Review: Don't Let Me Go!

Don’t Let Me Go is a wonderful exploration of the relationship between David Pierce and his teenage daughter Chera. Somewhat on a whim, David and his daughter decided that they would climb Pike’s Peak, despite never having moved much beyond the comforts of the couch in their living room. After climbing the mountain (and experiencing numerous obstacles) they decide to continue undertaking several challenges that included running in marathons and culminating in an attempt to climb Mount Rainier. As they overcame these various physical obstacles, they grew even closer together. It made their last four years together before Chera went off to college deeper and more meaningful. The book ends in a poignant moment as Chera must face the last (and greatest) challenge with Dad as a spectator.

As Pierce shares the present day story of his daughter, he also narrates the past mountains he faced in his own childhood. He tells the story of a distant and alcoholic father and his own search for God throughout a difficult childhood. The contrast between his own upbringing and the way he raises his child is light years away.

This was a tough book for me to read. Squealer, at 13, is precisely the age that Chera was in the beginning of the book. Pierce models the kind of parent that I think most anyone would want to be. Certainly he presents himself in the best light possible (that never happens here at Coffeespoons;) but Pierce models the kind of involved, caring parent I aspire to be.

(Spoiler Alert)The book ends with Chera getting married (thus morphing the tale into, as Bowden would say, a “horror story”). David is made all too aware that the mantra he repeatedly told himself while he and Chera were on mountains (“Don’t let go!”) had to change, as the minister told him to place his daughter’s hand into the hand of her husband and then to “Let go!” Good grief! (End Alert)

Overall, this book expands beyond the story of one father and one daughter to include all fathers and daughters. This is the mark of an memorable piece of literature. You start off thinking about this character and their relationships and end up meditating upon your own. I recommend this work highly.

Squealer is 13 and goes off to college in four years. The clock is ticking…

(I have one extra copy. Whomever first tells me which Southern Baptist seminary I attended gets it.)