Heaven Is For Real

Author Background: 

The author of, Heaven Is For Real, is Todd Burpo. 

"Todd Burpo is the pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska where his sermons are broadcast locally every Sunday via the local radio station. He volunteers at Chase County Public Schools as wrestling coach for Junior high school students, as well as serving as a member of the school board. In emergencies Todd can be found working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department as a fire fighter. He is also the chaplain for the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighter's Association. To support his family, Todd also operates a company called Overhead Door Specialists. Todd graduated from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in 1991" 

Todd Burpo Article  

Todd Burpo is a very successful man. Along with this he has a very unique family. He later in his life writes a book about his son's trip to heaven (Heaven Is For Real) and in this book it describes his son's experience, the family's experience and the affect that all of this had on the people around them.  

My Thoughts:

Even though I have not read this book yet I have heard great reviews and I am very interested in the topic. I do also have an understanding of what happens in the book because of my research on it. I am very excited to read this and hopefully it is as good as I am expecting. 

  

Review of Lovely Bones

Summary: 
              *SPOILER ALERT* 
   Murdered by her next door neighbor Mr. Walker at the age of 12, Susie Salmon finds herself in a beautiful land, not quite Heaven, where she can observe and comment on the lives of her family and friends. Her body is never discovered and her parents suffer an unimaginable pain. The strain is far too much and her mother leaves. Her father continues to investigate and over many years maintains contact with the police officer in charge of the investigation. Susie also gets to watch Walker and learns of his long list of victims. She also sees him prepare for his next victim, her younger sister Lindsey. To find out what happens next read Lovely Bones. 
Rating:
   I rate this book a 8. This book shows great word placement/ diction and this also helps the reader understand if the chapter is taking place in the in-between or on Earth. I also enjoy the descriptions in the book. The setting of the in-between is a somewhat fantasy place that would take a lot of detail to get the reader to be able to picture this place in their mind but Alice does a great job of filling peoples minds with a sense of joyful bitterness about this place and creates an everlasting image that allows you to visually picture the scene. The only thing I didn't really enjoy about this book was that Alice dragged on some non-important events that could be described in a couple of chapters.  

Review: 
"Mesmerizing" - New York Times Book Review

"Don't start The Lovely Bones unless you can finish it. The book begins with more horror than you could imagine, but closes with more beauty than you could hope for" -Christian Science Monitor

"Savagely beautiful" - San Francisco Chronicle

"Haunting." - Seattle Post-Intelligencer