Title: The Christmas Sweater
Author: Glenn Beck
Publisher: Threshold Editions
Release Date: November 11, 2008
ISBN: 978-1416594857
Size: 284 pages, 5×7″, hardback
Genre: Christmas
When Eddie was twelve years old, all he wanted for Christmas was a bike. Although his life had gotten harder —and money tighter—since his father died and the family bakery closed…Eddie dreamed that somehow his mother would find a way to have his dream bike gleaming beside their modest Christmas tree that magical morning.
What he got from her instead was a sweater. “A stupid, handmade, ugly sweater” that young Eddie left in a crumpled ball in the corner of his room.
Scarred deeply by the realization that kids don’t always get what they want, and too young to understand that he already owned life’s most valuable treasures, that Christmas morning was the beginning of Eddie’s dark and painful journey on the road to manhood. It will take wrestling with himself, his faith, and his family—and the guidance of a mysterious neighbor named Russell—to help Eddie find his path through the storm clouds of life and finally see the real significance of that simple gift his mother had crafted by hand with love in her heart.
Based on a deeply personal true story, The Christmas Sweater is a warm and poignant tale of family, faith and forgiveness that offers us a glimpse of our own lives—while also making us question if we really know what’s most important in them.
In answer to the trivia contest, this would be the book that pulled a “Dallas.”
Other than much of the story being a dream, I enjoyed it. Wish they wouldn’t have added that part.
I actually really enjoyed the “Dallas” portion. It made is a very enjoyable book for me and I have recommended it to many others to read. I actually have a nephew who is going through a poor me portion of life and we’ve been reading this book as a way to help him see that his life could be much worse.
For the “Dallas” contest – this was definitely the book that came to mind. I really liked the story, until I got to the end and he woke up and it had all been a dream. That really bugged me. I felt so connected to the character (I lost my mom when I was young) and when he woke up and it had all been a dream, it really upset me. I really wish the ending would have been different.