Legend of the Wooden Star is a heart-warming story set at Christmastime. The present-day story revisits the Reid family, first introduced in the1995 bestseller The Special Guest, A Christmas story. Now, 30 years later, we meet Hunter Reid, the 19-year-old grandson. As the story opens, Hunter and his new girlfriend Denèe, along with their Sunday school class, visit Richmond Children's Hospital to bring the kids Christmas cheer. That afternoon, they meet Joey, an 11-year-old boy whose leukemia has come out of remission. Joey has just returned to the hospital for a life-saving bone marrow transplant, only to learn his donor backed out.Despondent, Joey is visited by a mysterious stranger who comes after visitig hours. Problem is, no one else sees him come or go. Shaz, who dresses in the robe and headpiece of Middle Eastern royalty, comes from an ancient line of priests who study the stars for Divine answers. He's there to help Joey find the miracle he now so desperately needs. But first, Joey must discover a special star--known as the Miracle Star--due to make a spectacular appearance in time for Christmas. This rare star only shows up once in a millennium, Shaz explains. When it does, legend says it can bring a Amiracle to whoever recognize it and believes its special message.When Hunter and Denèe hear aboutJoey's miracle star that afternoon, they are baffled. What Joey describes sounds eerily like the theme of their church's Christmas play. Who is this mysterious friend of Joey's really, they wonder? When an ancient game, dating back to Roman times, shows up in Joey's room, the mystery deepens. Now everyone knows Joey's friend is not his imagination. That puts hospital security in crisis mode, as it seeks to explain how a stranger can slip in with no signs of his presence. Most startling of all is the game, called "Game of Mercenaries", plays a pivotal role in the church play. A game no one has ever heard of outside of the play.While Hunter and Denèe try to solve these mysterious happenings, a little wooden star, carved by a shepherd boy that first Christmas night, will reach across time to bring Joey his miracle. The ending will inspire anyone who has ever hoped for a miracle. Legend of the Wooden Star offers a memorable lesson how faith gives substance to what we hope for... before it appears.
