Book Review: The Christmas Sweater

The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck is a novel loosely based on the true life story of Glenn himself as a 12-13 year old boy. It is hard to tell much about this story without spoiling the plot or the ending.

Eddie is a 12-year old boy whose mother works tirelessly to provide a meager living for the family. Eddie desperately wants a new red Huffy bike for Christmas, and he is intensely disappointed to receive something entirely different. The Christmas Sweater is his story of facing life's storms and finding faith and love in the difficult times.

I enjoyed this book. Actually I couldn't put it down - even reading in the car on the way church when I knew it would make me carsick. But I was driven mostly by a desire to know what was going to happen (as I am with all novels, except the utterly boring ones), and not because the book is a thriller. Glenn's theology is pretty messed up. He brings Christ into the story, but it is a message of "You are worthy. You deserve this," instead of the true message of salvation, which is Christ died for me, even though I was and am so unworthy." The book has a 'feel-good' ending, but I don't think I would spend my money to have it on my bookshelf, and I probably will not read it again.