Beyond the Looking Glass is the story of a young boy who dared to venture outside the boundaries of his small world by stepping through a looking glass that promised not only escape from his rural surroundings, but adventure beyond his limited horizon. Unlike Alice who found a Wonderland when she passed through her looking glass, the author found looking glasses at each turn in the road; mirrors that did not reflect the wonders that lay beyond or the Mad-Hatter characters he was to encounter along the way. Beyond the Looking Glass provides an unique tale of the author's journey through the Rite of Passage toward manhood during the difficult times so many suffered from the Great Depression and World War II. The reader experiences the author's immaturity, then his gradual maturation, as he overcomes many obstacles in his quest to join the navy. At the age of sixteen he succeeds in his quest and spends the war years in the Pacific Theater where he participates in the Saipan and Guam amphibious landings and later the re-taking of the Philippine Islands where his aircraft carrier suffers a kamikase attack. At age fourteen, Bob Quinn's travels begin with the encounter of his first looking glass; a slow moving freight train....