Bøger i An American Family's Wartime S serien

The sequel to THE FIRST CHRISTMAS OF THE WAR and THANKSGIVING, 1942 is here.Christmas season, 1945.The terrible years of war are finally over and millions of American solders, sailors, and airmen will be reunited with their families just in time for this glorious holiday season. Among them are the grown children of Gerald and Irene Coleman.Major Jonathan Coleman is on his way home after surviving many hazardous bombing missions over Europe and later in the Pacific. Anxiously awaiting Jonathan are not only his parents but also his fiancé Francine Donner, with Jonathan's and Francine's wedding planned for only days after Christmas.Captain Joseph Coleman wasn't as fortunate as his brother, having been shot down in late 1943 and then spending the rest of the war in German prisoner-of-war camps. But with the war now over, Joseph is also on his way home...accompanied by constant nightmares.Private Thomas Coleman enlisted in the Marine Corps following his high school graduation in the spring of 1945, but the war ended before he could be sent to the Pacific. Home for Christmas furlough, Thomas wonders what next awaits him.Charlene Coleman - better known to movie-goers as Carla Colburn, one of Hollywood's newest wartime starlets - is also on her way home, preparing for yet another round of verbal sparring with her mother over Charlene's burgeoning movie career. But Charlene has her own concerns about her movie prospects now that the war is over.Join the Coleman family as the years of non-stop worrying and being apart from one another finally come to an end, and each one prepares for what lies ahead following: The First Christmas After the War

SPECIAL EDITION containing all-new bonus material to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack...and the setting of this story.________________________________________From USA TODAY bestselling author Alan Simon: 'Twas the week of Christmas, Nineteen forty-one;The season's joy overshadowedby the war just begun.The Great Depression years finally behind them, the entire Coleman family of Pittsburgh has been looking forward to this Christmas for almost the entire year. For the first time in more than a decade, Gerald and Irene Coleman have tucked away enough extra money to make up for all the lean years of disappointingly modest Christmas gifts for their children.But December 7, 1941 has changed everything, and for the past two weeks the entire family has followed with despair the Japanese advances all over the Pacific as well as America finally being dragged into the two-year old European war. Though a few glimmers of hope can be found amidst the ominous war news, both parents fear not only for the country's fate as this new war begins but also, more personally, for the fate of their sons who will likely soon be joining the fighting in one war theater or another.Still, despite the sense of dread hanging over almost every aspect of the family's daily affairs, Irene Coleman is determined that if indeed this will be the last Christmas that the family spends together--at least until after the war, or perhaps even forever--then she will do everything in her power to make Christmas, 1941, the first Christmas of the war, a happy one for her children and her entire family.Come spend the week leading up to Christmas, 1941 with the Coleman family including: Jonathan--The eldest son at nineteen, Jonathan fatalistically realizes the inevitability of his military days arriving very soon, whether he succumbs to the pressure to enlist or if he waits until he is drafted.But Jonathan has other problems on his mind as well. His long-time girlfriend Francine Donner, whom only days from now he plans to ask to marry him, broke a date with him this past weekend to go out with one of Jonathan's best friends from high school (and one of her own former boyfriends), because he is headed off to boot camp right after Christmas. Jonathan has ominous feelings about this turn of events...and he's right.Charlene--The third child in the family and the oldest daughter, Charlene has just become secretly engaged at the age of sixteen to her boyfriend who is soon headed to boot camp. She shares the news of her engagement with her cousin Lorraine Walker, but Lorraine quickly breaks her promise to keep the news secret. When Irene Coleman learns of her daughter's engagement and the circumstances surrounding it, she has yet another problem to confront.Irene--In many ways, the backbone of the family...the classic 1930s-1940s matriarch who runs her household her way, no questions asked. Like her husband, Irene is mortified by the ominous war news and does her best to occupy the hours of her day with an endless string of tasks and chores, trying to keep her mind off her own fears for her sons' safety....and the others.December 20-26, 1941: The First Christmas of the War