With one slip on an icy patch, Jake’s mom breaks her leg, and that sudden, severe injury has an initially frightening impact on the ten-year-old’s life. Jake’s father died years earlier, and Jake and his mother live alone. Her accident necessitates a hospital stay, and she’ll require assistance after she’s able to return home. A grandfather he barely knows arrives to lend a hand, and their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Buttermark, proves a true friend as she helps Jake navigate his way through the first few difficult days. With her support, Jake and his reserved grandfather begin to develop a relationship in this novel set during the Christmas season. When an aunt and his mother’s best friend also rally around, Jake realizes he has the support of a wonderful family comprised of relatives and friends. Despite an unfortunately confusing passage of time in the opening scene and the start of chapter one, this novel is a realistic exploration of how scary it can be for a child when something happens to that one adult who cares for him or her, and a warm, affirming look at an expansive idea of family. (Ages 7–11)

"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.