Unlocked: A Love Story [Paperback]

 

 

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This book holds a truly inspirational message of faith and unconditional love!

Karen Kingsbury has once again, simply outdone herself!! As always, she grabs your attention from the very first sentence and holds it tight until she wraps up her story with the very last thought.

If you haven't picked up this book yet, you must. It is a must read :)

A great book. I could not put it done until I was finished the story. One of Karen's better books. I hope they make it into a movie.

"Let my love open the door to your heart." -- Pete Townshend, 1980

"Make new friends and keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold." -- Old Children's Rhyme

"You can worry your life away with
Not knowing what each new day may bring to you
Or take each day as it goes on
Wake up to the love that flows on, around you." -- George Harrison, 1979 from "If You Believe"

Karen Kingsbury is a genius. She really is. She writes from the heart and from a Christian perspective. This book is a testament of how love and inspiration can truly bless and enrich a person's life.

Holden Harris, 18 has the dual challenges of having the gruesome name of Holden and having autism. This story, however is much broader than that of Holden and his problems with peers, bullying and difficulty in learning the Tacit Social Codes & Rules. He outwardly appears to be cheerfully oblivious to his peers' taunting, but don't be deceived by outward appearances. The boy feels very deeply, but has difficulty in knowing how to express himself in ways others will find acceptable.

"If you believe - if you believe in you
Everything you thought is possible, if you believe . . .
If you believe in me . . .
All your love's reflected back to you
When you believe." -- George Harrison

"Unlocked" also describes in real, palpably painful detail the sorrow the boy's mother feels at not knowing how to help her son. He is described as having hit all the developmental milestones with normal limits until he was a year and a half old. At that time, he became nonverbal and more inclined to pursue solitary interests as opposed to responding to people. His sensory sensitivities had become heightened and he resisted touch. This sadly threw up barriers between himself and the people in his environment.

Kingsbury explores how severe special needs can take a toll on a marriage. In today's world, the deleterious effects bullying has on kids is finally being given just attention. To make a bad thing even worse, in recent years a rash of suicides among young people have occurred because they could not withstand being hounded and harassed by bullies.

Holden is a very believable character with autism. Autism is a neurobiological condition that affects sensory processing and language/communication. It is as varied as there are individuals. This book makes it clear that autism is simply a condition and that people who have it need compassion, as do we all.

"Too many troubles you can't control
To get you falling into the holes they dig for you
Get up - you have all your needs; Pray
Give up - and it all recedes away from you.
If you believe - if you believe in you." -- George Harrison

Luckily, compassion does come to this boy in the form of Ella Reynolds, a pretty and popular girl who is in the forefront of the social groups. She is a cheerleader and member of the school's acting classes and is dating an equally popular boy named Jake. She and Jake have a falling out when she can no longer stand the way Jake and his cronies hound Holden. In getting to know her new friend, Ella discovers that she and he were friends all along! They knew each other more than a decade earlier and have only just now recrossed paths.

"Everything you thought is possible, if you believe . . .
If you believe in me . . .
All your love's reflected back to you
When you believe." -- George Harrison

This book shows just how compassion crosses all borders, barriers and boundaries and how, love can open the door to one's heart. An excellent set of questions follows the story. Reading the questions and thinking of how one would answer them will reinforce the importance of this book.

Pete Townshend's stellar classic "Let My Love Open the Door" and George Harrison's stellar gem "If You Believe" are the sound tracks to this book.

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