Below is the complete list of Karen Kingsbury’s Above the Line books in publication order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Above the Line Books in Publication Order
- Take One (2009)
Take One was published in 2009 and is listed as book #1 in the Above the Line series. - Take Two (2009)
Published in 2009, Take Two is listed as book #2 in the Above the Line series. - Take Three (2010)
Take Three is a 2010 release and appears as book #3 in the Above the Line series. - Take Four (2010)
In the Above the Line series, Take Four is book #4 and was published in 2010.
About Above the Line
Karen Kingsbury’s Above the Line series is a Baxter-family-connected inspirational fiction series centered on faith-driven filmmaking, personal conviction, and the cost of trying to create meaningful art in a commercial world. The four books—Take One, Take Two, Take Three, and Take Four—follow filmmakers Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison as they pursue the dream of making movies that can change lives while facing pressure from Hollywood, family responsibilities, financial risk, and spiritual testing.
The series grows naturally out of Kingsbury’s larger Baxter universe, especially through its connection to Dayne Matthews, the actor whose story was already central in earlier Baxter-family books. Dayne’s presence helps bridge the world of family drama and Hollywood storytelling. Above the Line is not only about making films; it is about what happens when people bring faith, ambition, talent, and personal weakness into an industry that often rewards compromise. Kingsbury uses that tension to ask how far someone can go in pursuit of influence without losing the values that gave the dream meaning in the first place.
Take One establishes Chase and Keith’s goal as they begin work on a film project with spiritual purpose. Their ambition is sincere, but sincerity does not make the process easy. Funding, casting, production delays, and industry skepticism all become part of the struggle. Kingsbury presents filmmaking as both calling and battlefield: a place where creative vision must survive money problems, ego, doubt, and the temptation to soften conviction for wider acceptance.
The series also gives important space to Bailey Flanigan, whose story becomes increasingly significant as the books continue. Bailey is a young performer with strong family roots, deep faith, and growing opportunities in entertainment. Through her, Kingsbury explores the pressure placed on young people who enter public creative spaces while trying to hold onto identity and belief. Bailey’s path connects Above the Line to the later Bailey Flanigan series, making these books an important bridge in the broader Baxter reading experience.
Take Two and Take Three deepen the production-world conflicts while also widening the emotional stakes around the characters. Kingsbury does not treat success as simple proof of faithfulness, nor difficulty as failure. The characters must wrestle with disappointment, timing, pride, family strain, and the difficulty of knowing whether a dream is being refined or redirected. That is one reason the series fits so clearly within her inspirational fiction: the outer plot involves making movies, but the inner story is about obedience, perseverance, and trust.
By Take Four, the series has moved beyond the question of whether Chase and Keith can make a film. The larger question is what their work has done to them and to the people around them. Creative calling becomes personal cost. The books repeatedly return to the idea that public impact means little if private faith, marriage, friendship, and family are neglected.
Above the Line is best understood as a Hollywood-and-faith branch of the Baxter family world. It has the emotional familiarity of Kingsbury’s family fiction, but its setting gives it a distinct focus on media, influence, and the responsibility of storytelling. The series works because it treats filmmaking not as glamour, but as a test of character: a place where dreams can inspire, distract, or expose the heart behind them.