"Our baby weighed 450 grams. I learned that day that there are 454 grams in a pound." Life had been good to Karen and Bob Krech. They had traveled the world as overseas teachers. They were blessed with a strong marriage, a nice house, great jobs, and a happy, healthy, two-year-old son. Was God a part of their lives? Some. But He was about to reenter in a very big way through a very small baby. Medical science and desperate prayer join forces to keep a premature baby alive in this memoir. In November 1992, Krech's wife, Karen, delivered a baby daughter after just 22 weeks of gestation. Doctors at their NewJersey hospital were so certain that Faith Catherine would soon die--she weighed less than a pound--that they werereluctant to even treat her in the neonatal intensive care unit. Against all expectations, she survived the night and then the72-hour "viability" milestone, but she remained in critical condition with a grim prognosis. Her tiny lungs could not breatheon their own, but the ventilator itself could cause permanent lung damage, and the highly concentrated oxygen it pumpedmight leave her blind; feeding tubes carried the threat of infection; and her immature brain frequently forgot to keep herheart beating. Faith's battle to live became a metaphorical crisis of faith for her Roman Catholic parents, who wrestled withthe question of whether God really was in control of her fate as they prepared to lose her. Krech turned to Christian radio,the theological writings of C.S. Lewis, and the Bible for answers and began contemplating the Gospel verses "Ask and yeshall receive" and "Have faith as small as a mustard seed and move mountains." He began praying regularly and ardentlyfor Faith, as did family friends and, unbeknown to him, a prayer circle of strangers at a retirement home. YA author Krechfills his heartfelt narrative with a sharply observed NICU procedural as Faith's doctors and nurses shepherded her throughsetbacks, kept her vital processes running, and celebrated small victories like the first opening of her blue eyes, all ofwhich he observes in painful, evocative detail. ("Amid a tangle of wires, tubes, and tape lay a tiny, emaciated body notmuch bigger than my hand....Her limbs curled stiff and tight, moving in slow, spastic jerks. Her toes arched upward, thinand bony. The skin was stretched over her body like plastic wrap. Our daughter.") The result is an absorbing medicalodyssey that turns into a knotty, inspiring spiritual journey. A moving account of Christian belief holding firm against long odds.- Kirkus Reviews In this moving account of a tiny infant'spremature birth and first challenging weeks of life, a family issustained by their Catholic faith. The prose is simple, but effective. BobKrech's descriptions of his daughter, who was born weighing less than apound, and of the struggle for survival that ensued, are vividlyrealistic. Many of the details of this incrediblytiny infant's early weeks of life are deeply touching. The wholeheartedteamwork of the family and medical staff is inspiring, although notevery reader will relate to the passages touching on the author'sreligious experiences. The book strikes many notes that will be familiar to readers of Marie Killilea's 'Karen.' The story follows a dualtrajectory; the growth of the infant Faith, and the growth of herfather's faith in God as his daughter's seemingly miraculous clinging to life and ultimate blossoming into a healthy, happy girl and young woman occur. The Afterword, as written by the adult Faith, reveals her to be a charming, intelligent young woman with a mind of her own and a deeplove for her father and family. - The BookLife Prize