The Christmas Sweater

The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck



Conservative radio talkshow host Glenn Beck, offers up his first novel The Christmas Sweater. The books idea comes from Glenn's childhood. Eddie, the young main character receives an ugly handmade sweater for Christmas instead of the Huffy bike he had been praying to God for and dropping hints as heavy as bricks to his mother for. His father has died of cancer and his mother has taken on four jobs which are barely getting them by. Beyond this point there are spoilers***



Eddie and his mother travel to his grandparents for the remainder of Christmas day. Eddie makes things miserable because he didn't get the bike he wanted. Because he is being such a puke he and his mother drive back home instead of staying at his grandparent's farm. Since his mom has been working straight for years she is exhausted........falls asleep and dies in a car wreck. Eddie's bad attitude and ungrateful nature..........'victim' attitude only get worse as he moves in with his grandparents. He is able to make one friend but Taylor's family only makes matters worse. They show Eddie all he is missing in his life, mainly material goods. Eddie's life begins a tough downward spiral that he chooses not to stop despite the love of his grandparents. He blames everyone including God and his grandparents for everything that has gone wrong.............he never can see that he is the only one making himself miserable. Eddie also meets a mysterious neighbor that tries to teach him the lessons he needs to learn in order to lead a happier life. Finally Eddie can take no more and runs away. He finds himself in a stormy, dark and desolate corn field with a raging storm moving his way. Between the storm, corn field and the suspicious neighbor Eddie is able to see his transgression and turn his life around.



I liked the book. I didn't like Eddie. I felt like the book gave me a good chance to see how I could choose to make my own life happier. A good book about taking responsibility for your own actions no matter what situations you may find yourself in.

Rating 4

Rating G