On an ordinary September day, twelve-year-old Jack is swept away in a freak neighborhood flood. His parents and younger sister are left to wrestle with the awful questions: How could God let this happen? And, Can we ever be happy again? They each fall into the abyss of grief in different ways. And in the days and months to come, they each find their faltering way toward peace.
In Rare Bird, Anna Whiston-Donaldson unfolds a mother’s story of loss that leads, in time, to enduring hope. “Anna’s storytelling,” says Glennon Doyle Melton, “is raw and real and intense and funny.”
With this unforgettable account of a family’s love and longing, Anna will draw you deeper into a divine goodness that keeps us—beyond all earthly circumstances—safe.
I have personally never lost a child. In fact, I am not even a mother. But I related to this book just the same. It is a book of loss; a deep, intense loss. It is also a book of hope that can only come from one source, which is the Heavenly Father. I have experienced loss and heartache and sadness, so I found that I could apply this book to my life even if I hadn’t ever gone through the tragedy the author experienced.
Rare Bird was a wonderful book, and I greatly enjoyed reading it. Anna Whiston-Donaldson didn’t hold anything back when writing about the experience of losing her son at the young age of 12. The book’s emotions were raw and the pain the author portrayed was heart-wrenching and unimaginable. Despite the fact that I couldn’t relate specifically to what Anna was going through, I learned from her journey. Real life isn’t easy, and sometimes it can be almost unbearable. God’s plan doesn’t make a bit of sense some of the time. Yet, He does have a plan. He has a reason for the horrible things that happen. And He will reach out to us in the most unlikely of ways at times in the midst of the heartache and pain. These are just some of the lessons that God reminded me of as I read this book.
My biggest criticism of this book is that it did contain some cursing. I didn’t feel that it was necessary per say, but it did add to the “realness” of the author and her situation. Because of that, I could overlook it. There were also some aspects relating to Christianity that I didn’t know if I necessarily agreed with, but I do feel they are subjective things that could very well be true; I just haven’t personally experienced them in my life.
Overall, I would definitely recommend reading Rare Bird, especially if you’re experiencing some kind of a struggle. Even if you’re not, I would still suggest reading it. I will end with a Bible verse very special to Jack, the main character of the book. It says, “For nothing is impossible with God.” I pray you will cling to this Bible verse just as Jack did during his short life, and just as his family did after his life suddenly ended. I will say it again: “For nothing is impossible with God.”
Anna Whiston-Donaldson is a popular blogger at An Inch of Gray. a graduate of Wake Forest University, she taught high-school English for six years before becoming a full-time mom and writer. She lives with her husband, Tim, and daughter, Margaret, in suburban Washington, DC. You can learn more by visiting her blog or her website.
*** I received this book to review from Blogging for Books.
