The Light at Tern Rock is a Newbery Honor award-winning book by Julia L Sauer.  A man named Byron Flagg asks an eleven-year-old boy named Ronnie and his aunt, Martha Morse, to take charge of the Tern Rock lighthouse while he is away for two weeks.  The lighthouse is on a small island that is only accessible by boat.  The month is December, so Ronnie is concerned about getting back to the mainland in time for Christmas.  However, Mr. Flagg promises that he will return in time to take Ronnie and Martha home before Christmas day. 

Ronnie and Martha are excited when they first arrive at the lighthouse.  They understand that they have an important responsibility to keep the lighthouse lit to protect the ships at sea.  The living conditions are comfortable, and Ronnie enjoys spending the time with his aunt.  After two weeks, however, there is no sight of Mr. Flagg.  Ronnie becomes worried that Mr. Flagg may have broken his promise.  When Ronnie realizes that he might be stranded at the lighthouse, he becomes very anxious and upset that he may not be able to spend Christmas with his family.

This book is a quick read, being only about sixty pages long, but I still enjoyed it.  I was not expecting it to be so much of a Christmas story.  The Christ-centered focus turned out to be my favorite part of this book.  I appreciate the symbolism used by the author to describe some of the lessons learned by Ronnie.  He learns about the importance of responsibility and about the actual meaning of the Christmas holiday.  I wish that this book were a little bit longer, but I still find it enjoyable to read and deserving of the Newbery Honor.

The Light at Tern Rock by Julia L. Sauer is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.