PAPER ANGELS

Country music singer and songwriter Jimmy Wayne, along with author Travis Thrasher, has written a Christmas story that reflects Wayne’s own life. The novel, aimed at a Christian audience, is set in his home state of North Carolina. But the listener may be disappointed that narrator Stephen Bowlby has no hint of the South in his interpretation of this holiday tale, nor does he attempt to flesh out the book’s characters with distinctive voices. In the novel, a teenaged boy becomes a recipient of the Salvation Army Angel Tree program, as was Jimmy Wayne in real life. Through this feel-good story listeners may gain a greater understanding of the organization’s ministry to the poor. S.K.G. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2012]