Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Book Review: Life, In Spite of Me by Kristen Jane Anderson

PG-13, 4 stars

It's not too gruesome, but the story of her injury could sit bad for younger readers.  If they think they can handle it and maybe they can then middle school level readers will probably enjoy the book, though not get as much out of it as older readers.

Kristen Anderson was not a good kid.  She wasn't a bad kid.  She was just a normal rebellious teenager suffering from depression.  I do not know if she knew at the time that she really was suffering.  She had to deal with the deaths of a friend and an acquaintance as well as her father's own depression.  She drank.  She partied.  She smoked.

One New Year's Eve night she disobeyed her parents.  She stayed out past curfew.  That sounds pretty cheap.  She stayed out all night and didn't come home until 10AM the next morning.  Her parents grounded her until further notice.  A friend wanted her to come hang with her.  What's the worst that could happen?  Grounded more?  So, Kristen snuck out.

On arriving home, she didn't want to face her parents.  She disobeyed them.  She's afraid of the hurt she's caused them.  Kristen visited the park to contemplate things.  She must end her life.  All this terrible stuff has happened and she's not happy.  She decided having a train run over her would kill her.  There's no way she could survive that.

This is the story of Kristen's survival.  She lost her legs, but she didn't lose her life, and she didn't lose God.  Her injury helped her find God and a purpose for her life.  She should have died, but God could not let her.  He was not done with her.

Kristen Anderson with the aid of Tricia Goyer tells a poignant tale of life after an attempted suicide.  It's a must read for Christians and anyone struggling with depression.  There is an answer and it's not dying.

I started out reading this using the Adobe Digital Edition on my laptop, but then surprise, I recieved a paperback copy in the mail, and finished it that way.  I read this as a request from Blogging For Books.  All opinions are my own.

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