Unlocked, written by Karen Kingsbury tells the story of
an eighteen-year-old boy imprisoned by autism and how music and a childhood
friend begin to unlock the young man inside. This book also explores broken
friendships, bullying and teen suicide. Published by Zondervan, ISBN:
978-0-310-26695-2 in 2010, this book appeals to people who enjoy Christian
fiction and heartfelt stories about real people in everyday-life situations.
Author,
Karen Kingsbury, has written more than 50 novels (Karen Kingsbury, 2010), many of which have
landed in the top ten on national selling lists. Many readers have followed Ms.
Kingsbury through the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the Baxter family,
the series that eventually flowed into the Above the Line series. It was this
series that first introduced fans to the story of Unlocked in the final story
titled Take 4. The story was about a
Christian Film Production team that was making a feature movie based on a
top-selling novel. After writing Take 4,
the final book in the Above the Line
series, Karen wrote a note to her friends stating that the story was so
touching that she simply had to write the book (Kingsbury, 2010).
The
lead character in Unlocked is Holden Harris who has been autistic since the age
of three. When he started showing signs of being “abnormal”, his parents’ best
friends began to break contact and finally moved away when the father was
drafted to a professional baseball team. This is where we first meet Ella. She
was Holden’s childhood friend who laughed, danced and sang with him in the
backyard while their moms drank iced tea and watched. As autism began to take
hold of Holden and he became less and less communicative, Ella began to cry and
beg him to play with her. Her parents began making excuses not to see the
Harris’s until finally they lost all contact. Over the years, Holden’s parents
tried every therapy available to try and bring him out of the prison that held
him captive. It wasn’t until his senior year of high school that something
finally worked.
Ella
Reynolds is also a high school senior at Fulton High and she has just landed
the lead role of Belle in the hit musical “Beauty and the Beast”. She is the product of parents trapped in a
false marriage that is unhappy and shallow. Her dad, famous baseball player
Randy Reynolds, is trying his hardest to get a spot on a major league team
while her mother, Suzanne, is getting Botox, tanning and working out in a
constant effort to maintain her beauty and recapture her husband’s attention.
With her parents being out of touch, Ella begins a friendship with Holden after
meeting him at one of her musical rehearsals. At first, she does not remember
Holden from so long ago yet she is drawn to him. Ella stands up for Holden when
the football star, her boyfriend Jake Collins, and his friends bully him in the
halls. She befriends Michael Schwartz, another labeled “loser”, who plays the
flute and is also a friend of Holden’s.
Behind
the main story of autism, there is a sub-story about bullying that involves
Michael Schwartz and Jake Collins. The harassing behavior becomes so bad that
one day after school, despite invitations from new found friends Ella and
LaShante, Michael goes home and contemplates suicide. After a couple of hours,
he takes a jump rope, makes a noose and hangs himself. In the final seconds,
Kingsbury shows his change of heart and yearning to live, but it is too late.
The school is rocked with the news of Michael’s death the next morning. Karen
Kingsbury covers this issue of teen suicide in depth, covering the emotions of
Michael himself as well as the effect on his parents, friends, school and
community. She uses this situation to show how one student can step up after a
tragedy and make a difference. She uses Ella Reynolds to organize a memorial
for Michael at Fulton High with mandatory attendance of all students. It is
during this memorial where the healing begins for several people, including
Tracy and Suzanne who cautiously begin to mend their friendship. The memorial
also shows the entire school the beauty that is locked inside Holden Harris as
he sings a song dedicated to his friend, Michael.
In
the final chapters of this story, Holden Harris is cast as the Prince for the
final scene of Beauty and the Beast where he will sing and dance with Ella’s
Belle. It is in this role that Holden begins to communicate more effectively
and become less afflicted by people touching him. His parents and Ella’s
parents are thrilled with his progress and Holden, himself, is happy simply to
be with Ella. In the end, Holden asks Ella, “Can I give you a hug?” She says,
“Yes, yes you can.”
This
story gives a very strong foundation of a child with autism. Karen Kingsbury
has done the research and shows the different therapies, the PECS cards that
people with autism use to communicate, the effects of autism on the parents of
the child and how sometimes a person comes back from the mental prison of
autism. She also covers the issues of bullying, teen suicide and community
after a tragedy. By bringing these characters to life, a reader can understand
these issues first hand and see the consequences of untamed bullies.
This book is definitely one that
should be read by all because of how personal it is. There are moments of true
sorrow and exquisite happiness and all the ranges of emotions in between.
Writing this story, Karen Kingsbury has proven that she belongs on all the
national top sellers’ lists. You can find her other novels, including several
series and stand alone titles, at www.karenkingsbury.com.
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