Christmas isn’t how it used to be in the town of Bracket Wood. A tech company runs Christmas now, with hologram Santa’s, drone delivered
presents and no sign of a sleigh, a ho ho ho, or any reindeer in sight. Sure it’s more convenient, but sometimes there are much more important things than… easy.
At least that’s what eleven year old Etta believes. She longs for the Christmases her grandmother spoke about. With tinsel, crackers, and the crazy shopping nights that all added to the Christmas spirit.
It doesn’t help Etta’s feelings to know her dad works for the company named Winterzone either. Winterzone controls everything about Christmas, and her dad likes his job. Etta wonders what happened to the reindeer, elves and the big red jolly man himself and then suddenly an answer to these questions is closer then ever before.
The mission to find real answers beyond the constant Winterzone advertising and hi tech Christmas spin reveals that Winterzone has much more power than first thought. They control much more in daily lives than Christmas, so going up against them – and her dad, could be dangerous.
But Etta is determined to find true Christmas in memory of her Grandmother, and for her little brother Jonas too.
The narrator speaks directly to the reader in this funny and exciting middle grade novel. This engages the reader early, hooking them into the story.
We all know what Christmas is supposed to feel like so can empathise with Etta and her friends.
The tech part of the novel is also interesting as it makes us think about how much tech we have in our lives, and the importance of cyber safety and online privacy.
I also enjoyed the main character’s dad realising that his job was making him unhappy, and he actually does something about it.
A Christmas read with substance with lots of laugh out loud moments.
Author – David Baddiel
Illustrator – Steven Lenton
Age – 9+
(2024, Harper Collins UK, Christmas Spirit, Family, Memories, Love, Courage, Funny, Cyber Safety, Online Privacy, Robots, Technology, Control, Grandmother)