Word: craige
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...Raina appears as an Angel and the Song of Solomon is sung in Craig...
...snowy woods of central Wisconsin, "Blankets" tells the story of Craig Thompson's coming of age in the austere world of a fundamentalist Christian family. Blankets of various kinds become the book's motif, starting with the opening scene. As a boy Craig must share his bed with his younger brother Phil, causing an argument over the blankets. Their stern father thumps up the stairs and looms over them like a giant, forcing Phil to spend the night in the dreaded "cubby hole" under the stairs. The guilt that Craig feels over not protecting his brother becomes even more acute...
...Phil is taken to the "cubby hole" while Craig cowers...
Struggling with faith becomes one of the major themes of "Blankets." As he nears the end of high school, Craig's pastor urges him to try the ministry. Craig has his doubts. These are fired in the crucible of a Christian winter camp that he attends every Christmas. Artistic rather than athletic and unable to pay the skiing fees anyway, he feels outcast by the uniform and exclusionary Christian community there. More importantly, during his junior year at the camp, he meets Raina, a pretty, thoughtful and similarly alienated girl. All at once, along with everything else, the book becomes...
...After camp Craig corresponds with Raina, who lives in Michigan, and eventually coaxes his parents to let him visit her. The entire middle section of the book details this brief visit. Thompson puts a tremendous amount of work into depicting Raina's family life. Her parents are in the midst of a divorce at her mother's behest. Exhausted and possibly addicted to pills, she leaves the care of her two adopted, mentally disabled adult children mostly in Raina's hands. It's a testament to Thompson's intelligence as a storyteller that this sub-portrait becomes as fascinating...