This Side of Salvation

by Jeri Smith-Ready

Everyone mourns differently. When his older brother was killed, David got angry. As in, fist-meets-someone-else’s-face furious. But his parents? They got religious. David’s still figuring out his relationship with a higher power, but there’s one thing he does know for sure: The closer he gets to new-girl Bailey, the better, brighter, happier, more he feels.

Then his parents start cutting all their worldly ties to prepare for the Rush, the divine moment when the faithful will be whisked off to Heaven…and they want David to do the same. David’s torn. There’s a big difference between living in the moment and giving up his best friend, varsity baseball, and Bailey—especially Bailey—in hope of salvation.

But when he comes home late from prom, and late for the Rush, to find that his parents have vanished, David is in more trouble than he ever could have imagined…

Now it’s time for the discussion!



If you had to give up everything for The Rush, what would be the hardest thing to say goodbye to?

That’s a really hard question!  For me, I have a son and husband, and if they weren’t a part of The Rush with me, they’d be the hardest to say goodbye to. Then again, I’d hope they’d be whisked away right along with me.

At one point in This Side of Salvation, they talk about not having television in heaven or something, and someone says something about how they’ll have a front-row seat to the end of the world.  I’m agnostic, so I’m not really sure I believe in a heaven, but my kind of heaven would be one where we’d still have TV and books and basically everything we have here on Earth.

But I know that in the book, David has to give up everything for like 40 days in preparation for The Rush.  He has to give up baseball, school, his friends, and his girlfriend.  It’s supposed to be a time for them to let go of their worldly things before they are taken away.  So if we’re talking about that time period, and I still got to see my husband and son, then my friends, books, and TV shows would be the hardest for me to give up.  Because I’m pretty sure the people who want you to give up things for The Rush wouldn’t approve of my books and TV shows, since they’re not religious.

So what about you guys?  If you were preparing for The Rush and had to give up everything for 40 days before THE DAY, what would you miss most? Let me know in the comments!

And now, for the giveaway!

Simon Pulse is giving away a finished copy of This Side of Salvation by Jeri Smith-Ready to one of my readers!  Be sure to read the Giveaway Rules, and check out my review of This Side of Salvation!

Giveaway Rules (Please see my Contest and Privacy Policies on my My Policies page for more info.)

• Giveaway is US ONLY. (Sorry international friends, I’ll try to have a giveaway for you guys soon!) 
• Ages 13 & up. 
• One winner will receive a finished copy of This Side of Salvation by Jeri Smith-Ready. 
• Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter. 
• The winner will be contacted via email as well as announced on this blog following the end of the giveaway period. 
• The winner will have 72 hours to respond to the email or a new winner will be selected. 
• If you are chosen as a winner, you accept the fact that when you send your address to me, I will be sending it to Simon Pulse, who will then send you the book. I will delete your address after, and will not forward your information to anyone else. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to everyone who enters!  And thanks to Simon Pulse for asking me to be a part of their What’s Raising Our Pulse Book Club!

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