Book Review: "On Christmas Eve"

Before you say anything, yes. I know. Christmas was a month ago (almost to the day, in fact!), and yet I'm just now reviewing this one? ...Frankly, I expected it to be a super quick read, and normally, it would have been, but having to catch up on Etsy orders, it took me until just now to finish it. No judging.

Anyway, that aside, this past NaNoWriMo season I decided I might like to take a crack at writing some children's books sometime (no, it wasn't my NaNoWriMo project this year), but that it's been so long since I've read one, I've almost forgotten what children's literature looks like. So, I harkened back to one of my favorite old mainstays of children's lit: Ann M. Martin, author of the beloved Babysitters Club series (of which I used to read practically religiously, and may even give a re-read to in the not-so-distant future). Truth be told, I actually was unaware she'd written anything outside of the Babysitters Club series/franchise, so when I learned by chance that she's actually written quite a few other books, I was intrigued, and this particular book happened to be the first one I was able to track down.

It's hard to really give a proper synopsis of this book without giving the entire plot away, but in a nutshell, our main character, a little girl named Tess, has a best friend (Sarah) whose best friend's father is dying of cancer. As this story takes place back in the 1950s, children were not yet allowed to visit patients in the hospital, and as such, Sarah progressively begins spending more and more time with Tess's family, even as the holidays approach. She remains ever hopeful that her father will be home in time for Christmas, even though the odds of that happening become more and more bleak as time marches on. Tess does everything in her power to try and keep Sarah in good spirits, including making sure she's included in her own holiday festivities (which she normally is anyway -- these two have been joined at the hip practically since birth), and at one point, even plan out a Christmas 'concert' to put on in the parking lot of the hospital, right outside her father's window, singing all his favorite carols.

Sarah's father is allowed to come home for Christmas -- coming home from the hospital "for the last time." Tess remains optimistic that perhaps this means he's getting better, and that this is the end of his medical woes, but Sarah knows more than she's letting on. Still, ever the optimist, Tess this whole time has been devising her own secret plan to stay up on Christmas Eve so that she can meet Santa Claus, face to face. Initially she has her own motives for wanting to do so, but when the time comes, she has only one Christmas wish: for Sarah's dad to get well again.....but there's some things that even Santa can't fix.

This story brought back an old childhood myth I had long forgotten about: the story about how at midnight, on Christmas Eve, animals are able to speak. (I always did wonder if this was true, and if I had gotten around to reading this book a little bit sooner, I probably would've stayed up at midnight this past Christmas Eve to see if my dog could speak at midnight. No hurt in hoping, anyway. ;)) Even as an adult, just reading about that even in this story, I got ridiculously excited and swept up in the hope that maybe this myth just might be true. Forget about meeting Santa -- I'm way more all about the prospect of talking to pets!

Anyway, this story is definitely one of hope, on many levels, and is definitely one that any child who's ever lost a parent (or any other relative, for that matter) to cancer might be able to relate to in not only the loss itself, but in how it changes and affects your life afterwards, and forces you to grow up way too fast. This really hit home, and I commend Ann M. Martin for going there. But I ALSO commend her for including a point where Sarah begins to find joy and hope in her life once again, even in the face of loss. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

Book Review: "Let It Snow - Three Holiday Romances"

I'm sure you guys all remember my Lauren Myracle phase, where I barrelled through just about every book she wrote in a few months' time. ...Except this one, because our library's copy was ALWAYS checked out. Well, I finally got a hold of it (a couple of years later), and while I was anticipating it to be your typical, run of the mill collection of short stories, it does fit that bill...but more.

You see, these aren't just any holiday-themed short stories. You don't realize it going into it on the first one, but every detail is important, as all three of these stories are intertwined and connected (and pulled together especially at the end of the third story). It's done VERY expertly and really cutely, in my opinion. I found myself starting to fangirl every time the stories started to crossover on each other and link together, and it happens with increasing intensity the further it goes on, until you just feel like you know this close-knit small community in full. A nice quality to embody in a Christmas-themed story, if you ask me. Ranking this one 4 stars!

Christmas Special Review #2: "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish"

For this second review, I have to admit that I was a bit taken aback that this one even exists. I mean, Richie Rich has never exactly been that popular of a character, has he? Whose idea was it to make a Christmas special revolving around him? Oh well, I digress.

The first thing that struck me about this special (and I know that I'm biased here in my observation, so pardon me) is that it almost feels like a cross-bred hybrid of Arthur and Eloise. The over-indulged, spoiled rich kid thing seems to run in the veins of both those films, so it's no wonder I made such a comparison. Add into the fact that Richie has an old English butler, and it definitely throws even more Arthur into the mix. Anyway...

I was expecting to take major issue with this one in assuming that there would be far too much emphasis placed on money (and its importance) to where the true reason for Christmas gets lost in the mix. This was not the case. But, the main plot in this film is that Richie has his own personal mad scientist who's invented a wish-granting machine. Feeling a bit despondant and depressed that given day, Richie wishes that he'd never been born. The world without Richie is a far different place.... and one thing I took issue with is that evidently, Richie is the only reason his parents stayed together in the regular world, as in this alternate universe, all his parents do is bicker like cats and dogs about every little thing and don't even seem to like each other and are constantly on the verge of a break up, so it seems. Which begs the question - did they only marry because of a surprise baby, perhaps? Who knows.

But unlike in many of these Christmas specials that do the whole It's A Wonderful Life thing, Richie's not dead, nor is he ghost-like. He can interact with people and things just fine. Just...nobody knows who the hell he is. This struck me as a bit weird, since if he'd never been born, then how is he existing? But then again, I suppose if they'd just poofed him entirely out of existence, there'd be no film, so there ya go. There's a lot of odd twists and turns, like if Richie hadn't been born, apparently his butler would've been in a hair metal band called Root Canal... (yeah, I don't know either.)

The film is another one that ends on a Gift of the Magi note. (Seems to be a common theme that runs throughout these, doesn't it?) Overall, it's not a horrible film, but it's a very easily forgettable one. 3 out of 5 stars for this one.