by Todd Burpo
First published 2011
Four-year-old Colton Burpo faces emergency surgery that saves his life, but what happens next changes his family forever. The young son of a small-town Nebraska pastor begins sharing extraordinary details about visiting heaven while unconscious on the operating table. Colton describes watching the doctor work on his body from above and seeing his father pray in the waiting room. His parents struggle to understand these claims until Colton reveals knowledge he couldn't possibly possess. He speaks of meeting his miscarried sister, whom no one had ever mentioned to him, and his great-grandfather who died decades before his birth. The boy describes Jesus's special horse, God's enormous throne, and how the Holy Spirit sends power down from heaven. As Colton continues sharing these vivid accounts, his father must grapple with questions that challenge everything he thought he knew about faith, death, and the afterlife. This story explores a family's journey through doubt toward belief in something beyond their understanding.
Genres: christian-fiction, memoir, inspirational
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: faith-journey, found-family
Setting: Nebraska
Period: 21st-century
208 pages · Paperback · Grupo Nelson