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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed this much more than the original story in this series where we find out how Nicholas became Father Christmas.
This book focusses on Amelia*, a ten-year-old chimney sweep whose mother is gravely ill and who desperately wants father Christmas to save her mother for Christmas.
This doesn’t happen, and on Christmas Eve Amelia ends up in a work house run by the terrible Mr. Creeper, who abuses his staff and his young charges.
At the same time, the elves up north are attacked by trolls, who leave most of the elves homeless, and destroy all the toys the elves have made, along with the sleigh. This night was meant to be the start of the ongoing, worldwide toy deliveries by Father Christmas.
A year later we find Amelia still at the workhouse, and intent on escape. Father Christmas goes to London to look for Amelia, and after many wrong turns, and an encounter with Charles Dickens, finds her at the workhouse, and works out a way to break Amelia free. And he incidentally falls for a young woman who works in the workhouse kitchen.
Amelia is a firecracker; though she’s sad and too much bad has already happened in her ten years, she’s tough, she’s hopeful, she’s defiant, and she loves her cat, Captain Soot.
Amelia’s plight is pretty heart wrenching, but she’s also trying to save herself. She’s a much more interesting protagonist than Nicholas, which is probably why I enjoyed this book.
This book focusses on Amelia*, a ten-year-old chimney sweep whose mother is gravely ill and who desperately wants father Christmas to save her mother for Christmas.
This doesn’t happen, and on Christmas Eve Amelia ends up in a work house run by the terrible Mr. Creeper, who abuses his staff and his young charges.
At the same time, the elves up north are attacked by trolls, who leave most of the elves homeless, and destroy all the toys the elves have made, along with the sleigh. This night was meant to be the start of the ongoing, worldwide toy deliveries by Father Christmas.
A year later we find Amelia still at the workhouse, and intent on escape. Father Christmas goes to London to look for Amelia, and after many wrong turns, and an encounter with Charles Dickens, finds her at the workhouse, and works out a way to break Amelia free. And he incidentally falls for a young woman who works in the workhouse kitchen.
Amelia is a firecracker; though she’s sad and too much bad has already happened in her ten years, she’s tough, she’s hopeful, she’s defiant, and she loves her cat, Captain Soot.
Amelia’s plight is pretty heart wrenching, but she’s also trying to save herself. She’s a much more interesting protagonist than Nicholas, which is probably why I enjoyed this book.
This is a fantastic sequel to A Boy Called Christmas ( see previous review ). It is charming, funny and is just a magical Christmas book.
I feel all warm and festive now after reading it.
I feel all warm and festive now after reading it.
Great accompaniment to the prequel! Another fun Christmas story and some awesome girl power! Totally recommend this pair of books for a joyful Christmas read.
This is a cute story. I liked the adventure in it as well as the show of companionship between the different groups. Also, it's fun to imagine hope making magic possible.
This is the second book in a series that we received the first in our Happy Holidays BYL Family Reading Crate. I actually read this one while we were reading book 1 (because I was looking for a light read for Christmas travels) and I think may have ruined some of book 1 for myself, but that's ok. :)
This is the second book in a series that we received the first in our Happy Holidays BYL Family Reading Crate. I actually read this one while we were reading book 1 (because I was looking for a light read for Christmas travels) and I think may have ruined some of book 1 for myself, but that's ok. :)
I bought this book to read aloud with my 8 yr old. She re-read the first book (which we read together last year) before we started and I think that was a good idea. Maybe next year we'll read all 3.
Same review as last year - it's a cute story with lots of adventure and a good feeling of "different types of people can work together."
2020 - I read this myself this year and still love it. The characters are interesting & fun to follow. The illustrations at to the story. I'm glad this series is in our collection.
Same review as last year - it's a cute story with lots of adventure and a good feeling of "different types of people can work together."
2020 - I read this myself this year and still love it. The characters are interesting & fun to follow. The illustrations at to the story. I'm glad this series is in our collection.
I finished this last night and it was so good--I couldn't stop listening. I think I may have liked it even more than the first book, partly because Santa Claus is older now, but also because I loved Amelia and Mary! Some wonderful surprise appearances by two very famous historical figures--one royal and one writer! Considering Amelia's love of books, it was really cool to see this writer show up and help Father Christmas as well as be inspired by Father Christmas to write a Christmas Story! There were many moments that had me laughing, tearing up, and just cheering and while I meant to just start the book, I ended up finishing it in one listen, lol. When I started, I wasn't sure Carey Mulligan would do as good a job as Stephen Fry (he's one of my favorite narrators), but she was perfect for this story! I should have trusted she would have it as I just finished to her narration of the Midnight Library (also by Matt Haig) and thought she did an excellent job. This will be a fun story to revisit every December.
Virtually no outstanding features. Mundane run of the mill story - perhaps I'm not the correct demographic :)
