On the night before Christmas, something is flying over Hamlet, Vermont, but it isn't a sleigh with reindeer. It's a UFO bearing five aliens on a mission: to free this planet from its evil dictator, a fat man in a red suit and a long white beard. Disguised as Earthlings--well, elves--they meet Mayor Grass, fresh from his annual appearance in Santa Claus costume, and capture him. It's up to Miss Earth's students, the Tattletales (all the girls except Pearl) and the Copycats (all the boys), to set aside their differences and concoct a rescue scheme. In this Yuletide sequel to Seven Spiders Spinning and Six Haunted Hairdos, visitors from the Planet Fixipuddle join the familiar folks of Hamlet--Miss Earth, Grandma Earth, and the rival Tattletales and Copycats--in a comic extravaganza that is literally out of this world.
Gregory Maguire received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England. He still serves as co-director of CLNE, although that organization has announced its intention to close after its 2006 institute.
The bestselling author of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, Mirror Mirror, and the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men. Wicked, now a beloved classic, is the basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Maguire has lectured on art, literature, and culture both at home and abroad.
He has three adopted children and is married to painter Andy Newman. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.
