Cole . . . I Love You to the Moon and Back: A Family's Journey with Childhood Cancer

Every once in awhile, a book comes along that really grabs hold of your heart. This is one of those books. But then, during his short life, Cole Ruotsala was a very special boy. In June 2008, Cole celebrated his third birthday, a seemingly normal, happy, healthy little boy. Less than three months later he was gone, but before his death he managed to touch the lives of thousands around the world. During his 2 1/2 month battle with cancer, his CaringBridge website had over 600,000 hits that averages out to over 7 hits a minute, every minute, 24 hours a day for over 60 days!!! Whats more, visitor after visitor wrote on his site that his story truly changed their lives.During my years as a librarian and a book reviewer for Library Journal, I read numerous books written by parents detailing their journey through their childs illness or disability. Never have I read one that held onto hope and promise on every page like this book does. Even through the pain of Coles death, his parents held onto the promise that through their suffering God would work miracles in the lives of others.A unique feature of this book is the inclusion of numerous notes from visitors to Coles CaringBridge site. They give perspective to the effect this one little boy had on the world.This book is a must read. When youve finished it youre likely to hug a little tighter, love a little longer.