cover image THE CHRISTMAS PROMISE

THE CHRISTMAS PROMISE

Susan Campbell Bartoletti, , illus. by David Christiana. . Scholastic/Blue Sky, $15.95 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-590-98451-5

Like The Shine Man, Bartoletti's (No Man's Land) poignant story is also set during the Depression. "Do hoboes have Christmas?" a girl asks her down-and-out father, after weeks spent hopping freight trains. "They figure out a way," he tells her. The girl is taken in by a kindly woman while her father continues on his search for work, and the two reunite just in time for Christmas. Christiana's gloriously haunting, dreamy artwork captures all the pathos of this affecting tale. Ages 4-up. (Nov.)