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Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances
AuthorMaureen Johnson, John Green & Lauren Myracle
LanguageEnglish
SubjectTeen Fiction
PublisherSpeak: The Penguin Group
Publication date
2008
Publication placeUnited States
Pages352
ISBN978-0-14-241214-5

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances is a compilation novel written by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle. The novel follows the lives of teenagers in a small city of Gracetown in the middle of a snow storm. The novel consists of three different stories, The Jubilee Express, A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, and The Patron Saint of Pigs all which intertwine with one another. The characters grow and experience love all while braving through the "biggest snow storm in fifty years"[1]. This novel has been put on the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) "Books to Watch Out For" in 2008[2] John Green has also won the Printz Award for his first novel, Looking for Alaska in 2006[3].

Plot

The Jubilee Express

Jubilee Dougal, just a typical teenager, finds herself forced to spend her Christmas Eve with her grand parents in Florida. Her parents were carted off to jail for being involved in a riot for a piece of the Flobie Santa Village, which is a series of small buildings made to resemble a holiday town. They were arrested for an argument that broke out at the store about who was in line first. While on the train ride to Florida, Jubilee meets Jeb, a heartbroken stranger[4] Jeb tries so hard to contact his girl from back home but cannot find cell phone service. Jubilee also finds herself surrounded by a group of cheerleaders who seem to do nothing but annoy her, so she keeps her distance. Her train gets stuck in the snow and she wanders into a nearby Waffle House. While attempting to call her "perfect" [5] boyfriend, Noah, Jubilee meets a guy about her age in a Target uniform named Stuart. She explains to him her situation and he asks her to come back to his place and spend Christmas with him and his family. Jubilee agrees and, with Stuart's help, manages to make her way through the snow to his home safely. Once inside, Stuart's mother Debbie makes Jubilee feel right at home with warm clothes and lots of delicious food. His mother tells Jubilee that she hadn't seen Stuart this happy ever since before he found his girlfriend cheating on him inside a Starbuck's bathroom. Jubilee tells Stuart all about Noah and how perfect she thinks he is. However, Stuart does not buy it. Jubilee realizes that Noah has yet to care about her and her misfortunes on Christmas Eve - of all nights. She then calls Noah and asks him how he couldn't even take time out of his family festivities to care about her, and when he doesn't respond, she breaks up with him. Stuart comes to comfort her and they kiss. Shocked, yet happy, Stuart runs out to help his neighbor shovel snow and Jubilee sees this as her perfect chance to leave. She feels like it was wrong for her to kiss Stuart and all she wants to do is to get back to her train. As she wanders around, looking for the right direction back to the Waffle House, Stuart finds her. He tells her everything will be okay and not to let Noah walk all over her. As her phone rings, Stuart sees that it is Noah and Jubilee tosses her phone into the snowy abyss. Stuart then leans in and kisses Jubilee again. He puts his arm around her shoulder and leads her back towards his home.

A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle

Tobin, the Duke, and J.P are all lounging around on the couch at Tobin's home watching a James Bond movie marathon while his parents are out of town. They also live in Gracetown, so they were hit with the same winter storm. The Duke (also known as Angie) is often not referred to as a girl for her boyish nature and the fact that she doesn't succumb to the same things such as a girly-girl would. Their friend Keun, a worker at Waffle House, calls and tells them that a bunch of cheerleaders have entered the store and are practicing handstands and splits inside the restaurant, having their own fun. To any male, this would be considered "heaven"He refers to this as a "cheertastic miracle", while the Duke thinks it is just a waste of time. Keun says that the cheerleaders are requesting to play the game of Twister, and Keun will not let them in unless they have the game for them to play. He only wants to make the cheerleaders like him and think he is taking charge like a man. Tobin and J.P quickly get dressed and grab Twister from Tobin's closet. Tobin persuades the Duke that even though there are cheerleaders there, Waffle House has fantastic hashbrowns. He knows that the Duke loves the hashbrowns the Waffle House, so she grabs her shoes and they head out to the garage. Tobin's parents left their Honda Civic in the garage so the three hop in and attempt to drive through all of the ice and snow. Eventually, they manage to get to the highway. Once they gain speed and get close to the Waffle House, the civic loses control and slams into a snow bank, losing one of the tires. The three then continue to hike on foot through the cold and snow to get to the Waffle House, actually forgetting the Twister game. They realize they forgot the game in the car once they were halfway there and then had to turn around and retrieve it because of Keun's threat to not let them in to see the girls. With Twister in hand, Tobin, the Duke and J.P make it to the Waffle House just in time. They meet the heartbroken Jeb and he asks them if they knew anyone by the name of Addie. The three say no, and he asks them that if they see her, to tell her that he was coming and that she would know what he meant. As the Duke gets her hashbrowns, Tobin attempts to talk to one of the cheerleaders. Obviously not interested, the cheerleader makes small-talk and then sits down avoiding any more conversation with him. Once Tobin returns back to his seat, he realizes that the Duke is sitting outside on the sidewalk - clearly upset and sobbing. He sits beside her and asks what is wrong. She tells him that she hates that they don't refer to her as girly and she was actually jealous that he talked to the cheerleader in front of her because she assumed that he knew that she had feelings for him. Completely unaware of her feelings, Tobin tells her that he had a crush on her all along. They lean in for a kiss and kindle their new love.

The Patron Saint of Pigs

Addie and Jeb were in love from the moment they met, yet she attempted to change him into her own Prince Charming. Because of this, Jeb felt like he wasn't good enough for Addie and they argued. At a party, they separate and Addie finds her drunken self making out with a boy named Charlie - cheating on Jeb. She tells him, and she claims that it is over. Jeb gets on a train to visit his family in an indian reservation. Before he had left, Addie sends Jeb an email apologizing for everything and asks him to meet her at Starbuck's, where she works, to talk everything out. Addie does not know that Jeb was leaving town. When he didn't respond or call, she knew he was really upset and that it was probably over for good. She went to Fantastic Sam's, a barber shop, and got all of her long, blonde hair cut off and colored it pink to show that she needed to change[6]. On Jeb's way home, his train also got stuck in the snow - the same train that Jubilee found herself on. He attempted to call Addie on multiple occasions to tell her he loved her and was sorry, yet could never make it through. Addie calls her friends over to talk about things and they tell her that she always thinks of herself and can be self-absorbed at times. She disagrees and attempts to get them to change their minds by picking up a teacup pig from the pet store for her friend, Tegan, in the morning on her break at work. Once morning comes around, Addie gets caught up by an old woman at the counter at work and the woman tells her that she is a Christmas Angel and that we often forget to do things for others when we are wrapped up in ourselves[7]. She then leaves, leaving Addie completely confused. Her other friend, Dorrie calls her to remind her to pick up the pig and Addie has completely forgotten. She runs to the pet store and realizes that the big had already been adopted by a woman named Constantine. Furious, Addie steals the receipt and attempts to track down the mysterious woman and get Tegan's pig back. Once she finds the address, she realizes that Constantine is the "christmas angel" from Starbuck's and she adopted the pig out to teach Addie a lesson. Constantine gives Addie back the pig and heads back to work, only to find that there are more customers waiting to be served. She notices a boy she went to school with named Stuart at the counter. By his side stood his new girlfriend which is introduces as Jubilee. As they get served, two other teens walk in. Addie also recognizes them as Tobin and Angie (but people sometimes call her the Duke). Tobin reads her name tag and it reminds him that he had a message for her from Jeb. He tells her and her stomach drops. She realizes that Jeb did in fact get her message and that he was coming for her! At the same time, Addie's boss keeps asking why there is a pig in the store and that she needs to get it out as soon as possible. At the blink of an eye, Jeb walks in and embraces Addie. He tells her about the train and the cheerleaders and how he could not get service to call her. Tobin laughs because they were the same cheerleaders that they adventured out to see at the Waffle House. Jubilee hears of the cheerleaders, notices Jeb and sees how all of their lives have been intertwined. They were all brought back together with new loves and new senses of life.


Critical Reception

Let It Snow has received many positive reviews from Amazon.com, Los Angeles Public Library, Barnes & Noble, Teen Book Review, and more. According to Madeline J. Bryant from the Los Angeles Public Library on BarnesandNoble.com, "Tender without being mushy, these carefully crafted stories of believable teen love will leave readers warm inside for the holidays." [8] Jocelyn tells us in her review of Let It Snow on TeenBookReview.com that, "Between the first two stories, I can’t pick a favorite, but all three stories rock and are compulsively readable. As evidenced by my story, I had great difficulty putting this book down. These three stories are full of CHEER and adventure and romance and hilariousness. They features characters that rock. Maureen Johnson and John Green are at their best here, which is certainly saying a lot, and Lauren Myracle’s story is nothing to scoff at, either. I highly recommend this book, at Christmastime or any other time of year."[9] However, some reviews were more in the negative direction. On a blog, ZenLeaf, user Amanda Agignac feels that, "Of the stories, I liked Maureen Johnson’s the best. None were perfect. I got really tired of Jubilee, who seemed like a clingy, whiny girlfriend. Then again, I remembered back to when I was 15 and remember I was clingy and whiny with my boyfriend around Christmas, too. Of course, that doesn’t make things better. It’s realistic, but frankly I think my 15-year-old self with her first long-term boyfriend was rather pathetic and annoying. I didn’t particularly like John Green’s story (seemed exactly like every other story of his I’ve read), but it set off a tangent in my mind that I’ll get to in a moment that was interesting to think about. It really has nothing to do with the story itself though, which I found both predictable and improbable. Then there was Lauren Myracle’s story, which I might have liked except I hated the whiny, shallow, self-absorbed narrator. I liked getting to see a lot of the characters from the other two stories and how all the narratives started to weave together, but the rest was just full of angst."[10]

About The Authors

Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is an American author of young adult fiction novels. She currently resides in New York City, however she was born in Pennsylvania in 1973. She has written seven books, with her first being A Key to the Golden Firebird. She has also written two short stories, on in Vacations from Hell and the other being in Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances. These do not include other short stories she has written on the side. She was a 2007 Andre Norton Award finalist for her novel, Devilish and was on ALA Teen's Top Ten in 2006 for 12 Little Blue Envelopes.[11]

John Green

John Green is an American author for young adult fiction novels. Born in Indiana in 1977, John Green is a New York Times bestselling author of his novels, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. His books have been published in over a dozen languages. Green has won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2006, the Edgar Award in 2009, and was a two-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize[12].

Lauren Myracle

Lauren Myracle is an author of young adult novels. She was born in 1969 and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Kissing Kate, Lauren's first novel, was placed on ALA Best Books for Young Adults in 2004. She has written the Winnie Years Series, Internet Girls series, as well as twelve other works. Some of her books were considered the most challenged books of 2009 according to the American Library Association. However, her popularity and sales of her books have continued to increase[13].

References

  1. ^ Green, John, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances. New York: Speak, 2008. Print. Pg. 11.
  2. ^ Webber, Carlie. "YALSA » Books to Watch Out For: Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle." YALSA: Books to Watch Out For. 10 July 2008. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2008/07/10/books-to-watch-out-for-let-it-snow-three-holiday-romances-by-john-green-maureen-johnson-and-lauren-myracle/>.
  3. ^ "ALA | Michael L. Printz Award." ALA | Home - American Library Association. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/printzaward/Printz__Michael_L__Award.cfm>.
  4. ^ Sawtelle, Sarah. "LET IT SNOW: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle." Teenreads.com. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/9780142412145.asp>.
  5. ^ Green, John, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances. New York: Speak, 2008. Print. Pg. 3.
  6. ^ Green, John, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances. New York: Speak, 2008. Print. Pg. 218.
  7. ^ Green, John, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances. New York: Speak, 2008. Print. Pg. 295.
  8. ^ Bryant, Madeline J. "Let It Snow, John Green, (9780142412145) Paperback - Barnes & Noble." Barnes & Noble.com. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Let-It-Snow/John-Green/e/9780142412145>.
  9. ^ Jocelyn. "Review: Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle « Teen Book Review." Teen Book Review. 2 Jan. 2009. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://teenbookreview.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/review-let-it-snow-by-maureen-johnson-john-green-and-lauren-myracle/>.
  10. ^ Agignac, Amanda. "Let It Snow, by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle « The Zen Leaf." The Zen Leaf. 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://zenleaf.amandagignac.com/2010/12/let-it-snow-by-john-green-maureen-johnson-and-lauren-myracle.html>.
  11. ^ "Maureen Johnson." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 15 May 2007. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maureen_Johnson#Awards>.
  12. ^ Lastufka, Alan. "John Green’s Biography." John Green — Author of Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://johngreenbooks.com/bio-contact/>.
  13. ^ "Lauren Myracle." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 9 Sept. 2006. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Myracle#cite_note-4>.