Jake

Description

"I m old enough to stay home alone, you know."

Mom said, "Not a chance. Who s going to lug the loot ba—" and the locks on the door sprung open. I opened the door and unloaded the cart. It took five minutes, probably less.

"Mom?" I said, looking around when I d finished. I didn t see her. "Mom?" I yelled. "Mom?"

It s a few days before Christmas when 10-year-old Jake s mom slips and breaks her leg. For as long as Jake can remember, it s just been him and his mom, so with no one else to look after him the hospital contacts the gruff granddad Jake only knows through awkward twice-a-year phone calls. When grandad shows up, he s nothing like Jake expected. But as Jake gets to know his grandfather and a makeshift family of friends and neighbors come together around him and his mom, he realizes that this might not be such a bad Christmas after all.

With beautiful spare writing that will appeal to fans of Because of Winn-Dixie and The Higher Power of Lucky, Newbery Honor—winning author Audrey Couloumbis tells a story as warm and welcome as a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day and shows that the best gift of all is the gift of family.