The 2010 “New York Times” bestselling novel “Heaven is for Real,” written by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent, is an amazing account of Burpo’s son’s journey from the operating room to Heaven and back to Earth. After an emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix in 2003 on Burpo’s then four year old son Colton, the miraculous, yet mysterious, event of Colton’s journey began right as Colton was rolled out of the recovery room and into his hospital room as he promptly said to Burpo, “Daddy, you know I almost died.”

“Heaven is for Real” is a captivating read that can’t help but make one wonder, or even believe, that there is a place we go after life. Colton’s astonishingly accurate depictions and statements on events that occurred while he was in Heaven have no way to be proven false, as all of the things he says there is no way he would have known about it. Only months after Colton was released from the hospital did Burpo and his wife discover the shocking true story of what Colton really experienced in the operating room. Colton said that, “I was sitting in Jesus’ lap” as “the angels sang to me.”

Burpo tells an excellent depiction of the events that occurred when his family’s world turned upside down as well as fantastic backstories on what made Colton’s experience so extraordinary. “Heaven is for Real” takes on the controversial topic that some are too scared to face: whether Heaven is for real or not. I highly recommend reading this novel if you are strongly committed to your faith, struggling with your faith, or even just curious about what made this novel a bestseller, as you won’t regret it.