First published 2009
James Leininger is barely two years old when the nightmares begin. Night after night, he wakes screaming about planes catching fire and a little man trapped inside. His parents Bruce and Andrea try to dismiss the episodes, but James keeps shouting details about aircraft and wartime events no toddler should know. The screaming continues even during daylight hours. Bruce struggles to make sense of what his son is experiencing while Andrea watches their family life transform around these terrifying outbursts. As James reveals more specific information about World War II aviation, Bruce begins investigating the details his son provides. The search leads him to James Huston, a fighter pilot who died decades before his son was born. The Leiningers must confront the possibility that their little boy carries memories from another life. Two families separated by generations find themselves connected through a child who remembers a death that happened long before his birth.
Genres: world-war-ii, biography-memoir, paranormal
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Period: World War II
256 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: child-death