THE NICHOLAS EFFECT: A Boy's Gift to the World
Reg Green

Synopsis: In 1994, when their 7-year-old son, Nicholas, was killed during a botched car-jacking, Reg and Maggie Green galvanized all of Italy--and the world--by donating Nicholas's organs to seven desperately sick Italians, becoming a model of a grief-stricken family seeking to create good from horror, to reject vengeance in the face of great loss, to work for justice, and to proclaim--with each of their grace-filled actions--the superiority of love over hate.

In The Nicholas Effect: A Boy's Gift to the World, Reg Green recollects the events--the shooting, the choice to donate Nicholas's organs, the overwhelming Italian response, the trial of the alleged murderers, and the Greens' worldwide crusade for organ donation. Since Nicholas's death, the seven Italians who received his organs have thrived--and so have thousands of others who have and will benefit from the worldwide surge in organ donations because of what's been dubbed the Nicholas Effect.

Green's account of this truly heartrending, life-changing story is intensely personal yet will touch every reader's heart and do something few "inspirational" books manage to actually do--change lives.

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June 17, 2008

"Nicholas is where everything makes sense." - Ch. 8, pg 60

Review: Before I picked up this book, I had never heard of Nicholas Green. I was just a kid myself when it happened. I wish I had been more aware of it back then. I would have liked to have seen the beginning of l'Effetto Nicholas. The Nicholas Effect is proof not to doubt that there is some good in the world.

I must admit, before I read this book I was already expecting to give it a good review. Writing this now I still wish I could give it a better review, but I don't believe in being dishonest, otherwise what's the point? Now keep in mind, I am reviewing the book, not the act itself. I'm not completely heartless.

The Good points: Reg Green really has a way with words, mainly when he talks about his son, so there were a lot of touching moments throughout the book. I made the mistake of reading this book at work and my eyes kept tearing up from time to time. (This is a pretty big thing for me because I am so not a crier. Never have and never will be. I think this may be the first book that almost got me there...)

There was one passage in particular that I loved, where he and his wife talked about Nicholas' future had he still been alive:

"Maggie worried at times that the world might crush him.[...] But I like to think that he would have gone through life believing unswervingly in something--God, man, goodness--that would have given him the strength to stay the course. Certainly his total honesty would have protected him from ordinary corrosion. It was part of his DNA."

I know this passage may not seem notable or exceptional, but it's just beautiful to see that Green had that much faith in his son to believe that his soul would stay pure after all of this time, even when there was reason to doubt it. It's heartbreaking to know that he'll never get a chance to see Nicholas grow up into the man that he could've become.

And now for the Bad:
I think the major problem for me was just the way the book was written. It would have been nice if the story was in chronological order. There was no flow to the story because Green kept jumping from topic to topic. The transitions just weren't there.

Chapter 7 almost seemed like a throwaway chapter. As interesting as it was to read about Green's upbringing, it just seemed to stray from the main storyline. Unfortunately there were quite a few moments where it seemed more about Green himself than about his son, the Nicholas Effect, or even organ donation in general.

The book had a lot of potential, so I couldn't help but be disappointed by the execution. Despite it all, this book did make me give organ donation some serious thought, so Green's intentions did succeed on this account.

Links:
The Nicholas Green Foundation
Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Awards

NAVIGATION

CHALLENGES

BIBLIOPHILE