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The Miracle Stealer (2010)

by Neil Connelly(Favorite Author)

3.15 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0545131952 (ISBN13: 9780545131957)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

publisher

Arthur A. Levine Books

review 1: Andi is very protective of her brother Daniel. He fell down a hole in the ground when he was 3 and was rescued on national television and survived despite the odds. In the town of Paradise, this was considered a miracle granted by God. Other people in the town said that God worked through Daniel to work miracles in their lives. As word spread people came to see him. Andi saw the stress on Daniel, even when he was 3 and didn't really understand what was going on. People stopped coming and that is just fine with her. Now that he is 6 she intends to keep it that way. But word is spreading again and she will do anything to keep him safe and keep this ridiculous tale of miracles from spreading. She knows it's not true, never was, and that God left Paradise a long time ... moreago. As Paradise Days, the local festival, start and true believers gather Andi hatches a scheme to make sure that Daniel is shown to be a fraud. But is he a fraud or a miracle child?While this book is not really Christian fiction, Andi definitely spends a lot of time in this book thinking about what faith in God is and what it means to her and others. Daniel is a little kid who is a otherworldly. Andi really only seems to have one friend in town. Her mother is a faithful member of the local church, so there is a lot of family friction. There are many characters in the book that represent many shades of belief. I found this book a little slow going. It would probably be most interesting to teens who are interested in exploring what faith means to them.
review 2: By the end of this book, I was left wondering if this were a thinly veiled Christian fiction book. But then I decided it was a book about the challenges of belief in a world of so much pain and mess.Whether Anderson's little brother is a pilgrim destination, a la Jesus' face on tortillas or in dirty windows or in the waters of Lourdes is one of the big questions of the book. And how does that question impact the hundreds of people so desperate for peace in their lives, that they would travel to see him. And how do you reconcile a God who saves one person but not another. And how you protect a little kid from evangelical abuse, but still allow God to work through him. And what are real miracles.There's cynicism, skepticism, realism, fanaticism, hope, faith, love, hate, etc. all in this story. I liked the first person narration. I liked the ending, even though it does not wrap up neatly, but then when does life ever wrap up neatly? I liked that the bear was blind, and I still haven't decided how that figures into the metaphor.I could see a high school lit or theology class reading this book and discussing it. less

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