All I Want For Christmas

By Author / Illustrator

Beth Garrod

Genre

Friends and family

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Scholastic

ISBN

9780702300882

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

01-10-2020

Synopsis

The brand-new snowy, festive, feel-good, rom-com from bestselling Beth Garrod, perfect for fans of To All The Boys I've Loved Before and The Kissing Booth. US-based Elle is a social-media influencer. But sometimes online attention isn't all it seems from the outside; with a family who are constantly on the move, and so-called friends putting pressure on her to increase her following, she decides to swap places with one of her followers for the holidays. Holly lives in a small village in England, and LOVES christmas more than anything else. Nothing is going to get in the way of this year being the BEST Christmas ever . . . Nothing! But when her mum announces she's selling their house, and Woody decides they should go on a "break", her plans for the perfect Christmas start to crumble like overbaked gingerbread people. Will swapping with Elle be Holly's perfect opportunity to escape? And far from home, will they both find all they want for Christmas? The perfect read for fans of the the movies The Holiday and Last Christmas.

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Reviews

This book is non-stop Noel so put your onesie on, make a huge mug of hot chocolate, grab a selection box and load a festive playlist. Unless your name is Ebeneezer Scrooge, you'll be humming Mariah Carey and reaching for your Christmas jumper within a few chapters.

Our two narrators have very different feelings about Christmas. Holly LOVES it - she starts decorating after Halloween and has lists of every conceivable holiday activity to make her Yuletide bright. Elle is less keen - her family's business provides Christmas lights and decorations to wealthy homes and businesses in their US hometown and by the time the Big Day arrives, they're all a bit festived-out.

When all Holly's plans for a perfect Christmas fall through, she jumps at the chance to have a week's Christmas exchange with Elle, who is trying to grow her popular social media account for a contest and thinks a well-publicised trip to England will do the trick. Holly gets to go to New York for the American Advent-ure (sorry!) she's always dreamed of - and thoroughly planned. Elle's experiences of Holly's English village - not to mention an exhausting-sounding day out in London - are painstakingly captured and posted while her follower count rises.

At the outset, Holly thinks Elle's life is perfect, while Elle thinks Holly's village looks cute in a photo. But, as they experience something of each other's reality, and get to know each other's friends and families, they both begin to learn what truly makes a wonderful Christmastime.

Suitable for year 7 and up, All I Want for Christmas is 100% feel-good, festive fun which demands of you only that you eat a slightly unreasonable amount of chocolate while enjoying every tinselled page. Happy Christmas!

416 pages / Ages 12+ / Reviewed by Kimberley Lawson, school librarian