Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

Synopsis:

Do you remember the hospital, Colton? Sonja said. Yes, mommy, I remember, he said. That’s where the angels sang to me.

When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren’t expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy s trip to heaven and back.

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how really, really big God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton s uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. Books about religion can sometimes be kind of preachy and pushy. Thankfully, this book wasn’t any of those things. I felt that it wasn’t at least.

I think it is a book that both believers and non-believers could enjoy. It is a sweet story about a little boy and what he saw while on the verge of death.

I think it was very well written, and there were some parts that made me laugh out loud. There was personality in the writing, which I wasn’t completely expecting.

It is pretty short, so it could be a nice weekend afternoon read if you haven’t picked it up yet.

If you are into memoirs, I would suggest giving this one a shot.

4/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Pastors are supposed to be unshakable pillars of faith, right? But at that moment, my faith was hanging by a tattered thread and fraying fast.”

“If you haven’t heard your preschooler tell you he was dead, I don’t recommend it.”

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Cut by Patricia McCormick

Synopsis:

Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside.

Now she's at Sea Pines, a "residential treatment facility" filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn't want to have anything to do with them. She doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone. She won't even speak.

But Callie can only stay silent for so long...

This book has been out for awhile. I remember always seeing it on shelves when I was at various bookstores, but I never picked it up. I’m sure pretty much everyone has read this except for me, but I finally caught up to the bandwagon.

That said, it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. Except, I don’t really know what exactly I was expecting. With Callie not talking for a lot of the book, I figured that something really terrible had happened to her that was going to come out later in the book. I found myself waiting and waiting, and that HUGE reveal never came. Maybe it was the way is was written and not her actions themselves that made me expect something like that.

I guess that maybe it ended like up that because it is sort of accurate for some mental health cases though. Nothing huge has to happen in order to cause a mental health episode. It could be something small, or have no external trigger at all.

That is why I am leaning more towards the way this story was written leading me to think that something super catastrophic had occurred.

Overall, though, I did enjoy the book. It was a bit different because it was separated only into 3 parts instead of multiple chapters. It is a pretty short book, so I can see why that was the case.

Im starting to think this review isn’t helpful at all, but this book just sort of threw me off. . .

3/5 stars.

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Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Synopsis:

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He's won skiing prizes. He likes to write.

And, oh yeah, he's gay. He's been out since 8th grade, and he isn't teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret -- not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate break down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben . . . who doesn't even know that love is possible.

This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate feeling different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.

You know when you read a book that you enjoy so much that you just want to shove it in everyone’s face and tell them to read it? Yeah, that is how this book left me feeling when I was done reading it.

It was a very well-written book that covered a lot of different topics. It was a very good coming of age story that portrayed what some young gay men may be going through on a daily basis. Everyone has a different experience, but I think the basic concept of Rafe’s feelings and beliefs can touch many different people.

This book was fun, it made you think, and it was heartbreaking all at the same time.

It covers topics of inner-struggles, acceptance, homophobia, and misconceptions – about many different “types” of people or “labels”.

Once I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. I read it straight through and didn’t even notice I was sitting there reading for 6 hours. It is very fast-paced, and I just needed to see how it ended.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys YA novels.

5/5 Stars

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