“How Winston Delivered Christmas” by Alex T. Smith
Author Alex Smith suggests that this book of 24 and a half chapters be read nightly one chapter at a time beginning on December first.
Oliver is helping his parents who own the toy shop on Mistletoe Street. Just before the shop closes, Oliver leaves on a very important mission — to mail a letter with hopes that it arrives in time. However, when no one was looking, the envelope slips out of the mail slot and dances in the air down the street.
After a short while, a little mouse named Winston searches for a blanket to keep him warm. He spies something flying in the air. It could be a pigeon but it crashes into him knocking him into the snow.
Winston searches the ground and finds an envelope that would make a great blanket. But when he turns it over, he reads:
To Santa Claus
Candy Cane Lane
The North Pole HOHOHO
URGENT!
Winston knows that to get the letter to Santa in time, he would have to deliver it himself. And thus, begins another very important mission. After all, a mouse can’t fly, or can he?
Smith has suggestions after each chapter such as “write a letter to Santa, make a snowflake ornament, and make a Christmas card.” He includes a list of acts of kindness, which are wonderful suggestions to remember those less fortunate. Or, a trip in the car can become a Christmas scavenger hunt by spotting decorated trees, sparkling lights or perhaps a reindeer.
Besides the story told in advent calendar form, there are recipes for party food and snacks, and thoughts about what a child can do in preparation for Christmas next year.
“How Winston Delivered Christmas” will definitely become a treasured keepsake to revisit every Dec. 1!
— Review by Lizz Taylor, Poor Richard’s Books
“Lucky” by Jane Smiley
What is the definition of lucky? As an adjective, lucky is used to describe a fortunate experience that is not the result of planning or preparation. Jodie’s Uncle Drew told her she was lucky when he asked the 8 year-old to pick two numbers on his racing form. The die was cast and Jodie’s uncle gave her a share of the winnings in $2 bills, 43 of them. Jodie secreted the bills in a roll not telling her mother and hiding the roll under her mattress.
Jane Smiley, author of “A Thousand Acres and The Greenlanders,” creates Jodie as an unpopular girl living in St. Louis with a single mother. Her mother was unlucky in that she got pregnant derailing her plan to work in theater. Jodie can sense that her mother resents the life she now lives and feels responsible for her mother’s sadness.
Jodie becomes a loner at school but she loves music class. She works on her voice to become a better singer. Her cousin, Brucie, has a garage band and they allow Jodie to perform with them. Jodie loves singing but is also interested in writing songs. Jodie is a watcher, she pays attention to the attributes of her classmates, such as the “awkward girl,” too tall for the boys and out-of-step with the girls. Jodie notices details of nature while walking through the park and creates a song as a tribute to the landscape.
Uncle Drew introduces Jodie to a music producer and this is the part of Jodie’s story which is difficult to believe. Smiley writes that Jodie’s song becomes a hit, and she makes hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jodie writes several more songs but decides to leave school, and travel to Europe to study folk music. Of course, the roll of $2 bills is packed into her backpack.
Jodie meets Martin in the English countryside — perfect in every way. His family is wealthy but he chooses to work in a pub to learn about the lives of “real people.” Jodie can’t believe how lucky she is to have a relationship with such a unique, caring person.
But Jodie makes a decision to return to music and the states without Martin. Now, her luck seems to change. It becomes obvious that her mother is an alcoholic and her producer is no longer interested in the songs she composes.
Does Jodie lead a charmed life? Is her search for purpose different from the life she’s creating?
But Smiley draws a different conclusion in the Epilogue section of the novel. It made me wonder, just who in this story is truly lucky?
— Review by Lizz Taylor, Poor Richard’s Books
“Weyward” by Emilia Hart
“I am Weyward, and wild inside.”
“Weyward” by Emilia Hart is a captivating story chronicling the lives of three women over the span of five decades.
1619: Altha, the woman on trial for practicing witchcraft, has to battle not only the community but herself to prove that the only magic she contains is her knowledge and a deep connection with nature.
1942: Violet is trapped in a world full of societal conventions from which she is desperate to break free. When a crime is committed against her, she has no one to turn to. The only connection she has to her past is a locket with a “W” engraving — a connection to Weyward Cottage.
2019: After fleeing an abusive relationship, Kate arrives at the Weyward Cottage, a place she inherited from a distant aunt whom she never knew. The cottage is a safe haven for her damaged body and soul, and turns out to be much more protection than she could have ever known.
History tends to deem unusual women dangerous. Combining historical fiction and magical realism, this book will have you cheering on the courage of these women as they find the strength to conquer their obstacles.
— Review by Jenny Carano, Paul Sawyier Public Library staff
“The Bear and the Nightingale” by Katherine Arden
In medieval Russia, the villagers of Lesnaya Zemlya worship Christ by day and make offerings to the old gods by night. It’s in this remote village, surrounded by snow and forests, that Vasya Petrovna is born, with witch blood in her veins. Growing up, she feels more at ease in the woods surrounding her family’s land than she ever does at home. She runs off to the forest whenever she gets a chance because she can see the nature spirits that live there.
When a priest from Moscow moves to her small village and starts preaching against making offerings to the forest spirits, things start to go wrong. Firewood burns faster, wolves prowl in the dark and children start disappearing as the forest spirits weaken. It’s up to Vasya to take care of the spirits so they can protect the village but in doing so, villagers become suspicious that she’s actually the cause of their woes. Branded a witch and a demon, Vasya has to figure out how to save her home.
“The Bear and the Nightingale” is an atmospheric historical fantasy, perfect for the winter season. Katherine Arden brings Russian myth to life in a story that is simultaneously magical and grounded in Russian history.
— Review by Victor Kalinyak, Paul Sawyier Public Library staff
