"The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven" by Kevin & Alex Malarkey

At age 17, Alex recanted this story, saying he made it up.  See Boy Who Claimed He Went to Heaven Recants.  It's still a good story, but fiction.

This video is by the publisher of The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven which I thought really told about the book well:



The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Kevin and Alex Malarkey is the true story told by the father and son who were in a terrible car accident together.  Alex, the 6-yr. old son, was severely injured and was in a coma for two months.  Many people gathered to pray for him and when Alex woke up, he told his parents about seeing Jesus and how beautiful heaven was.  Angels ministered to him and he was able to see five angels surround his dad at the scene of the accident.  Alex is the first child to have the “Christopher Reed” surgery so he could breathe without a ventilator.  Alex talked about Jesus to everyone he met.

This is an inspiring story of hope to those who have loved ones in comas or who are trusting God for healing.  The purpose of writing this book is to show the power of God and be an encouragement to others.  It is a remarkable story and the things Alex mentions about heaven are scriptural and consistent with what Captain Black wrote about in his book, Flight to Heaven.  It was heartwarming to see how believers in Jesus supported the family and came through for them time and again to meet their needs. 

The father also shares about the struggles their family was going through in addition to taking care of Alex which included, a new baby who came home just the day before the accident, financial struggles, marriage issues. The message of what an amazing God we have is throughout the book.

It is thought provoking and although maybe not a page turner, I liked it. If you are interested in reading a modern-day account about angels, heaven and spiritual warfare, I highly recommend this book!
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Teaser Tuesday: "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven" & "Room" & Better Together

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought I would play for fun! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser. 

Karen's:

While everyone was talking about my not living, Jesus said to me that I would survive the accident.  He also told me I would breathe on my own after some time had passed.

From p. 30 of The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Kevin & Alex Malarkey

Gerard's:

"Look, it's like on Dora," says Ma, "when she goes to one place and then a second place to get to the third place. For us it's Truck, Hospital, Police. Say it?"

From p. 110 of Room by Emma Donoghue

Ours:

It's nearly impossible to sit in a church pew absorbing Scripture for 30 years but doing little for those around you, and still claim to love God.  The Bible says, "The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (I John 2:4 NIV)

Taken from p. 21 of Better Together--What on earth are we here for? by Rick Warren.

Meet Me On Monday by Gerard

Here's the questions for this meme hosted by Never Growing Old to help our readers get to know us better so sometimes we'll post it on this blog, and sometimes on our other blog.  Today, I put my answers here and Karen's are over at Karen & Gerard Zemek since we each have some different answers on this one. 

1.  Do your pants get hung on a hangar or folded?  I hang mine on hangers.

2.  If you are stranded on an Island, what 3 things would you need to have with you (not including humans or electronic devices)?
A book, a knife and my dog.

3.  Where is the farthest you have ever traveled to?
Niagara Falls on the Canadian side when I was a kid.  As an adult, it would a safari place in Ohio which was about an hour and a half drive. 

4.  Do you live in a house, trailer or apartment, etc.?  We live in a brick house on a quiet street.

5.  What is your most hated household chore?  Cutting down the Day Lillies in our backyard.

"Orphan Train Rider" by Andrea Warren

Wow, what an interesting book Orphan Train Rider by Andrea Warren is.  Orphan Train Rider is about the period of history of the orphan trains during 1854-1930 in America.  This is during my dad's lifetime so maybe that's why I feel it wasn't all that long ago that this was happening.  Lee Nailling shares his experience about being an orphan train rider.  He tells how his father gave up on raising his kids when his wife died and split them up.  Lee and one of his brothers were placed in an orphanage.  This was before welfare and when jobs were scarce.  Sometimes people who just couldn't manage to take care of their children would put them in an orphanage.  A minister, Charles Brace, started the Children's Aid Society to help homeless kids.  He thought there would be couples out west who would be willing to take in children and raise them as their own so "orphan trains" were started.  These trains would choose healthy children from the orphanages in the east and transport them to towns in the west, Midwest and south to find families for them.  Most got placed in loving families this way.  Some never found a good family and were abused, but it is reported they had an 87% success rate!  Lee was one of the lucky ones who did end up with a nice couple who grew to love in spite of the bitterness he had at first from being separated from his family.  It seems "orphan trains" was the forerunner of our adoption system we have today, but much simpler.
(Karen's review 2/5/09)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Man In The Woods" by Scott Spencer Was Disappointing

Man In The Woods by Scott Spencer started good at least.  I thought it would be a lot better than it was.  The start was promising, a man killing another man who was badly mistreating his dog.  From there the story rally didn't go anywhere.  I just couldn't get into it later on.  I don't recommend this one.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?