My Girl Recommends This One!

Last month I reviewed a book that I said is one of the best Christmas books of the year, The Christmas Star. I'm popping back in today to make a couple more comments about it.

My girl loves World War II era books and had another personal interest in this novel, so she started reading it a couple of days ago.

She is completely hooked. She came into the room saying, "Oh my goodness, that is such a good book! I don't even want to put it down!" Yesterday when she went to school I saw that she had put this quote, spoken by the wise school bus driver to Jimmy Reed, on her timeline:

We live in a world where most of us spend a lot more time looking in the mirror, by that I mean seeing our own desires and needs, than we do looking out the window at the world. You have to look out the window to see where you're needed. A mirror just can't show you that. -- The Christmas Star, p. 51

BOOK INFO:

The Christmas Star
Ace Collins
(Abingdon Press)
ISBN:
October 2012/224 pages/$14.99

Robert Reed gave his life for his country in the early days of World War II. His sacrifice was honored when his widow and son were presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor. Each Christmas the final decoration Madge Reed hangs on the family’s tree is that medal. Rather than being a symbol of honor for young Jimmy Reed that shining star represents loss, pain, and suffering.

Yet a letter delivered by one of Robert’s fellow soldiers and a mystery posed in that letter put a father’s sacrifice and faith into perspective and bring new meaning to not just the star hanging on the Christmas tree but the events of the very first Christmas. Then, when least expected, a Christmas miracle turns a final bit of holiday sadness into a joy that Jimmy has never known.