If You Could Change Your Life by Reversing Your Biggest Regrets, Sorrows and Mistakes...Would You?
#1 New York Times bestselling author and renowned radio and television host Glenn Beck delivers an instant holiday classic about boyhood memories, wrenching life lessons, and the true meaning of the gifts we give to one another in love.
We weren't wealthy, we weren't poor -- we just were. We never wanted for anything, except maybe more time together....
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.
Deeply Heartwarming and Relatable Story| Posted June 16, 2010
I never was much of a fan of novels until I read this book in 24 hours from Christmas Day to the next morning. It is not a book that will shock you with mind-blowing twists and turns every page, and it isn't something that will likely be considered "unpredictable."
What it is, however, is a great character study, and that makes it worth it. As wicked as the main protagonist gets, and as unlikable as he can be, we can understand his pain and we want good things to happen to him. We can easily see the dark parts of ourselves in young Eddie.
The story also takes us back to the childlike memories of Christmases past. While the book often does go off in tangents, it's still enjoyable and the sometimes disjointed narrative almost helps to make it seem more genuine.
It won't reinvent the Christmas story wheel, but it is a good story to read at Christmastime, one you can feel safe reading with older children as the objectionable content is limited only to the angry outbursts of the main protagonist, and some dark themes that younger children might find too intense.
The story's ultimate themes of redemption make it very likable. It's definitely a story I've love to see made into a TV movie. Pick it up and sit back. It's not a long read and it's easy to get pulled into the world of the pages. Beck may be a political commentator, but he also obviously has a knack for getting inside the human mind as well, even the mind of a broken and lonely child.
So yeah, pick this one up. I can't recommend it enough.
