We had just finished packing our last box of Christmas decorations away and the house felt rather empty as it is bound to do after Christmas has come and gone. I’ve found that the best way to let go of Christmas is to read one final Christmas book of the season. I picked My Christmas Attic By Dennis M. Clausen and I would only later begin to realize just how perfect the fit was. Be forewarned however, the story involves dyslexia and the effects of the Korean war on the families of the soldiers. While it is a relatively light read, I did get quite emotional at parts.
Meet The Author
Dennis M. Clausen was born and raised in a small Minnesota. In addition to being a professor of American literature, Dennis is also a screenwriter. He draws his experiences from his time on the prairie and I think that it adds a lot of character to his stories.
My Christmas Attic
My Christmas Attic is the story of a young boy whose father went missing in the Korean War. It opens with a man walking through an old house which he describes as he walks through. The house is due to be sold and he takes one final trip down memory lane. The attic is what holds his interest. Like any child, Jake loved Christmas. He loved the magic and warmth of love that it brought. Like most of us, packing away Christmas was always a sad thing. Which lead him to question why Christmas could not be forever.
As time passes on, we read about how difficult it is for both child and mother to continue through every day not knowing whether the father is dead or alive. The news that they receive is conflicting. To make things worse, Jake finds it difficult to cope at school. He has the all too familiar problems with bullies but what makes it worse is his dyslexia. Despite being told that it is a gift, Jake finds it hard to see it that way. You have to admit that we would too!
Jake’s imaginative mind loves Buck Rogers, a show that he listens to on the radio. It is what earns him his only friend in school. It is when odd things start happening in the attic that Jake decides to have his forever Christmas there. Things however get stranger and stranger.
I honestly loved how My Christmas Attic by Dennis M. Clausen took me across a variety of feelings. It went from being serious to being light, from intense to emotional. Dennis certainly captured the agony that the families of the soldiers felt.
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**Globetrove received an advance copy of the book from NetGalley to review. All opinions are our own.