How Stories Shape a Nation: Jenny L. Cote on Faith, History, and America’s 250th Birthday

Join Valerie and award-winning author Jenny L. Cote as they explore the inspiring stories behind America's founding, biblical principles in history, and how to engage children with faith-based historical storytelling. Discover how Jenny's revolutionary series brings history to life through faith, research, and storytelling to inspire the next generation.

Epic Order Of The Seven | United States | Jenny L. Cote

BookWorthy's Patriotic Book List

 Chapters

 00:00 Celebrating America's 250th Birthday

02:04 Inspiration Behind Epic Order of the Seven

03:10 Transitioning from Biblical to Revolutionary Storytelling

05:16 The Importance of History in Education

06:59 Lesser-Known Revolutionary Figures

10:24 The Role of France in American Independence

11:55 Rediscovering America's Founding Truths

14:09 Engaging Kids with History

15:49 Unique Research Experiences

17:57 Connecting Kids to America's Story

21:16 Teaching the Good, Bad, and Ugly of History

22:58 What's Next for Jenny L. Cote

Listener Survey invitation

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Transcript

Valerie (00:01.464)
Welcome to Bookworthy, where we help Christian parents discover books that are not only worth reading, but books your kids will love, and you can trust. Today's episode is a special one as we look towards America's 250th birthday, a moment that invites us to remember the stories, the sacrifices, and the faith that have shaped our nation. And to do that,

We are joined by someone whose work has ignited a love of history and a love of God in countless young readers. Award-winning author Jenny L. Cote's Epic Order of the Seven Revolutionary Saga brings America's founding era to life with meticulous research, rich storytelling, and deep conviction that God's hand has always been at work in the story of the nations. If you've ever wished your kids could understand the courage, conviction, and providence woven into America's beginnings, this conversation is going to bless you.

Welcome to Bookworthy, Jenny.

Jenny L. Cote (01:00.184)
Thank you for having me. Happy birthday, America.

Valerie (01:03.718)
Happy birthday. I'm so thrilled to speak with you and so glad to talk about these books. I would have them on my shelf, but I have loaned them out to my niece. So I'm like, where are my books? I'm always looking for my books, and usually they're out with my niece.

Jenny L. Cote (01:20.534)
That's okay. I've got a couple of spares to share.

Valerie (01:22.49)
Good deal. Well, to get our conversation started, we're gonna start with our random question of the week, which is: what is your favorite type of fireworks?

Jenny L. Cote (01:32.714)
Any firework that's over the water so I can see the reflection. So what we celebrate our Fourth of July every year at Lake Burton in the North Georgia Mountains out on a boat, and as long as it's reflecting on the water, it's my favorite. But the water of the weeping willow kind, you know, that's my favorite.

Valerie (01:50.933)
yes. I like they're usually always golden, but it's the kind of one big one pops and then a bunch of little ones pop, and they sparkle, and I have to agree with you on the water part. That definitely helps with that reflection and makes it look even more awe-inspiring. Too fun. Well, Jenny, why don't you tell us a little bit about how you were inspired to start your Max and Liz Epic Order of the Se Seven series?

Jenny L. Cote (02:18.22)
Well, we're sitting here today because of my real dog and my real cat, Max and Liz. I did not set out to be an author. My background is marketing and strategic planning. And I just had this divine discontent, like I'm not doing what I was meant to do. And then along came these two little pets. So Max and Liz. Max was Scottish terror, and Liz was a black cat. I was watching them play fight one day and thought, hmm, when did dogs and cats first get on each other's nerves? Maybe when they were cooped up on Noah's Ark.

for a year. And so the idea for the Art Three in the Fire Cloud, which is the Animal's Head and Noah's Ark, came to me, and the rest is history because these talking animals go through biblical and American history. I'm on ten novels out now.

Valerie (02:58.49)
Valerie (03:04.986)
That's so exciting. I've gotten to read the majority of the biblically based ones. So I'm kind of excited. I haven't delved into the revolutionary ones, so I might need to add that to my TBR, which is this entire shelf right here. Well, what made you want to turn from biblical storytelling to revolutionary storytelling in your books?

Jenny L. Cote (03:14.453)
Yeah.

Jenny L. Cote (03:30.594)
Well, this cast of characters, this team of seven animals, they foil a plot by a stowaway on the ark who's out to kill Noah and wipe out the last eight people and be done with it. And God said, Humans are gonna need some help going forward in time. And so I'm gonna use you, team, to work behind the scenes in human history, right? So they go to Joseph and Isaiah, Daniel, the Christmas story, and the life of Christ.

Acts through revelation to the fall of Rome. And guess what? When John wrote The End on Revolution Revelation, God didn't check out of history. Why do you think it's called his story? It's it continues. And if anything, the beautiful thing of going forward in history is the application of what the biblical writers wrote and how believers since the first century are still fulfilling the Great Commission to live out our faith.

Valerie (04:07.672)
Yep.

Jenny L. Cote (04:25.634)
Biblically, no matter what epoch of history that we're in, specifically my passion for the American Revolution, I grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. So I grew up in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown and all of that. My our our first house was in Seaford, Virginia, and my mom used to drive through the battlefields of Yorktown to get to the grocery store. And you know, it's so interesting because I can see the readouts. I can see the battlefield as a toddler in my mind.

And my grandmother always always said, what goes into the first of life goes throughout all of life. And so these impressions and my appreciation and love for history were ingrained in me early. My parents took me to all the museums. And so parents, let me encourage you, it starts early. And it starts with parents being excited about our founding history. And honestly, I feel the Lord has called me for such a time as this to write America's story in

kitchen sink level detail because we're losing our history. And I feel like it's the best service I can do for my nation to tell America's story to the next generation in a way that they'll get it. And fall in love with this incredible nation again.

Valerie (05:39.042)
I love what you've done and taking characters that kids relate to easily, but you're also just w woven in such amazing truths and historical facts and just a beautiful way of engaging kids where they're at, but really putting history before them. Cause I do think that is something that is lost a lot in the public school system with history, as you kind of go through the main events, but I think what it is? One of the things that was recently brought to light was like.

George Washington was shot at multiple times and was hit by this sharp shooter that never missed. And he made it through with only holes in his jacket, but he was not hit. And so it's just amazing to see how God has moved and been a part of our history. And I love how you're doing that, not just in your biblical series, but in the American series as well. And that's just super fun because I love history.

Jenny L. Cote (06:33.998)
Well, like so, and I love to put plot lines that go across multiple books. So I did a plot line in my third book, The Prophet, the Shepherd and the Star, and I have Jeremiah writing, you know, gentlemen may cry, peace, peace, but there is no peace. Well, guess who said that? Patrick Henry, the voice of the revolution. So this is my first American Revolution book, The Voice of the Revolution and the Key, and it does feature Patrick Henry. And so whenever I know.

Valerie (06:52.857)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny L. Cote (07:01.864)
In the future, when one of my characters, either in history or whatever, is gonna quote scripture, I like to put that Easter egg way back there so you see the origin of it and how it goes through time.

Valerie (07:15.821)
That is amazing. In your research, what kind of lesser-known revolutionary figure did you really enjoy researching?

Jenny L. Cote (07:25.762)
My goodness, there are so many. I would say one of the most intriguing ones was a French spy named Bon Boulevard. Ever heard of this guy? Most people haven't, you know, but as the first shots were rung out at Lexington and Concord, guess who was there? This French spy. And he sat there as the siege buildup around Boston happened. This was in April 1775.

Valerie (07:37.44)
I have not.

Jenny L. Cote (07:54.476)
And he watched the British getting hemmed in by the Patriots. And you know, the French, they'd been looking for a chance to get revenge for their crushing defeat in the French and Indian War, right? Where Washington was shot through a bunch of times, you know, and came out unscathed. And this French spy and his buddy went to London to the embassy, not to Paris. And they said, Hey, there's some trouble brewing with the colonies. This might be our chance. And so the French ambassador

Told King Louis, and King Louis said, Okay, bon voyage, I want you to go find Benjamin Franklin, who was a rock star because of the Kite and Key experiment in France. And so seven months before we declared independence, upstairs in Carpenter's Hall, one cold December night, sits Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and this French spy talking about French aid. Hey, you need some guns, you need some gunpowder. And that began

The French aid, you know, people say, the French, they started helping us, you know. Yay, France, you know, after Saratoga. No, they started helping us seven months before we even declared independence. So that character was intriguing to me. And then there was another French character who was also a French spy, a playwright named Beaumarchais. And he was this fanciful guy. He's the one who set up a dummy company to start shipping the guns and supplies to us. So

Valerie (08:59.321)
Ha ha ha.

Jenny L. Cote (09:22.688)
One of the things I bring out and you see, you know, the Marquis de Lafayette photo bombing us here, 'cause he's the star of my my my third revolution book, is to show that French alliance. You know, most people do not realize we would not have gained our independence without France. So that

Valerie (09:37.548)
Very true. That's so much fun to kind of get those little hints of people that we don't hear about in, you know, school classrooms, and be like, this was I don't know, I feel like we forget that how much God is in the details. And it's just amazing to see how everything fits together so well in God's timing.

Jenny L. Cote (09:58.318)
And you know, what's so amazing is, you know, you mentioned the public school system, but honestly, it's not just whether you're public, private, homeschooled, there are not enough hours in a year to adequately research America's true story. Listen, for every American, it should be a lifelong pursuit. Don't put this responsibility on teachers or our kids. y'all go learn America's history. You know what? Every one of us.

gets to do that. And so I personally have a personal library of 400 books on the American Revolution. And part of my own personal growth and edification of understanding our history, if I were the only one to read my books, I would do it because of what I learned. And I do love to find those unsung little stories that had one little person that no one's ever heard of, not done their one thing, the outcome could have been totally different. History's exciting.

Valerie (10:33.303)
Wow.

Jenny L. Cote (10:55.884)
Wow, there's so much to know.

Valerie (10:58.411)
I think that's a lot of why, you know, Hamilton got so big so quickly, is because we're seeing elements of a story that we thought we knew in a new way. And that's just always exciting and fun to explore. And what is it? The letters between John Adams and his wife Abigail Abigail Adams. And just in the richness of that time period is so so rich. I was like, I already said the word.

Jenny L. Cote (11:23.358)
gives you hope for n listen, so when I started the voice of the revolution and the key, it starts when the founders are kids. Patrick Henry seven, George Washington's eleven, because I wanted to show kids, look, before they were founding fathers, they were founding children, right? I love to ask kids, " Was George Washington ever your age? And I get this look, and it's like, he was. Again, you have to make it relatable. And you see how this one generation, it only took one generation to rise to their calling.

Valerie (11:37.869)
Children. Mm-hmm.

Jenny L. Cote (11:52.258)
To found this nation. And guess what? It only takes one generation to turn this Titanic around of how far we have fallen from our founding roots of being a Judeo-Christian-centered constitutional republic. We are not a democracy. And so that is so important to remember how we started. And we've been flawed from the beginning. Of course, we are, we're called humans, and so we're broken, you know.

Valerie (11:57.305)
Yeah.

Valerie (12:08.117)
Yeah.

Valerie (12:13.145)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny L. Cote (12:20.664)
But it's always up to the next generation to find their part in his story to do their best for this nation. So that's where my passion lies.

Valerie (12:30.593)
It's evident in your face and in your books as well. And I love that. What do you hope families kind of rediscover about America as we head towards this two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday celebration? The truth. Well, yeah.

Jenny L. Cote (12:42.434)
The truth, the truth. And you know, I like to use a lot of original documents, letters, memos from Congress and like state houses to show the prayers that were offered, the quotes from the founding fathers that were offered, that this wasn't just, you know, you know, a bunch of deists.

You know, that, you know, gave lip service to God. No, they believed it. And I love how John Adams says, you know, I'm a monarchist. You know, Jesus Christ is my king, you know. So I mean, you get some bold faith from these guys. But y you know, it should encourage us in this day and age, where I think the yearning to be bold once again in our belief as Christians and American patriots, you know.

To set things back the way the founder set them up for us. They gave us the best form of government that had ever been conceived in history. But Patrick Henry, he said this in his will. He said that whether this American experiment will prove to be a blessing or a curse, meaning independence, will be proven based on what you do with it. And he wrote to you and me in his will.

Valerie (13:41.889)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Valerie (13:57.561)
Mm-hmm.

Valerie (14:04.728)
Awesome.

Jenny L. Cote (14:05.186)
You know, and he says, if we are virtuous people, we'll be happy. If we were a contrary nature, we're gonna be miserable. So it's still our choice today.

Valerie (14:12.081)
It's very true. Every time. And just like Adam and Eve had a choice at the beginning, we all have a choice to choose our way or God's way. And I think it's amazing to watch men that we know or hear about, and women that we know or hear about, and to see that their faith was so rooted in biblical truth, and that our country was so

The whole system is based on, you know, a Trinitarian system, and you know just having God at the center. And I love that you're presenting that to kids in a way that is just so easy for them to get excited about. What's been one of the fun things in your author visits and, you know, types of events that you've seen from kids?

Jenny L. Cote (14:58.692)
Yeah, I love to see them get so excited. You know, I mean, my since research is my favorite thing about writing, you know, and kids, you go, you go I I give these creative writing workshops, and I love to get them pumped up about research. And once they know they 'cause they're in there going, research is so boring, and I tell them my crazy adventures about, you know, setting off the alarm at Patrick Henry's house and two deputy sheriffs come pulling guns on me, and you know, and then.

You know, having dinner in Paris with Lafayette's fifth great-grandson, you know, and having to go back to France for the children, you know, and all my travels and things like that. And I show them, I was like, " Look, books are part of research. I said, but get out there and go see where history happened. And I always tease them, you spoiled little internet generation you. How can you talk to anyone for free online? You know, and it's like if you're doing.

Valerie (15:33.199)
for the children.

Jenny L. Cote (15:51.33)
You know, a paper, I don't know, about ancient Rome. Mother, please get the archivist from, you know, the museum in Rome on Zoom. Do it. And I tell them, I said, let your mind ask big for things, and you will be amazed at what people do and open up this world to you. So I love to get kids excited about digging in and making this an Indiana Jones treasure hunt to go hunt this information down and get excited about it.

And after many events, I'll get emails from principals or teachers or kids saying, our kids were so pumped up they couldn't wait to get started researching. And I'm like, Jesus. Mission accomplished.

Valerie (16:29.88)
Ha ha ha.

What's one of the most unique research experiences that you got to experience in your research?

Jenny L. Cote (16:41.278)
Wow, there are so many. Well, this one was pretty amazing because it was a two-for-one. After I finished the American Revolution, I'm writing C.S. Lewis in World War II. For my fourth book, The Roman, the Twelve and the King, it's the life of Christ told within the story of Handel writing the Messiah. And so God whispered to me, he says, You need to get to Handel's composing room and write. And so I did. I called up the Handel House, and Hey, could I

fly over there and write in Handel's composing room, in the room where it happened, little Hamilton. And they said yes. So I did. And I spent six hours. Well, while I was in the neighborhood, I called up the C.S. Lewis Foundation, and I said, " Hey, I'll be writing about C.S. Lewis. And they said, " Would you like to stay in the kilns, his house? And I spent two nights in his house. And I interviewed Walter Hooper, his secretary, in the Eagle and Child pub in the rabbit room where he and Tolkien met.

Valerie (17:15.385)
Yeah.

Valerie (17:29.367)
Yes, please.

Jenny L. Cote (17:40.61)
You know, and I'm just pinching myself that I get to do this, and God is just the coolest boss. So I mean, I ask big for things and then things happen. And then I had dinner in Paris with Lafayette's fifth great-grandson, Gilbert de Mautier, you know, he's Comte Lafayette. And I've walked the beaches of Normandy with him in France, because I've been in Normandy. After all, I'm a D-Day junkie. So we'll be heading to that in World War Two. But I've been to every place where the American Revolution happened.

I go to reenactments all the time. I've been to every major battlefield, and so there's something about walking the grounds. And parents, I encourage you, if you're going to take a family vacation, go see where America was founded. Go to the original 13. Pick one. There's a lot of history there. You know, go to Boston, go to Philadelphia, go to Williamsburg, and see where your freedom.

Valerie (18:23.831)
Get started. Mm-hmm.

Valerie (18:29.241)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny L. Cote (18:35.116)
began because it's just it's always an adventure and I got a million stories, but we'd have to be here a couple of years to talk about

Valerie (18:40.185)
That's true. Well, you often say that you want kids to discover their part in his story. How do you want to connect that to America's story?

Jenny L. Cote (18:59.224)
Well, very specifically, several years ago, the National Park Service asked me to partner with them to put on an epic patriot camp. And so they had just gotten grant monies, and so we crafted this camp where kids came for three and a half days. They dressed in colonial attire, and I assigned them a character who was at the Battle of King's Mountain or Calpens, wherever we were at the National Revolutionary Park. And these kids would start, it's a writing camp.

starting day one, till the end, they couldn't wait to dress out, write in their journal, and tell me their story. Well, we did this for several years, about twenty kids, and it was fabulous, and it excited kids to get, you know, thrilled about digging in deeper about American history. Well, when COVID killed that, I decided, well, let's try to do this online. So, my author friend Libby McNamy, you should also check out her books, great books on American history,

I said, " Let's just try it online. You know, we can't give them the same in-person thing, but we can show them how to publish a book. And so we did. So we had 25 kids from all over the world, including Australia. Christopher Watt was our Benjamin Franklin from Australia. And these 25 kids we met online all summer, and they wrote the epic story of 1776. Look it up on Amazon. It's there.

Valerie (20:22.601)
wow.

Jenny L. Cote (20:23.032)
We did the next year, seventeen seventy seven to 1780, and then or seventy-nine, and then for the third time, I'm like, you know what, my little eaglets, it's time for you to fledge the nest, it's time for you to soar. And so I said, You know what to do now, 'cause we had shown them how to research, how to write, how to edit, how to publish a book independently, how to market a book. And they did it all, and I said, I will write the foreword.

And I will send a set of these books to the White House, but the rest is on you. And these kids did it. And so look up the Epic Patriot Campers. And I did send a set of books to the White House, so they're sitting at the White House. But several of these kids wrote me, and they said, You helped me find my life's purpose. I now know I want to be a writer. One is going to be an attorney because he was so he had Patrick Henry as his character and he was so inspired by Patrick Henry pursuing the law.

Valerie (20:53.518)
Wow.

Valerie (21:15.429)
huh.

Jenny L. Cote (21:18.818)
And he's like, I want to study law now. So I feel like that's some of the most important work I've ever done. You know, forget my books. Well, don't forget my books, but pouring into the next generation of authors and historians, I think, is the most important thing I could do for his story, and helping them find their place in his story.

Valerie (21:26.617)
Ha ha

Valerie (21:42.328)
Most definitely. I love what it is. I have three boys, and they just have a hunger for truth. What is truth? What is real? And it can be very challenging as a parent, but it is also just refreshing to be like, they don't want sugarcoating it. They want it out how it is. They want to experience it. They want the adventure and the truth and the depth that these founding fathers had now and today, and they live in a culture that doesn't support that very well. And so it's been an interesting

dynamic to build faith into my boys in a way that, you know, really focuses on what is true, what is right, and what does God say about these things. And so it's been amazing.

Jenny L. Cote (22:24.108)
Yeah. And you've gotta teach the good, the bad, and the ugly. Listen, there's a lot of stuff I'd rather not write. But you're gonna get the truth. You're gonna get the good, the bad, and the ugly, because it's like we would be remiss. You gotta teach the good so kids will learn to do that again, and you gotta teach the ugly and the bad so they won't do it again. And you know, when they're tearing down all those statues, the week this came out, which opens up with statues of the founding fathers and then lives.

Valerie (22:27.309)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Valerie (22:44.163)
Right.

Valerie (22:52.15)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny L. Cote (22:53.018)
It's as if God had planned that. You know, I was blessed to be on Fox and Friends with that, and I wrote an op-ad about this, and I said, you know, I wish instead of tearing down statues, no, we don't want to glorify bad guys, but you know what? I wish every museum would have a bad guy section. Okay, this is what you don't do. This is what this bad guy did, because if we don't do that.

Eighty years later, what Holocaust? There was no Holocaust. Isn't that happening? Because if you don't teach the ugly and the bad, eventually it's gonna come back and someone's gonna erase that, and they're gonna do it all over again. So it's important to know, you know, and the founding fathers, they could see a tyrant coming three miles or three thousand miles away. You know, it's in the way because they had studied history. Even our clothes change.

Valerie (23:27.053)
Yeah.

Valerie (23:44.781)
Very true.

Mm-hmm.

Jenny L. Cote (23:50.668)
We don't wear tricorn hats, you know, and mob caps anymore. But it's like the human heart does not change. We're the same throughout.

Valerie (23:58.21)
Mm-hmm. Very true. Equally able to do good and evil, all in the same breath. So well, Jenny, kind of what can we expect next from you?

Jenny L. Cote (24:04.654)
That's right. Mm-hmm.

Jenny L. Cote (24:09.442)
Well, some exciting things. All of my books, and I've got ten of them, are in print and audio, and so there's a special announcement happening today, actually, if you go to my website, and we'll have that there. But I am currently in the writer's cave writing the fourth revolution installment, The Boy, the Turn, and the Forge, which is gonna

cover the Northern campaign, Brandywine, Saratoga, Valley Forge, the Battle of Monmouth, and the French Alliance. So that's gonna be coming out, I pray, in the fall of 2027. So that's what's next on the docket. But we've got lots in the meantime. We got audiobooks. We have an awesome podcast based on my books. We have homeschool classes taught from my books. So if you're interested in your kids really wanting to know and do a deep dive into this history,

Valerie (24:48.503)
That is a

Jenny L. Cote (25:03.192)
Beth Kuvalier teaches. She's in Virginia, teaches courses based on my books that will teach your kids everything they need to know about American history. So go to my website and check that out as well.

Valerie (25:16.567)
Most definitely, what is your website so we can point people there quickly?

Jenny L. Cote (25:22.421)
Order of the seven dot com

Valerie (25:25.409)
Very fun. We'll make sure to have that in the show link's show notes for everyone. Well, thank you, Jenny, so much for joining me today.

Jenny L. Cote (25:32.99)
It's been a blessing. Huzzah.

Valerie (25:34.969)
And thank you for joining Jenny and me today. Jenny reminded us that history becomes unforgettable when it's rooted in story and that our children need stories to help them see God's faithfulness across generations. As we approach America's 250th birthday, may we be families who remember well, who teach intentionally, and who celebrate the freedom we enjoy with gratitude and humility.

If today's episode encouraged you, write a review and share it with another parent who wants to raise readers who love God, love truth, and understand the story that they are a part of. And don't forget to explore Jenny L. Cote's revolutionary books and her website. They are a beautiful way to help your kids engage with America's founding fathers through the lens of faith and wonder. And if you're looking for more books to help your family celebrate America's 250th birthday, be sure to grab Bookworthy's Patriotic Booklist.

That I've put together for you, filled with faith-rooted reads for every age, from board books to family history and devotions. Thanks for listening to Bookworthy Podcast, and keep reading books and keep raising readers who will shape the world with courage and conviction. Happy reading.