Heaven One Mile — Jennifer Horsman

Young Hope's father dies in the war and this is the story of her journey to understand what this means. Hope's mother falls apart upon her husband's death and pretty much abandons Hope to indifferent maids, and magical old Aunt Gabby, whose reality is always uncertain. (“Aunt Gabby's been in my father's family for centuries,” Hope explains to a group of amused adults at one of her mother's many parties.) Thankfully, having sensed his fate, Hope's father sent his daughter Ben, a teddy bear and his lively companionship eases the depths of Hope's sadness and missing.
The first half of the story covers Hope's first four letters to her missing father and the adventures accompanying the special delivery of these treasures to heaven; each letter marks the shifting stages of grief. Still, Hope's struggle comes to a crisis when now Ben begins to lose his stuffing. Aunt Gabby sends Hope and Ben into the dream world to find the answer to the age old question. What happened to Hope's father turns into the question of what will happen to Ben when his stuffing runs out.
This becomes an exciting and hilarious adventure where Ben and Hope meet numerous engaging and memorable characters, each of whom holds the answer to this important question from one of the great religions or paradigms: the Holy Cow, Jumping Jack, Lhamo the lama, the Red Balloon, Davey the old lion, Sonny the donkey, Mo, a beautiful black stallion and finally the old Professor. And did I mention the ending packs a powerful surprise? This unique and goofy story is bound to charm and comfort both children and adults, basically anyone who has ever lost a loved one, which, let's face it, covers all of us.
This story is written by a best selling, award winning writer. It is her best story.