THE TRUE STORY OF CHRISTMAS
by Anne Fine
England’s Children’s Laureate lets out all the stops in this no-holds-barred look at a Christmas celebration in an English family full of eccentric relatives, including spoiled little cousins and a great-aunt who thinks she sees the vicar floating past the window. The younger son of the family, Ralph, tells the story of the holiday reunion of 15 relatives, each with issues with other family members, plus an innocent little neighbor boy who always overhears what he shouldn’t. Ralph looks back at Christmas through first-person narration told in short chapters full of snappy dialogue, witty jokes, and one comical disaster after another. The chapters are like scenes in a very funny play, full of rejoinders and exposition of family relations through dialogue and character interaction. The text includes lots of British terms and expressions, but readers used to the Harry Potter books will take that in stride. This hilarious saga is full of irreverent humor and truly original characters unlike those in any other Christmas story, a fine change from overly sweet Christmas treats. (Fiction. 9-13)