When Monroe comes home only to find his sister, Annika, floating face-down in the family pool, his natural instincts kick in. Diving in, he saves her from the water and preformed CPR on her until she begins to breathe. Unfortunately, Annika is lost in a deep coma and Monroe can do nothing to bring her back. The novel unfolds the deeply loving relationship between Monroe and Annika as well as Monroe’s relationship with his family and peers. While Annika is in the hospital, small miracles begin to happen around her. Rose petals fall from the sky, the Virgin Mary appears in the hospital in white-wash, and Annika even begins bleeding from her palms. Many think it is all a hoax, while other flock from around the world to visit Annika, believing she can heal them, help them, save them. Monroe is sickened by the way his family displays his sister and by the way supposedly religious and devout visitors treat her like she isn’t human. When a Billy Graham sized healing event is planned to yet again display Annika, Monroe gets the crazy idea to steal his sister. An odd twist of fate at a baseball game brings Annika out of her coma, happy to see Monroe, thanking him for being the only person who saw her as real. Annika confronts those who ‘used’ her in an exquisite display of honesty in the face of blind faith. This book has a wonderful turn of events at the end and amazing comments to make the reader really think before they believe what they see to be ‘miracles’.

Anyone. I truly loved this book.

Monroe's devotion to his siter and this faith in her. The questions and statements about religious views and blind faith were stunning.

buy a copy for everyone I know.

Totally surprised me -- this had been a grocery store impulse buy and it is now one of my favorite books.

In the ending, Annika makes the bold statement of "why would you want to believe in a god who would hurt a young girl to prove to you he exsisted?". The questions and comments on faith in this book are truly something to dig in to and think about.

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Created Dec 10, 2007 at 5:18pm • Submit your own review...