A Christmas Sonata

A Review by Daniel

A Christmas Sonata is an excellent story that "will appeal to a wide audience". It is a moving story that takes place in the 1940's about a nameless boy and his faith in the spirit of Christmas. His faith is restored and he receives a better understanding of the meaning of Christmas when he and his mother (his father is in Europe as a soldier in the Second World War) stay at his cousin's house for Christmas. The boy's cousin, who is just a few years older than he, is steadily dying and together the build a stronger friendship and appreciation for life.

Because I thought it was so perfect, I decided to include the short summary of the story that is on the back of the book:

"It comes on everybody at a certain time in their life to not believe in Santa Clause," says the narrator of A Christmas Sonata. For him it came when he was a small boy during the Second World War and stumbled across his neighbor putting on a Santa suit. But when this young boy and his mother spend the holiday in Minnesota with his cousin who is dying, a Christmas miracle restores both children's faith in the spirit of the season.

The author of the book, Gary Paulson, has written numerous other books including:

-The Crossing
-Dogsong
-The Voyage of the Frog
-The Winter Room
-The Cookcamp

and many others.

I received my copy of A Christmas Sonata from my teacher during 5th grade and it is such a great story that I try to read it each year during the Christmas season. Older readers can easily read the book within an hour or two.

Age Group
I wouldn't say there is a particular age group that would most enjoy this book, because despite the books easy reading level, I still greatly enjoy the story. However I will say that the reading level (as in difficulty) would be about 8-10 years old. But again, that is meaningless…

Author: Gary Paulsen
Number of Pages: 76
Publication Date: 1992
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