Like Dandelion Dust [Mass Market Paperback]

Karen Kingsbury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

Jack and Molly Campbell are right where they want to be, enjoying an idyllic life with their four-year-old son Joey, and the close family and friends who live in their small hometown just outside Atlanta. Then the phone call comes from the social worker the Campbells never expected to hear from again. Three states away in Ohio, Joey's biological father has just been released from prison. He is ready to start life over, but not without his son.
A judge's quick decision deals a devastating blow to the Campbell family: Joey must be returned to his biological parents. The day after the ruling, in the silent haze of grief and utter disbelief, they watch their son pick a dandelion and blow the feathery seeds into the wind.
In the days that follow the ruling, Jack Campbell has a desperate and dangerous thought. What if they can devise a way out? Then they could take Joey and simply disappear . . . LIKE DANDELION DUST.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is America's #1 inspirational novelist. She's written more than thirty novels, ten of which have hit #1 on bestseller lists, and she's had books on the extended lists of both USA Today and the New York Times. There are nearly five million copies of her award-winning books in print, including more than two million copies sold in 2006. She lives in Washington state with her husband, Don, and their six children, three of whom are adopted from Haiti. You can visit Karen's Web site at www.karenkingsbury.com.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Center Street (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446199613
• ISBN-13: 978-0446199612
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #796,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is America's #1 inspirational novelist. There are nearly 20 million copies of her award-winning books in print, including several million copies sold in the past year. Karen has written more than 50 novels, ten of which have hit #1 on national lists.

Karen's newest novel, Unlocked, released Oct. 12 and has stayed in Amazon's top fifty for the past few weeks. Unlocked debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times Bestsellers list. Another recent and popular title of Karen's is Shades of Blue - the story of a 28-year-old ad executive who is six weeks away from marrying the girl he loves. But as he prepares for his wedding, something brings up his past girlfriend - a girl he dated in high school. He realizes he can't go forward and say, "I do," until he goes back to Holden Beach, finds the girl he loved back then, and tell her he's sorry.

Karen's novel Like Dandelion Dust is the subject of a major motion picture currently in theaters. Like Dandelion Dust stars Academy Award winning Mira Sorvino and Barry Pepper, along with Cole Hauser and Maxwell Perry Cotton. The film has received more than 30 awards in the Film Festival Circuit including numerous Best Picture awards. Several of Karen's books are currently under theatrical development.

Karen's most recent series - the Above the Line Series, which began with Take One, in March, 2009 and wrapped up in June, 2010 with Take Four. The series is about two producers looking to change the world with the power of film. The Above the Line series also includes Karen's popular characters from the fictitious Baxter Family. The Baxters were first introduced to readers through the five-book Redemption series, and then the five-book Firstborn series, and finally the four-book Sunrise series.

Dubbed by Time Magazine as the Queen of Christian Fiction, Karen has also been a featured guest on the Today Show, Fox News, USA Today, and numerous other television programs and magazines. Her fiction has made her one of the country's favorite storytellers. Others of her emotionally gripping titles include the 9-11 Series, Even Now, Ever After, and Between Sundays.

Karen is also a public speaker, reaching more than 100,000 women annually through various national events. Karen and her husband, Don, live in the Pacific Northwest with their six children, three of whom are adopted from Haiti.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like a Good Meal in a Surprise Place, July 5, 2006

By 

Samuel B. White "Tuttle" (Lawton, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Like Dandelion Dust (Paperback)

Neither this book's cover nor the copy on the back enthused me to read it. I'm a guy and am drawn most to books that promise some excitement, whether that be through physical action or (preferably) a mind-thumping, heart-racing thriller. So this book sat on my desk for two weeks and I regarded it much as I might have a vulture that was sitting there, rasping, "Read me." I wound up taking it to Boy Scout camp (I was a sponsor) where I ...
read it in one day!! In fact, I almost finished it before lunch.
Now, some people make a determination between writers and storytellers. Those who do so generally praise writers more. I prefer a good storyteller, myself; because good writing--even great writing--doesn't hold my interest if there's no story there. Kingsbury is a simple writer and a GREAT storyteller. (Notice: I didn't say "but a great writer"; to write simply is a gift many writers don't have--and which modern publishing sometimes frowns on.)

The Story
Molly and Jack Campbell have everything. Great house in a fancy neighborhood, high-paying job, and a beautiful little boy named Joey. Things just absolutely couldn't get any better.
Until it's discovered that Joey's birth mother forged the signature of Joey's birth father, so the adoption was a fraud. Joey has never known anyone else as his parents, but suddenly he's being thrust into a volatile household of people he's never met and, especially, a father who doesn't know how to show love without violence.
Molly and Jack begin to explore every option they have for keeping Joey, even some fraud of their own. Hovering around the edges of all this drama is God. Joey believes in Him, Joey's cousins believe in Him, even Molly and Jack claim to believe that there is a god, but will they trust him to work this out? Can they give up their son to save their son?

The Writing
As I stated above, Karen Kingsbury is a great storyteller. After my initial reaction to the cover, discovering what was on the inside was like going to a restaurant that appears to serve only your least favorite food, only to discover they make your favorite dish to perfection.
Like a good meal, I walked away not just satisfied, but happy. I was pleased with how the story had carried me along and how it had been resolved.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply moving story about parents and children, August 4, 2006

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Like Dandelion Dust (Paperback)

Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury is a fabulously written story. Jack and Molly Campbell have the perfect life with their adopted son Joey. Until Joey's biological father Rip decides he wants his son back, and the courts agree with him. How far will Jack and Molly go to protect their son from his abusive father? I hadn't read anything by Kingsbury before, and I now sincerely regret that decision. She knows how to craft a story filled with emotion and drama without going into melodrama or stereotypical characters. Her descriptions of characters' actions make each scene come alive in a way few authors can. I was moved to tears at least twice during the book. And while the book has a Christian message, it's never pounded down the reader's throat, but the way God affects each person by the end of the story is profound. This is a deep emotional novel with the message that God is in control, and we need to have the faith of a child to trust him.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow- Maybe the best yet, June 17, 2006

By 

L Carty (Central Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Like Dandelion Dust (Paperback)

I just got done reading this book. I knew that I wouldn't be able to put it down when I started. That's the way it is with all Kingsbury books but I wasn't ready for this one. Wow- it was so great. If you like her books you will love this one and if you've never read a Kingsbury book this is a great place to start. Have plenty of Kleenex ready.