Yes, I know, it's not Christmas yet (not long now, though, you know!), but last week the weather was so miserable and drizzly, I just felt like I needed some Christmas cheer.
And who better to bring Christmas cheer than one of my favourite YA authors, Maureen Johnson, along with John Green and Lauren Myracle?
Let It Snow is three linked stories, all taking place in the same town during the same period - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Maureen Johnson's The Jubilee Express is about Jubilee Dougal, a girl named after a house in her parents' miniature Christmas village. When her parents are arrested trying to buy the latest (limited edition, of course) Christmas building, she finds herself on a train headed to Florida to spend Christmas with her grandparents. And when that train hits an enormous snowdrift and can go no further, she finds herself in Gracetown, subject to the hospitality of a boy she meets in the Waffle House.
The characters in John Green's A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle are desperately trying to get to that same Waffle House to spend the evening with hot cheerleaders (who are also taking refuge from the stuck train). Well, two of them are interested in the cheerleaders (the boys, JP and Tobin), the girl - Angie, known as the Duke - is more interested in cheese-covered hash browns (as was I, the entire time I was reading this story). Due to the overwhelming snow, the trip to the Waffle House takes hours and is fraught with peril (not least from the other boys trying to get to the cheerleaders first), but then things take a romantic turn...
Finally, in Lauren Myracle's The Patron Saint of Pigs, we meet Addie (who we have heard of in both the previous stories). She's recently broken up with her boyfriend, Jeb, and is broken-hearted. And yet she still has a frightening early shift at Starbucks... and a teacup piglet to collect.
I really enjoyed this book. All three stories are wintery, Christmassy, funny, gripping and romantic. I enjoyed Maureen Johnson's the most, mainly because I love her humour, and Lauren Myracle's didn't quite hold my attention (there was an awful lot of chat with Starbucks customers when I just wanted to get to the romance!), but the ending more than made up for it.
I love it when characters cross over in stories and this was done in an incredibly entertaining way. One for curling up with the fairy lights on and a cup of hot chocolate to drink.
Rating: 4/5
Like this? Try Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson, Looking for Alaska by John Green or How to be Bad by Lauren Myracle (and Sarah Mlynowski and E Lockhart)
