Sometimes it's a no go

I tried.  Sometimes that's what you have to do with a novel.  I don't finish every book I ever start.  I tell students, both elementary and high school, that they don't have to finish every book they start.  Sometimes we just can't "get into" a book.  The fun of reading, for both the young and the old, is when you "get into" it.  Reading is fun when you are into the book and not when you are reading a book because you have to.  Think back to all of the books you read in school because it was an assignment.  Did you enjoy those?  Did you enjoy those more than a book you read like Harry Potter because you wanted to?  You might've enjoyed the books you read in school, if you actually read them, but you probably didn't love them.

Anyways, I started to read The Miracle Stealer by Neil Connelly.  The book got a starred review from Kirkus, and it got pretty good reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist.  You might like it, I just didn't.  I tried to read it.  I thought the beginning was somewhat interesting.  There was a strong religious story to it.

Here's a summary from Amazon:


Andi Grant adores her 6-year-old brother Daniel, a "miracle child" who fell down a mine shaft and survived. People regularly come to him for blessings and healings (which sometimes seem to work), and Andi is horrified by his exploitation, esp. when she finds signs of a stalker around their home. With the help of her once-and-maybe-future boyfriend Jeff, she comes up with a plan so audacious, so dramatic, it will stop the attention on Daniel forever: an "Anti-Miracle" that will unravel with the slightest examination of the facts, and cast doubt on Daniel's powers forever after.

 

As her plan comes together, the stalker draws closer, and the clock ticks toward Daniel's star turn at the local Paradise Days celebration, Andi finds herself wrestling with her own beliefs in God and her brother, and wondering if what she really needs is . . . a miracle.

Let me know what you think.  This book wasn't for me; I couldn't get into it.  You might really enjoy it, and if you do please share your thoughts.