I was snooping in another great independent bookstore with a big children's section, looking for a Christmas book for my daughter. After flipping through dozens of glossy picture books filled with beribboned gifts, bearded Santas and bucolic mangers, my eyes started to glaze over. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, but I knew that none of these were it. When I opened A Christmas Tree for Pyn, I sat down on the floor and read the whole thing, and by the time I got to the

—Lucia Silva