Reviewed by: Virginia Peterson, former church librarian

Church: Rochester, N.Y.

Introduction

Title: Ghost Boy: the miraculous escape of a misdiagnosed boy trapped inside his own body

Author: Martin Pistorius

Publisher: Nelson Books (Thomas Nelson)

Publication Date: November 19, 2013

Format: Print and ebook

Length: 276 Pages

OVERVIEW

At age 12, Martin came down with a mysterious illness that left his body out of his control, and his mind asleep for four years. After he reawakened at age 16, he spent nearly 10 years more hoping and praying that someone would realize he was aware of his surroundings. With some returning control of his body, and adaptive communication augmented by computer, (like Stephen Hawking), he has been able to work, travel, speak before audiences, get married, and start his own company.  For someone who had to learn to read and write again, his writing shows no hint of it.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5)

3 out of 5 stars

Suggested Audience

Although put out by a Christian publisher, there is not a lot of spiritual content in the book. While prayer and God are mentioned, there is not a discernable conversion experience, or much said about how faith helped in his life and recovery. Also, he and his wife were roommates for six months before getting married. This is stated matter-of-factly, with no hint that most Christians would not find this acceptable,  (even if they weren’t intimate until marriage as stated.)

Christian Impact

There are some brief descriptions of sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of caregivers.

Christianity Today magazine featured his testimony, which gives a different picture of his spirituality than the book. Why wasn’t it included?    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/june/martin-pistorius-trapped-inside-my-own-body-for-12-years.html

For an addition perspective check out this previous review of Ghost Boy: http://eclalibraries.org/2015/09/22/book-review-ghost-boy/ 

Virginia is a former homeschooling mother. Current activities include quilter, genealogist, and volunteer apologist for Reasons To Believe ministry.

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