The Christmas Sweater

By Glenn Beck
with Kevin Balfe and Jason Wright




New York Times Bestselling Author Glenn Beck tries his hand at writing a novel about a Christmas epiphany for a twelve-year old named Eddie. While the book is loosely based on some of the events in Glenn Beck's own life, "The Christmas Sweater" is a story about growing emotionally and spiritually. It is a parable of holding tightly to faith while being challenged to release it.

The book starts with Eddie pleading with God for a red Huffy bike for Christmas, even though he knows money has been tight since his father died a few years earlier. He has been doing his chores and trying to be more compliant with his mother. When Christmas morning rolls around though, there is no bike in sight. Eddie has a pre-teen tantrum and as the day wears on, he gets more and more upset. He thinks about all his friends and assumes they have all gotten better presents than the roll of pennies and the ugly hand-knit sweater he received.

When his mom tells him they are going to spend the night at his grandparents' instead of driving the hour and a half it would take to get home, he demands they go home anyway. He refuses to have any fun. His mom finally relents and they make their way home. That is when Eddie's life changes forever.

Glenn Beck writes in a very easy-to-read style. The reader is instantly engaged by the simple flow of words. The story starts out,

The wipers cut semicircles through the snow on the windshield. It's good snow, I thought as I slid forward and rested my chin on the vinyl of the front seat.

"Sit back, honey," my mother, Mary, gently commanded. She was thirty-nine years old, but her tired eyes and the streaks of gray infiltrating her otherwise coal black hair made most people think she was much older. If your age was determined by what you'd been through in life, they would have been right.

"But Mom, I can't see the snow when I sit back."

"Okay. But just until we stop for gas."

I scooted up farther and rested my worn Keds on the hump that ran through the middle of our old Pinto station wagon. I was skinny and tall for my age, which made my knees curl up toward my chest. Mom said I was safer in the backseat, but deep down I knew that it wasn't really about safety, it was about the radio. I was constantly playing with it, changing the dial from her boring Perry Como station to something that played real music.

"The Christmas Sweater" is a book about a revelation that ends with a twist. It is a short read but the sentiment is uplifting. The true miracle is coming to the realization that life is what you make of it. Hopefully, this book is only the first in Glenn Beck's foray into writing novels.

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