30 Day Book Challenge! Day 29: Tears

Day 29: What is a book that makes you cry?

Let's clear something up: I don't really...cry. I mean, I do, but not often. It's not because I don't feel things are sad, but because the tears often just don't come. There have only been three books I can think of at the moment that I've teared up in - and in most of those cases, I was rather emotionally drained, which means I was crying at EVERYTHING anyway.

However, a truly-truly sad book, that I not only teared up in, but actually sobbed through, not just once, but three separate times, was:

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This story is awful in the sad sense of the word. I cry through the song, book, and movie. The first time I heard the song, we were on our way to violin lessons in early December, singing along with the Christmas Music station. A beautiful introduction began, and mama, reaching over and turning up the volume, said, "Oh, this is a terrible song," and promptly burst into tears. With such an introduction, Emily and I could not be far behind, and we walked into lessons that day with such red, blotchy faces that our teacher immediately asked in alarm, "Are you girls ok???"

A while later, I came across the book and, as I settled to read it, was taken on along on the heart-wrenchingly sad tale of a little boy - used by God to help a career-obsessive man rethink his priorities - watching his mother die of cancer. I cried. And cried. And cried.

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I watched the movie and...the same thing happened. At this point, I don't cry anymore when the song comes on, when I watch the movie (unless I'm already emotionally drained), but the book...I haven't had the courage to read it again. Books, despite their lack of background-music, are usually the one form of "entertainment" that never fails to give me the same emotional response - regardless of how many times I read them. I'm just not sure I'm ready for the drama of re-reading that story...

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"Maggie Andrews had cancer, and the prognosis wasn't good. No wonder Nathan often seemed distracted. He was not old enough to fully understand the situation and probably didn't know that his mother was dying. But some days Doris could see it in the boy's eyes, a terrible sadness she recognized....Sometimes being quiet is the greatest gift you can give someone, Doris thought, as she watched the boy sharpen his pencil, something terribly heartbreaking in the way he struggled to turn the handle. She whispered a silent prayer for God to draw near and wrap the little boy in His arms."

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What book makes you cry?