BoneMan's Daughters

We left at 7 am today for UW-Superior. We brought Doogie with us, and his dad and stepmom brought Molly with them. It took about 5-1/2 hours to get here, and we met at the college for a tour. We blew through the buildings so quickly that I don't remember how to get around at all, but we got to see the different buildings: science, arts, computer, etc. Molly got a free T-shirt for asking a question, and Doogie won one of the three door prizes for a $25 gift certificate to the book store. With a little help from his dad, he got a hoodie. Molly and I spent some time talking to a psych major about possibilities for her at UW-Superior. She doesn't really want to go here; it's too far from home for her tastes, but I want her to keep her options open. Doogie was a bit subdued throughout the tour. He's a bit concerned about the distance from Bre, and I think that his leaving home is becoming very real to him too.

At the hotel, Doogie dropped his cellphone in the toilet! After blow-drying and airdrying, thank God, it's working again. After the tour, all six of us met up for supper at Gronk's, a tiny bar/hamburger joint. The burgers are awesome, and Doogie tried out the Enger Tower Burger. It's six patties and weighs a total of six pounds! If he finished it all, plus the mountain of fries, in two hours he would get a free T-shirt. As you can see from the picture, he made a huge dent in it, but couldn't quite pull it off. That's probably a good thing.

BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker is a cringe-worthy, hair-raising thriller. Ryan Evans has spent most of his adult life devoted to the Navy, at the expense of his relationships with his daughter, Bethany, and wife, Celine. When he is captured and tortured in Iraq, he realizes how much time he wasted with his family and returns home to make it right. But after sixteen years of abandonment, both Celine and Bethany are more than willing to move on. Celine with the handsome district attorney, Burt, who put serial killer BoneMan behind bars, and Bethany with a modelling career. Burt messed up, and the man who was imprisoned as the BoneMan has been set free. The killer takes Bethany, and Ryan is soon suspected to be the BoneMan, so the only way to prove his innocence and save his daughter from a brutal monster is to find her himself. Dekker writes a haunting, frightening story with parallels to the love of God. He uses Ryan's love and willingness to sacrifice his life for her to demonstrate Jesus' death for us. The story doesn't get hung up on faith, however. The BoneMan is a frightening villain worthy of Hannibal Lecter, and Bethany's descent into Stockholm syndrome gave me goosebumps. Do not read this book late at night or in the house alone!

The winners of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books were: Adrianne Fletcher - Middle School, Richard Pillath - High School, and Jennifer Thompson - College. I'll be starting a new contest on Monday, so I hope you'll come back then! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!