Book to Movie | Like Dandelion Dust

At the end of last year, Like Dandelion Dust, popular Christian author Karen Kingsbury's novel, was adapted for the big screen. In January 2011 it made it to DVD format, hitting the shelves in hundreds of stores across the country.

The story is complex. Wendy Porter made a selfless decision when she gave up her baby for adoption while her husband Rip was in prison for domestic violence against her. A few years later, Wendy tells a now-free Rip about their son. As he comes to realize that Wendy forged his signature on the adoption papers, Rip persuades Wendy that it is in their best interests to bring their son home. Jack and Molly Campbell, adoptive parents of young Joey, are shocked to hear that the court is in favor of returning their son to his birth parents, especially to his abusive father. In an effort to save their son, Jack and Molly do everything possible to avoid the court's ruling.

Like Dandelion Dust is an adoption nightmare, to say the least. One of my favorite Karen Kingsbury tales, the book shows in a forgiving, redemptive sort of way that, no matter how hard we try, God is ultimately the one we must rely on. I love the characters of Like Dandelion Dust because each grows in his or her own way throughout the story. The plot especially brings up the question of how far parents are willing to go to save their child.

I was excited to see the movie after seeing a couple of great previews. There seems to be, in my eyes, two distinctive downsides of Christian films: either the acting is horrendous or the storyline borders on cheesy (i.e. in the end everyone comes to Christ and suddenly life is all roses, which is not often the case). Like Dandelion Dust, pleasantly, is neither.

The unfortunate thing about Like Dandelion Dust is that nearly all of the Christian themes have been extracted from the original plot. In the book, each character comes to see, little by little, that only God can forgive, save, and strengthen. The movie seems to have lost all of that, besides a few mentions of church and missions trips. So instead of a story of God's love and forgiveness, it is a story of  human's desperation and hopelessness.

As the movie stands alone, I enjoy it because it is a telling and thought-provoking piece. But still, the book Like Dandelion Dust holds much more, and I wish the movie would have been more true to it.

Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury

Reading Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury was an unplanned, but very welcome, event. I am currently working my way through my Fall Into Reading books and school books, but it was time for a nice piece of fiction. (Hmm...or is it true? Wink, wink.) I picked up Unlocked three days ago and, as I usually am with Karen Kingsbury's novels, blazed through it. Watch this video to get an idea of what the book is about

From the publisher:

Holden Harris is an eighteen-year-old locked in a prison of autism. Despite his quiet ways and quirky behaviors, Holden is very happy and socially normal---on the inside, in a private world all his own. In reality, he is bullied at school by kids who only see that he is very different.

Ella Reynolds is part of the 'in' crowd. A cheerleader and star of the high school drama production, her life seems perfect. When she catches Holden listening to her rehearse for the school play, she is drawn to him ... the way he is drawn to the music. Then, Ella makes a dramatic discovery---she and Holden were best friends as children.

Frustrated by the way Holden is bullied, and horrified at the indifference of her peers, Ella decides to take a stand against the most privileged and popular kids at school. . . . But will Holden's praying mother and the efforts of Ella and a cast of theater kids be enough to unlock the prison that contains Holden? This time, friendship, faith, and the power of a song must be strong enough to open the doors to the miracle Holden needs.

The story: The storyline seems unique to me. I haven't read any novels that dealt with autism or the other things Kingsbury highlights in the story. I've read several of Kingsbury's book, and I was excited to find out that Unlocked includes two teenagers for the main characters. Not that I can't read books about people older than me, but it was nice to be recognized, so to speak.

The story was sweet and touching, just like the rest of Kingsbury's novels. I would definitely say that this book showed me some things I didn't know about autism. There were still questions, but it would be really hard to answer them all in one book, especially a novel. I especially wondered about such things as Holden, the eighteen-year-old main character who has autism, in every day things. It was only at the end that Kingsbury made mention, in the eyes of the mother, that he was brushing his teeth on his own and making his own lunch. So, does that mean Tracy Harris, Holden's mom, had been brushing his teeth all his life? It was just those curiosities that made me wish for a bit more explanation. I suppose I'll have to research further to get some answers.

I liked the fact that the love story side of Unlocked wasn't really a romance. It was actually rather refreshing compared to the huge amount of Christian romance books being printed by the boat loads. I was beginning to worry that friendship was a lost art.

The problems: It might shock you that I have this section, but I feel the need to address a few things about Unlocked. I have always enjoyed Karen Kingsbury's writing, but this novel held a few things that were a bit annoying as I read.

The main thing, which really has nothing to do with Kingsbury's writing, is that there were several--and I mean several--grammatical errors in the text. There were places where commas weren't in between a list of items (I know people can get overly picky about commas, but, honestly, there were some very obvious mistakes that were distracting.); places where questions ended in periods instead of question marks; and there was even a place where it looked like some revision had occurred but was forgotten (From memory, I believe it said, "He kicked nudged gently...."). Now, I realize that people make mistakes. But this distracting problem could have been corrected with better editing.

The only other thing I had a difficult time with was the teenage dialogue. Do teenage girls really say "girl" so often? I'm not sure, but I don't. That was a bit distracting, but nothing to throw a fit about.

You may be wondering, as I did, if this story is at all possible. I can't go into detail or I will give it all away. All I can say is this: read the note Karen Kingsbury leaves a the end of the book. I must admit that I usually skip those afterwords, but it really helped me to see the book differently. Do not read the note until after you have read the book.

All in all, it was a pleasant read and a strong delivery by Karen Kingsbury. If you have enjoyed her past books, you will definitely enjoy Unlocked.