In a time when many believe we've lost our moral compass, parents and educators alike are voicing deep concerns: Are we doing enough to teach children the difference between right and wrong? This question inspired author Bruce Campelia to create the Light Passers Chronicles—a mystery-adventure book series designed to reawaken a sense of purpose, character, and unity in young readers.
Drawing inspiration from beloved classics like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, Light Passers Chronicles weaves together fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, and spirituality. Set in the modern world, the series tackles timely themes—division, conflict, and hope—offering young readers timeless lessons through imaginative storytelling. At a time when tensions are rising not only here in the U.S. but across the globe in places like Israel and Palestine, Campelia believes stories like these are more than entertainment—they’re essential tools for shaping the next generation.
Tell us about your books.
Book 1 (Quest of the Chosen: The Journey Begins) was targeted explicitly for YA readers based on its light fantasy and adventure/mystery style. The fantasy part is driven by an other-worldly being, named Ooray, our heroes encounter in the unfamiliar land in winch they are lost. In books 2 and 3 the kids come back into the real world and meet real world problems. The heroes are 15-17: Morningstar - a Lakota Sioux from South Dakota, Zack - a young black kid from Detroit, Liyah - a Palestinian girl, and Kai Li - an Asian boy from Hong Kong)
In books 2 & 3 (OtherLight & Of Love and Peace) the heroes try to apply things they’ve learned to help overcome the long running problems between Palestinians and Israelis. The books were both eerily prescient and particularly now can be viewed as a better, clear and more lasting alternative solution to what is currently happening. And one that I hope someday will occur.
Both books 2&3 have some light fantasy but are primary mystery-thrillers, still starring our young heroes but also adding young Israeli girls named Esty and Hanna, as well as a Palestinian boy named Ahmad.
The entire series is really directed at both adults and young adults. Profound elements of history, danger, love, and hope are sprinkled throughout the books.
Can you share a little bit about the inspiration behind your books?
I always liked creative writing. In undergraduate school while majoring in engineering, math, and physics I took all free electives in creative writing. I used to toy with poetry and worked on an early novel on airplanes and in hotels while overseas but gave up when things got too busy during my tech start-up years, and never kept anything.
During my stint as Executive Director for One for Health Fdn I came up with the idea of a book focusing on my experience with other cultures, my knowledge of various spiritualties, history, and my desire to have kids discover themselves and then show us the way. That was how Quest got its birth…after 10 years of pregnancy ☺. The other two books followed about 1.5 years apart and formed a mini-trilogy…with 3 more planned to reflect the growing and learning of the other main young heroes (ages 15-17) and their homelands.
What do you hope readers take away from the series?
I hope the series conveys a lot of historical, spiritual, and philosophical perspective; that it helps those struggling to find goodness and power within themselves (finding their “light”) and then encourage them to share this to build a better world. It is a way to look at things through different eyes…so that we don’t see those who aren’t like us physically or culturally as the “other.” This is clearly a still-growing issue today around the world. I believe that many, if not all, of the troubles we face (and a lack of shared abundance), stem from the inability to see the amazing connectedness of all things and all people.
How can fantasy books help guide real-world values?
It is unjudgmental and allows for a freedom of discovery. And it proposes how things might be if we weren’t dragged down by the world existing around us.
Aside from the books we have an online store where people can find t-shirts and other items that reflect the universal messages in the books. And the third leg of this stool is a Light Passers Newsletter that is now out using the Substack app as the platform. We are trying be more than just a book series by providing a voice to others and a serious intent to grow a following that can help make a significant difference in the world…”guide these values.”
Why are books a particularly effective way to reach children?
Kids are open to the journey that books provide. They can get lost in them and actually find a sense of calm, compared to the infinite short texts that consume them every day. And the younger ones like the graphic novels because they also get visual stimulation. I loved comics as a kid, and Mad Magazine….up until I was about 12, then I started to actually read a few novels. That’s about the lower boundary age I gear these books to (12-17 for kids)…but then really any age above that.
What is moral storytelling and why is it so important?
If done right, it’s not about moralizing. It’s about indirect discovery…watching others (with whom you can identify) overcome challenges in their own lives, and become better versions of themselves. They see the possibility of it all. And of course the added reward is that they see how important other people are in their lives, how they can become leaders themselves, overcome fear, and share their light with the world.
How many books do you envision for the series?
The original plan was for 5: Quest as the foundational book that acts like the Hobbit in Lord of the Rings, OtherLight (book 2) to bring our heroes back into the world (Palestine: Liyah’s real world) while maintaining some light fantasy -the kids have to find Liyah’s brother Khalib who was kidnapped by terrorists; and one book each for Zack (set in Detroit), Kai Li (Hong Kong), and back to America for Morningstar.
But Of Love and Peace (released this past year) was inserted to round out a mini-trilogy, also set in the Levant (Israel-Palestine). I actually refer to it as book 2.5.
What was the hardest part of writing the books?
I do a lot of research for the books. My biggest struggle is getting started every day. I’m disciplined but the writing process can be torture…as most writers will say. Book one, Quest took a lot of time…so much to learn about writing in general, but book 2 (OtherLight) was the hardest for me. A lot of self-doubt that I could write another that would be well-received.
But I love the research part, and these young heroes tell me what to do next.
Are there things you wish now you had included but didn’t?
Always, I guess. But it’s all “a work in progress” as they say. And if I worry too much about that I fear I would never publish anything ☺
What do you hope parents and children take away from the books?
The books are about finding ourselves (young and old) and “passing the light” forward. The connectedness of all peoples and cultures is clearly brought out, and our dependency on others (young and old) in times of crisis. A core message is that we are stronger together, but have become lost for various reasons. The books form a creative but beautiful linkage between peoples, spiritualties, and cultures, and generations with messages to help find the path out of the darkness.
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