Together, these stories are a lovely reminder, much like The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, of the Incarnation: God with us, in the flesh, on earth, with all its mess and imperfections. Like much of Paterson’s fiction, these stories resonate with the reality of the Lord’s intervention in our lives, even though it might not happen in ways we expect. Hardened, crusty characters soften in the light of grace. Children reach out in their innocence to touch an old person’s soul. Miracles happen. Angels are real.

Fuller review at link.

I'm not going to say a lot about the content of this book as each story is wonderful. There are thirteen short stories all set at Christmas. They feature a variety of people from a department store watchman, a lonely widower, a pregnant teenage runaway, a political prisoner in China, a grieving mother, a privileged American, and even Mary and Joseph. Each of them has lost something of their Christmas cheer and/or faith and something happens to bring back the true meaning of Christmas. This is a faith based book and I absolutely loved it. I can't believe it took me so long to read this book, but I know it will be one that I will revisit again. Katherine Paterson wrote these songs for her pastor husband to use from the pulpit and I can just imagine sitting in those pews listening to these stories. This would make a perfect book to use as an advent study. I recommend it to anyone looking to read about personal Christmas Experiences and how they affected people.