The Question of Miracles

Reviewed by: Carla McAllister - New Gloucester Public Library, New Gloucester, Maine, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 4, 2015

Review

Sixth-grader Iris and her parents have moved from California to Oregon and she is not happy with the change: sunshine to constant rain, home with all the mod cons to old farmhouse, friends and a school she knows to a school where she knows no one and knows not how everything works. The worst thing of all, though, is that Iris's very best friend Sarah has died and she cannot accept that Sarah and her spirit could just suddenly be snuffed out for eternity. The reader is left wondering about the circumstances of Sarah's death until well into the story. When Iris finally makes a new friend and finds out that his birth may actually be considered a medical miracle and sainthood is in the offing for a deceased pope to whom nuns had prayed for his survival, she wonders why Sarah didn't receive a miracle. She also hears strange noises in the closet under the stairs of the farmhouse and thinks that perhaps Sarah's soul and spirit are there. This book delves into Catholicism, psychic ability, an unusual but successful family dynamic, the card game Magic, and all sorts of attempts to contact the dead. This is a good choice for a a middle-school aged child dealing with a death and the questions raised around life after death.

Overall Book Score: very good