Chatterbox: Blab About Books

Written by Brittney Ryan and illustrated by Laurel Long, this is probably my second favorite book of all time. In this book, Santa Claus/Nicholas Claus is the king of Forever, the land of those who have changed the world through good in their mortal lives enough to become immortal. Nicholas receives thousands of letters evey Christmas from children, but one year he receives a letter that changes his life forever. A 10-year old boy named Christopher writes, not telling what he wants, but asking what Nicholas wants and promising to do all in his ability to grant this wish. Nicholas knows, in that instant, that he wants a child, and so Holly Claus is born. She is pronouced soon after to have the purest and most compassionate heart ever. Normally, this would be a good thing, but an evil warlock called Herrikhan curses Holly and her home. Herrikhan is being held prisoner in a filthy, stinking land underground, and cannot perform magic unless he is in the prescence of fear, due to the horrible deeds of greed and cruelty he's performed. The only way to break this curse is to posess a pure and compassionate heart, willingly given. The curse he sets on the land to obtain his goal, and Holly's longing to help others out in the world, leads to a magical and wonderful course of events that will make you cry, laugh, and yell at your book, "No, Holly, don't do that!" because you'll want to follow the characters all the way. Plus, Laurel Long's illustrations are the most detailed and beautiful illustrations I've ever seen. They're almost magical themself. This book is comparable to Harry Potter, so if you liked that, I'd recommend reading this. It's not a book you want to miss! Get it from the library today!

 P.S. It's more of a Christmas season book (very good holiday present, by the way) but you can enjoy it any time of year.