From the award-winning author of Banana Heart Summer—“[a]
wonderful debut…[that] resembles Sandra Cisneros’s The House
on Mango Street and is destined to be a hit among book club
members”*—comes a wondrous tale of hope, secrets, and family
devotion. It’s six days until Christmas, and on the bustling streets
of Manila a mute ten-year-old boy sells his version of the
stars: exquisite lanterns handmade with colorful paper. But
everything changes for young Noland when he witnesses an
American tourist injured in a drive-by shooting of a
journalist and imagines he’s seen an angel falling from the
sky. When Noland whisks her to the safety of the hut he shares
with his mother, the magical and the real collide:
shimmering lanterns and poverty, Christmas carols and loss,
dreams of friendship and the global war on terror. While the
story of the missing tourist grips the media, Noland and his
mother care for their wounded guest, and a dark memory
returns. But light sneaks in — and their lives are
transformed by the power of love. *Library Journal (starred review, “Editor’s Pick”)
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