When Alan Bradley was a child during the cold, dark winter days of World War II, he found hidden beneath a loose floorboard in his mother's bedroom closet a well-worn cardboard shoebox. At the time he could make little sense of the things he found inside: cigarette packages, soup-can labels, handbills, calendars, paper bags, pie boxes-any scrap of paper upon which his mother could copy out, in her old-fashioned handwriting, what seemed to be no more than unrelated snippets of scripture.

He knew only that this box, which he would later come to think of as the Shoebox Bible, had something to do with the fact that his father had run away from home. But many years would pass and his mother would be on her deathbed before he would once again hold this treasure in his hands. And only then would he be capable of putting together the pieces of the puzzle, and learn the complete and devastating truth.

Beautifully illustrated and lovingly told, The Shoebox Bible is a wonderful memoir of a precocious family who manage to live and love despite the absence of their father.

Interspersed with heartbreaking quotations from the Old and New Testaments, this sad, funny, and above all inspiring story will appeal to readers who fell in love with such inspirational books as Mister God, This is Anna and Tuesdays with Morrie.

PRAISE FOR THE SHOEBOX BIBLE

“Like Angela's Ashes, The Shoebox Bible is a hauntingly beautiful memoir that will leave a lasting impression.”  — DAVE PELZER, author of A Child Called It and The Lost Boy

“Alan Bradley has gifted us with a deeply tender, hauntingly beautiful memoir that is certain to touch your heart and stir your soul.”  — TOM HARPUR, author of The Pagan Christ