Teen Tuesday - Christmas Reads

Here are some of my favorites, most of which you may not be familiar with:


Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Penguin Classics paperback).

This is the most traditional on my list, but I sitll love the opening Christmas scene, when the four sisters are trying to have a "normal" holiday while their father is off at war, is still one of my favorites.




The Haunted Tea-Cosy by Edward Gorey (HMH hardcover).

 

Edward Gorey's take (subtitled A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas) on Dickens' A Christmas Carol, will be enjoyed by fans of Lemony Snicket, as well as those who already love Gorey. 

 
Dave Cooks the Christmas Turkey by Stuart McLean (Viking Canada hardcover).

Even if you aren't familiar with The Vinyl Cafe, a weekly programme on CBC Radio, you'll laugh yourself silly at this story of  Dave, the blunderful record store owner who offers to cook the Christmas bird while his wife Morley and their two children volunteer at the local food bank.


Flat-out Love  by Jessica Park (Skyscape e-book).

I loved this charming story about Julie Seagle, a young woman who moves to Boston to go to university, but finds that the apartment she (thought she) rented through Craigslist does not exist.  Her mother contacts her own roommate from college, who invites Julie to stay with them until she finds a place.

The family is welcoming, but Julie finds something not-quite-right about them, and is determined to figure out what it is. Matt is an expectedly geeky MIT student with few social skills,  13-year-old Celeste carries around a life-sized cardboard cut-out photo of her eldest brother Finn, who is apparently travelling around the world, and parents Erin and Roger spend most of their time at their university offices.

The story of Julie's first Christmas on her own is why it's on this list.