Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by latad_books
The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig
4.0
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.