A Star for Waggoner: An American Christmas Carol

Nothing much ever happened in the riverside hamlet of Waggoner, that is until one Christmas, many years ago, when Al Bauer, an astronomy professor who had moved there three years earlier and found himself closing in on his quest, to find the true star of Bethlehem. Things really began to heat up after the longtime bachelor entered into a conspiracy with "Christmas" Carol Perilloux, a lifelong resident of the small community and very much a "take charge" type of person that nobody wants to cross, --including Al.

The time is, oh, quite a few years ago, --why Waggoner even boasted, at the time of this great event, quite an elderly, and beloved veteran--of World War I among its citizenry. Waggoner is a semi-rural hamlet several miles downriver from New Orleans, nestled into one of the meanders of the mighty Mississippi and surrounded by forest wetlands and swamp. Al Bauer is a professor of Astronomy at a local university who directs a Junior Astronomical Society for Waggoner's youth. The quest of his life has been to find the Star of Bethlehem, something he is convinced will be either a black hole, or a pulsar, left behind after a supernova event. The community he loves plans to put on a living Creche for their annual Christmas pageant, but right away things start going wrong. Bauer loses his position at the university, the creche gets caught up in a legal quagmire, one of his junior astronomers runs away from home, and another, Peanut, who's already lost his Mom, faces losing his Pop. Carol Perilloux, alias Christmas Carol, (a name not originally given as a compliment) enters into a conspiracy with Bauer to help Peanut's family; and the end result is a meshing of the lives and adventures of all the major players in a delightfully inextricable way. It all culminates in a surprise conclusion for all the characters in this very Christmas tale. A Star for Waggoner is a true American Christmas Carol blending nostalgia of Christmas tales as far back as the true story of The Christmas Truce of World War I, to enchanting Christmas stories written by the children. One can hardly read this narrative and not come away with a renewed love for the Christmas season, and the spirit it brings. It is a story about love, about hope, and about faith-particularly the faith of one little boy that eventually binds all of these events together.

Author: Don M. Shannon

Publisher: Independently Published

Publication Date: Oct 06, 2021

Number of Pages: 498 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: NA

ISBN-13: 9798487716521