Book Review: Letters to God

Tyler is a healthy, active boy at the beginning of the book; his father. Patrick is still alive and his mother is a stay-at-home mom. Readers experience the death of Tyler's father, and then the subsequent ordeal as the nine-year-old boy is stricken with incurable brain cancer. 'I thought maybe God didn't hear me, so I decided to write him a letter.' In his search for a special compass, a young boy writes a letter to God and reveals, to himself and others, the miracle of God's hand in every situation. This book is inspired by the true story of Tyler. Patrick and Heather Doughtie, authors and parents of the real-life Tyler, share the endearing story of their son's inspiring and contagious faith.

Tyler views God as a friend, a teacher, and most importantly, a pen-pal. He composes and mails a letter to God on a daily basis. It is through these letters that one of the characters, McDaniels, learns of Tyler’s unwavering faith and discovers that faith is what he has been seeking all along. Tyler’s letters are his prayers to God, and surprisingly, the prayers are less preoccupied with Tyler’s condition and more concerned with the people in Tyler’s life. More than anything, Tyler trusts in God’s will, and feels certain that God holds a place for him in heaven. In order for him to acquire true peace, however, Tyler wants to know that his family and friends will find comfort and happiness after he is gone.

In the face of hardship, Tyler’s family struggles with their own beliefs. Tyler’s mother begins to lose faith that she and her family are part of an ultimate plan, and even rejects her own mother’s offerings of Biblical inspiration. Tyler’s teenage brother Ben too believes that his family has been abandoned by God. They go a rollercoaster of emotions and come out triumphant.

The journey i went through, by reading the book, is one i will never forget. This trully, sincerely, has been one of the best books i have ever read.