The Baxter Family Books In Order

Publication Order of The Baxter Family Books

Publication Order of Baxter Family Children Books

By: Karen Kingsbury, Tyler Russell

The Baxter Family is a series of Christian fiction books by New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury. It’s a collection of three set series the Redemption, Forgiven, and the Sunrise book series.

The Redemption series is the first Baxter Family series, and the books in this series should be read in order of publication due to their progressive storylines and potential spoilers.

Firstborn series is the second in the Baxter family series. Like the redemption series, the books should be read in numerical order. Additionally, you should read this series after completing the Redemption series to avoid potential spoilers.
Sunrise is the third in the Baxter family series and should be read in numerical order after finishing the previous series to avoid spoilers.

Redemption is the first book in the three-set series, generally known as The Baxter Family series. The book follows the Baxter family undergoing some of the worst family crises.

Kingsbury allows us to explore the lives of each family member: a husband and wife, children and multiple grandchildren. The story starts with the struggles of one of the eldest daughters, Kari, with her cheating husband. Through their story, we get a sense of the family and how, through the love of Christ, they love one another. They focus on redemption and how we should put our trust in God to shine our pathways and provide for our lives. Once you’re able to redeem yourself through Christ, everything in your life changes, and your life gets a purpose. This is an interesting series to follow in its entirety, and after reading this book, you will be eager to know what happens next to each of the Baxter children. Kingsbury does a fantastic job of developing Baxter’s family and debuting each character in a loveable and memorable way.

When the story kicks off, we meet the husband spending time in bed with the student in her apartment. She is a graduate student in the program; he teaches journalism. They met during one of his lectures, but because it would have been unethical, and hence did not engage in sexual activity until the class was over. He is passionately in love with his student, who is intellectually equivalent as well as beautiful, unlike his gorgeous but uneducated wife.

A jealous ex-boyfriend of the student calls the wife and informs her of the affair, providing the student’s apartment address. In her uncertainty, the wife attempts to contact her husband at the journalistic conference he was scheduled to be going to that weekend, only to learn that there is no such event at the hotel he specified and that her husband does not have a room there. That’s either risky gambling or simply a desire to be caught. The wife drives to the apartment building described by the anonymous tipster and sees her husband’s car. She sets off his vehicle alarm, causing him to rise from his sleep in a daze to disable it. When he sees his wife, although he makes no attempt to speak to her, she re-enters her car and speeds away.

The next morning, the husband comes to their apartment and informs his wife he no longer wishes to be married to her. She vows that she will not grant him a divorce and that they seek pastor counselling.

Karen Kingsbury introduces each of Baxter’s family members in a comfortable style allowing the characters to jump off the page. The family comes off as a normal modern family with problems and common disagreements. The book’s storyline never feels interrupted by the frequent flashback memories that the author added to introduce characters and provide backstory to each of the characters. Kingsbury successfully narrates different storylines parallel without leaving the reader confused or deviating from the main plot. It’s also important to note that the author also left some loose ends in the novel to ensure that the sequels are read. She sprinkles religious scriptures along the pages to help remind the reader that Redemption isn’t just a fiction story but a fiction story aiming to glorify God.

There’s a twist at the ending that most readers would never guess coming, even though the author alluded to it right from the start of the book. While loose ends help boost book sales and create more suspense, they, at times, leave the readers feeling cheated. That’s not the case with Kingsbury, though, as she fixes the loose ends and answers the unanswered questions in her sequels as the story builds up.

Kingsbury collaborated with Gary Smalley, a Christian counselor, in writing this Christian fiction highlighting the teachings from Smalley’s counselling center. Together they included technical portions of the story that are quite helpful. There is an afterword, one by Smalley and another by Kingsbury, that explains all the concepts in the story. Included at the end of the book are study and reflection questions that will help enhance the reading experience of the readers. Additionally, the first chapter of the second book in the series is included at the end. The beginning of the Baxter Family series promises that many interesting stories will follow. The author uses beautiful emotions to narrate the story of a vulnerable and easy to connect with family.

There are several elements addressed in this first book that will make you want to read more of the Baxter series. Firstly, even though there are the story’s main characters, the author doesn’t focus on one or two characters’ points of view. Instead, she explores the lives of each of Baxter’s family members individually. Secondly, the word of God teaches us many things, but how does that relate to reality? Kingsbury depicts a clear, truthful and painful picture of upholding biblical principles in our lives.

If you enjoy suspense, romance and the desire to please God, then this is a series for you. It’s recommended to all Christian fiction fans. And the fact that it was written over a decade ago doesn’t mean it’s not relatable. The story is quite relatable now as it was when it was first published.