Julia's Book Review

Title: The gifted

Author: Terri Blackstock

Publisher: W Publishing Group

Place& year of publication: United States & year of 2002

Number of pages: 137

Where you found the book: the public library

Story Review

       Tiffany Kramer, Josh Canfield, and Mo are three normal high-school sophomores. They don’t have the best friendship, but they knew little about each other from a youth group. It was in the summer, when they were taking pictures for their school’s year book, and there was an earthquake. They tried to escape, but it was too late and they got stuck under the ground. Tiffany hurt her eyes from the glasses of the windows, Josh injured his leg and Mo hurt his lungs and his voice from the smoke of the fire. Yet they were all hurt, and weren’t able to see each other, they found each other’s hands and prayed to God. They were all scared, but they relied on God and each other. At first they were afraid that they’ll never see their families and friends again, but they trusted God, and kept praying. They waited for many hours until they finally heard a voice. God answered their prayers and they got rescued! They immediately moved to a hospital, but there were too many patients waiting that they couldn’t get their surgeries done. Tiffany was so worried that she’ll never be able to see, Josh was afraid that he’ll never be able to use his left leg, and Mo was scared that he’ll never be able to speak. All they got was an IV shot from a nurse to give them less pain, and they all fell asleep in the hospital. The next day God performed miracles on all three of them. Tiffany who couldn’t see a thing, was able to see better than without her glasses, Josh, whose leg was crushed, could run faster than before, and Mo, who couldn’t speak a word, could shout so loud that the people in the hospital started to get annoyed with him. They were so thankful to God, and they promised to God that they’ll use their lives to serve others and to spread His words, but not only God healed them, but he gave them gifts and this is why the title of this book is called “The gifted”. God gave them gifts so that they could do His works and use their gifts to show others who Jesus is. Tiffany could see other people’s pasts through visions with her eyes, Josh could run and find those who needed healings in their lives and Mo could speak like a preacher and knew the scriptures that he didn’t even read before. They all realized that this was all God’s plan and that they now are a team to spread God’s word. Josh would find people that need healings in their lives, and Tiffany would find out what was wrong with their lives through her visions and tell Mo, and Mo would go up to them and speak to them about Jesus. Sometimes they got scared to go up to the people, but they gave courage to each other. And one day they lost their gifts and their gifts suddenly stopped. Tiffany wasn’t able to visions anymore, Josh couldn’t run and find those who needed healings, and Mo who spoke all the time about Jesus, didn’t speak a lot. They all wondered why the gifts suddenly stopped. Did God take away their gifts? Did they sin against God?

Christian Perspective

         In my opinion, this book is written in a Christian perspective. God defiantly had plans for all three of them, and he wanted them to spread his word through Tiffany, Josh, and Mo. When they got stuck under the ground, they prayed and relied on each other even though they weren’t able to see each other from the darkness and were all badly hurt and wounded. At first, they thought no one would rescue them, but God and they gave strength and courage to each other. By rescuing them, God showed them that he didn’t forsake them but had amazing plans in their lives. As Christians, we should learn that even if it feels like the end of the world, God has amazing plans for our lives and that he’ll never forsake us. Tiffany, Josh, and Mo kept praying and kept trusting God, so in the end, not only He saved them but He healed them and gave them the privilege to share their experiences with God.

Your Thoughts

   I enjoyed this book, because each end of the chapter was convincing to the next chapter. This book not only had adventures but I liked how the book was written by a Christian author. I also enjoyed it because there were events that I wasn’t expecting, and you could picture the scenes in the book. I choose this book because the story sounded engaging and I like realistic fiction. In this book, I learned that God has bigger plans than what we expect, and that He’ll never leave us. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventures, and to anyone who is interested in Christian books because you can learn a lot from this book and gain knowledge about God and friendships.