to catch up with them.
The action continues along a historic canal
“Where’s the mine?” I shouted to them.
“It’s farther down the river.” Andrew pointed in the right direction.
We rode along a sandy, dirt path that followed the river trail. My bicycle tires made tracks through the sand and small stones and it was easier to pedal along this path than it had been through the brambles and grassy path leading from the mountain down to the river. A man-made canal ran along the river between the path we rode on.
Most popular teen novels do have some references to historic places.
“Mules used to pull canal boats along this path. It’s now preserved by the state park authorities who manage Franklin Park.” Paul stood up to push his bicycle faster through the sand and small stones along the bank of the canal.
I rode along the river trying to imagine what it must have been like years ago. In my imagination canal men tried to pull stubborn mules along the path I rode. The boats and barges carried goods going downstream to market. Men walked alongside the barges and shouted to the workers on the boats about how hard it was to motivate the mules to pull their heavy loads.
We stopped to read the historical markers in front of the remains of one of the canal locks. The diagrams showed how the locks worked and we could see water pouring over the concrete walls of what was left of the lock.
Andrew studied the map. “The mine is located to the right of this lock.”
He put the map away in his pocket and hopped onto his bicycle. We followed his example. The terrain was becoming rough again, now that we were off the canal path. Our tire wheels left tracks in the wet mud. A bird looking for worms attracted my attention. Distracted, I wasn’t paying attention to objects on the path in the way of my bicycle tires. My front tire knocked into a piece of wood. Unable to steer my bicycle I lost control and toppled to the ground. My bicycle fell on top of me.
Something always happens in most popular teen novels.
When Andrew, Paul, and Helen realized I wasn’t behind them, they rode their bikes back to where I fell. Andrew and Paul lifted the bicycle off my leg.
“Are you alright?” Helen helped me to sit up so that I could lean against a tree trunk for support.
“I don’t know. I can’t move my foot. I think I might have broken something.” I rubbed my ankle. My wrist was bleeding and I wrapped my jacket around it to stop the bleeding.
“Your front tire is losing air fast and this is the problem.” Paul showed me a nail attached to a large piece of wood.
Discover more about historic canals in most popular teen novels.
The action doesn't stop in this chapter of one of the most popular teen novels. Continue reading chapter six to find out what happens next.
Historical websites accessible with a mobile phone
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC
Mount Vernon in Alexandria, Virginia
National Women's History Alliance
History Today
History News Network
Colonial Williamsburg
