Authors: John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
Publisher: Puffin
Publication Date: September 11th, 2008
Genre: YA, Holiday, Realistic Fiction, Short Stories
It’s the night before Christmas and Gracetown is hit by a snowstorm. Jubilee is sent to her Grandparent’s house in Florida when her parents are arrested at a sale for pieces of a Christmas village. When the snowstorm causes Jubilee’s train to break down, she takes refuge at a waffle house with other passengers, and ends up spending Christmas with the perfect stranger. Tobin and his friends intended to spend Christmas Eve watching James Bond movies, but instead rush to the waffle house for the chance to spend the snowstorm with some stranded cheerleaders. Meanwhile, Addie just wants to get back together with her ex-boyfriend Jeb but finds herself searching town for a friend’s teacup pig. When the world becomes a winter wonderland, new love and second chances seem to be in the air.
I read this book in March and it’s still fairly fresh in my mind, so that should tell you something. I love Maureen Johnson, John Green, Christmas and snow, so I had to check out this book. The stories were sweet and light, centring around romance and new beginnings. This book is composed of three short stories by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle. Johnson’s story had all of her usual charm and sense of humour, and you have to love the quirky Jubilee. I loved the mini-adventure in John Green’s story and the romance that Tobin finds was my favourite in Let it Snow. The first two stories captured what I love about the holidays and put me in the Christmas spirit (in March.) Lauren Myracle’s story was the final part of the book, and I don’t think she did a good job of tying the three story lines together. At the time, I’d never even heard of Lauren Myracle and this story made me not want to read anything by her again. However, since then I have read Shine, which was excellent. I think Myracle is a great writer, although maybe short stories aren’t her thing. Her story is called “The Patron Saint of Pigs,” and I honestly couldn’t tolerate Addie, let alone like her. The plot wasn’t engaging at all and was easily forgettable. The book ends with all the different characters meeting in a Starbucks and it felt awkward and didn’t do credit to the rest of the book. Although it ended on a bad note, I still enjoyed Let it Snow as a whole.
If I had to describe this book in two words it would be “winter fluff.” It was a quick read full of cuteness and winter romance. If you are a fan of any of these three authors and are looking for a fun read this Christmas, then it’s worth checking out. There were some flaws, but I think it’s a nice book to read on a snowy night.
3.5/5
“Something about me has always liked the drama and inconvenience of bad weather. The worse the better, really.”