Like Dandelion Dust
by Karen Kingsbury
List Price: $12.95
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1931722854
Publisher: Center Street
Bestselling author Karen Kingsbury delivers a powerful new novel about two parents' love for their child and the surprising lengths they will go to keep their family together.
Jack and Molly Campbell enjoyed an idyllic life in their small hometown outside Atlanta with their adopted 4-year-old, Joey. Then they receive the phone call that shatters their world: a social worker delivers the news that Joey's biological father has been released from prison and is ready to start life over--but with his son.
When a judge rules that Joey must be returned to his father, the Campbells, in a silent haze of grief and utter disbelief, watch their son pick a dandelion and blow the feathery seeds into the wind. Struggling with the dilemma of following the law, their hearts, and what they know to be morally right, the Campbells find that desperation leads to dangerous thoughts. What if they can devise a plan? Take Joey and simply disappear...LIKE DANDELION DUST.
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1. Have you ever known someone who adopted a child
and then had that child taken away because the adoption
fell through? Describe that situation. How did
the adoptive parents handle the loss?
2. What did you think of Molly and Jack's decision to
leave the country?
3. Is there any way to justify the decision Molly and
Jack made?
4. Read the story of Mary and Joseph's escape to Egypt
in Matthew, chapter 2. Did this give moral precedent
for Molly and Jack to take Joey and flee the country?
Why or why not?
5. What Molly and Jack wanted to do was illegal, no
question about it. If you were Beth, would you have
turned them in? Why or why not?
6. Molly and Beth shared a special relationship. What
were some of the reasons they were close?
7. Describe a close relationship you have with a sister or
a friend. What makes that relationship close?
8. Have there been times when you have had to make a
difficult decision—like the one Beth made --- for the
good of someone you love? Describe that situation.
What was the outcome?
9. How might God have blessed Molly and Jack if they
hadn't tried to defy the law?
10. Why was Jack so closed to the possibility of God's
help while he looked for a way to keep custody of
Joey? Explain your answer.
11. What did Beth mean when she said that God's will is
always accomplished if you ask Him? Can you give
an example of this in your life?
12. Wendy Porter was a woman caught up in abuse. Do
you know anyone in a similar situation? Why do
people stay in harmful relationships?
13. Read 1 Kings, chapter 3. How does the story of the
two mothers relate to the sacrifice Wendy made on
behalf of her son? How is the Bible story different?
14. Who was your favorite character in Like Dandelion
Dust? Why?
15. Which character are you most like? How?
16. Do you think Molly and Jack would've gotten away
with their plan? Why or why not?
17. Do you think they would've been happy in their new
life in the Cayman Islands? Why or why not?
18. What would you do if a judge ordered that one of
your children had to be taken away?
19. If you could make any change to the adoption laws in
this country, what change would you make? Do you
think the current system protects children most of the
time, some of the time, or all of the time?
20. What did you learn from reading this novel?
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