What Child Is This?: A Christmas Story Book

Not everyone is lucky at Christmas. Some people would call 16-year-old Liz Kitchell and her family truly fortunate, but it doens't feel that way to her. It seems that only a miracle can give 8-year-old Katie her holiday wish. She wants a family, something she does not have as a foster child. As for 17-year-old Matt, he too is in a foster home and is finally letting himself feel a sense of belonging. When he allows himself to do a good deed for Katie, he doesn't realize what would happen. Is the spirit of Christmas strong enough to grant the impossible?

VOYA

A departure from Cooney's adventure and suspense novels, this, too, is a page turner. The modern Christmas story centers on three teenagers, Tack, Liz, and Matt, whose lives are intertwined during the holidays. Liz is the younger daughter of materialistic parents, for whom Christmas is a party. She has a crush on classmate Tack, whose strong, close family owns a restaurant, the River Wind Inn, where the Christmas tree displays bells expressing the Christmas wishes of underprivileged children. Matt, a foster child for many years, works at the River Wind Inn. He has become a survivor of the foster system by daring not to feel hope, only anger. These three are brought together by the hope and need of Katie, Matt's younger foster sister, whose Christmas wish is to have a family. Cooney's characters come alive. Matt's frustration and anger are realistic, as are Liz's and Matt's quests for more meaning in their lives. Cooney gives us excellent Christian fiction, as well as an uplifting novel of the human spirit. The story is not just about how Katie finds a family at Christmas, but also about how Matt and Liz learn to think of others more than the adults in their lives have taught them to do. Allowing themselves to feel all emotions, seek community, and believe in a high power bring meaning to their lives. This beautiful novel deserves to be read by many. The story evokes such emotion that I am still thinking and talking about it with friends and colleagues. VOYA Codes: 5Q 4P M J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written, Broad general YA appeal, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).