Winter Sky

WINTER SKY

by Chris Stewart

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This book is AMAZING!

Tender, touching, timeless--

WWII, a rebel on the run, loss of memory, 

two kids who need help, and help from beyond.

A story of hope that will stay with you long past the last page.

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Lucas is a fighter in the Polish Resistance Movement during World War II. But when he wakes up in the trenches after a long night of being shelled, he finds his ears bloody and his memory gone. All he has left is a torn photograph of a man and woman and a young boy. Could the child be him?

Four days later, on December 20, Lucas is dropped off on the train platform of a bombed-out Polish village. Nothing is familiar, though his buddies assure him that this was his home town. All around him he finds death and destruction. He begins searching for his family. A young woman recognizes the people in his photograph, but his hope is short-lived when he finds out they were some of the first casualties of the war.

As he leaves the village, he comes upon two children; a brother and a sister, both on the verge of starvation. He wants to help them, but he has nothing to give: not a blanket, nor a scrap of food. Once more, the woman finds him on the road and begs him to help the children. He gives in and bundles them up and takes them with him to the rail station where he manages to secure the last seat.

On the train, he notices the little girl is carrying her own torn photograph. When he asks to see it, he realizes that it is the second half of his own picture. With a full heart, he recognizes the young boy in his photo as the little boy sitting across from him. In the second half of the photo he sees himself in his uniform holding hands with the young girl. The children are his family: his own brother and sister.

One more face in the picture draws his attention. It is the girl who helped him in the village-she is his sister, killed along with his parents, but who has returned as an angel to make sure the little family was reunited and safe. The young man is able to spend the holidays with his family, his heart filled with hope that they will find a safe haven among the Allied armies.