Paper Angels: Christmas Stories [Paperback]

Joe Beine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2001

Dreaming is the only way an adult can become like a child again.Paper Angels collects many of the annual Christmas stories written by Joe Beine, who has been sending them to friends for over a decade. In Strings and its sequel Dodging Snowflakes, we watch twelve-year-old Ellen as she begins to find her way in the adult world.Two stories about whimsical goblins add a touch of laughter to the proceedings. Three angels, Arianne, Jessi and Isabelle, wander through half of the books stories. Arianne and Jessi transform San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge into a cathedral. Isabelle tells a mysterious tale about two childrens snowy playtime. Together these wistful tales capture the peculiar magic of the Christmas season.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joe Beine lives in Denver, Colorado. He likes to draw family trees, write stories, listen to music and travel. He believes the magic in the world can be found in the faces of the people around you.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (July 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595191940
• ISBN-13: 978-0595191949
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,051,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe Beine lives in Denver, Colorado. He likes to draw family trees, take pictures, write stories, listen to music and travel. He once met a Mexican girl who told him secrets passed down from someone far older than her. While sitting in a cafe in Frankfurt, a gypsy girl asked him for his fries in a language he didn't understand. Then he saw a cynical gargoyle peering at him from the city's sandstone cathedral. In Dublin he watched a young woman playing viola in a string quartet on Grafton Street. Her eyes were filled with stories of Irish ghosts. In San Francisco he watched two angels turn the Golden Gate Bridge into a cathedral. He believes the magic in the world can be found in the faces of the people around you. He gives some of these faces to the characters in his stories.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thought-provoking collection of Christmas stories, October 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Paper Angels: Christmas Stories (Paperback)

Paper Angels is a thought-provoking, enlightening collection of holiday-themed stories. The stories, all of which are well written transport you at once to their varying locales. Through various themes and story lines, the author is able to convey heart-warming tales that are well suited to the holiday season.

Throughout the book, the author employs illustrative techniques which enable the reader to immediately identify and empathize with his characters. I have never read short stories that enveloped me so quickly within the first few sentences - usually it takes a couple of paragraphs or pages to engage this reader. This book is unusual in its scope and is well worth the price.

This book contains at least ten short stories of varying length, that could easily read out loud to children, but can also be enjoyed and appreciated by adults.

My favorite tales, (so far)are "Strings", which to summarize it rather unfairly, is about a girl and a sought after violin; "A Doll for Christmas", which is set in San Francisco and "To Hear the Angels Sing" which is set in Dublin. What makes the latter two tales so intriquing is that the author is able to quite naturally and unassumingly describe these two cities in such a way that we are there - on their streets and at home with the characters.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to more collections from this author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Collection of Whimsical Tales, December 11, 2001

By 

Jessica Williams (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paper Angels: Christmas Stories (Paperback)

Inside this wonderful little book you will find these kinds of stories... A boy finds a magical feather in Frankfurt, Germany. A homeless woman sings a carol to an Irish girl on Christmas Eve (see the "read an excerpt" link here on Amazon). Two angels turn the Golden Gate Bridge into a cathedral. An older woman tells a story to her great granddaughter about a man who tried to capture angels on film with his camera. And a whole gaggle of silly goblins spread Christmas joy. If you want to put something a bit different under a friend's Christmas tree you should check out Paper Angels.