Good Looking People Don't Die

that's what Maggie's dad says in The Meaning of Maggie to make her laugh and ease her worry about him.  Her father has MS.  A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the book will go to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which is pretty cool.  I have a very dear friend with MS and some other good friends with it as well, but I didn't know much about it.  I find it interesting, incredibly sad, but not surprising, given my Calvinist upbringing, that the disease has no cure and is twice as likely to impact women than men. Let's also not forget Sickle Cell.  Sigh.
I liked this book, but I didn't love it, I ended up giving it three stars because I don't know why...it just didn't seem to grab me all the way hold my interest as some book really do.  Still, I was reading it during a time when I was dealing with a major issue at work and I know that I was distracted.  Maggie is a perfectionist, straight As all the way, so I think that this would really appeal to kids and folks of the same nature.  Indeed, I found this on this terrific blog.  One part that really stuck with me was that Maggie chose MS as her science fair project (her parents keep her in the dark about her father's condition and so she seeks out information on her own).  She gets a B instead of an A, which kills her.  Her teacher explains that she didn't pick a problem she could solve, which is true, because MS has no cure yet.  I don't know why that stuck in my head.  I guess I had been thinking a lot about science and faith lately, things that are able to be "proven" and those that can't be proven with tangible evidence.  This is different, sure, but my mind drew the relationship because there is so much in life that can't be fixed and solved.  But the thing is, the way cool and amazing and completely true thing is, that ALL things will be solved in the fullness of time.  All pain will end, death will pass and we will live in glory of Heaven, with Jesus the Christ.  And well, that is just pretty remarkable and wow, just too wonderful for words.
I think I need to go back and change this to a four.  A book that makes someone like me think that much?! Well, that's a good book!