Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances [Paperback]

John Green (Author), Lauren Myracle (Author), Maureen Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2008

Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today?s bestselling teen authors?John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle?the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–What do a Christmas Eve snowstorm, 14 perky cheerleaders, a Waffle House, and a guy covered in tin foil have in common? Answer: these romantic holiday stories. Through an interconnected cast of characters set in one small Southern town, each author reveals a serendipitous night in the life of a particular teen. In Johnson's Jubilee Express, level-headed Jubilee experiences a traumatic day during which her parents get arrested, her train gets stuck in the snow, and she breaks up with her boyfriend, but in the end finds a new love. Green deftly portrays the teen male perspective with humor and wit in his Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, which starts with an urgent quest for cheerleaders and ends with an eye-opening experience of finding true love right before one's eyes. In Myracle's Patron Saint of Pigs, while agonizing over the pain of a recent breakup, Addie learns about herself and gains respect for relationships at the same time. Tender without being mushy, these carefully crafted stories of believable teen love will leave readers warm inside for the holidays.–Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In this charming trio of interconnected novellas, a massive snowstorm on Christmas Eve acts as a catalyst for romance in the lives of three teens. In Maureen Johnson’s tale, Jubilee Express, after Jubilee’s train becomes snowbound, she seeks shelter at a nearby Waffle House, along with a squad of hyper cheerleaders. In John Green’s story, A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, a guy summons three friends to the Waffle House, where the combination of cheerleaders and cheesy waffles prompts big realizations. Finally, in Lauren Myracle’s entry, Patron Saint of Pigs, self-absorbed Addie atones for cheating on her boyfriend (who was stuck on Jubilee’s train) by proving she can be an angel for someone else, even if that someone is only a pet pig. Johnson’s playfulness, Green’s banter, and Myracle’s sincerity mesh well here, resulting in a collection that is imbued with optimism and warmth. The plotting is tight, and each end loosed by one author is tied up by another like a bright Christmas bow. A delightful read any time of the year. Grades 8-12. --Jennifer Hubert

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Speak; Regular Print/Single Titl edition (October 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142412147
• ISBN-13: 978-0142412145
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I want this book in my pants. (Figuratively, don't freak out.), October 13, 2008

By 

BadgerBooks ""Fate is like a strange, unp... (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances (Paperback)

I picked up Let it Snow, expecting to read it leisurely as the holidays approached. I imagined reading a few pages here and there throughout the month of November, perhaps finishing it over Christmas break, just in time to break out those reindeer socks with the holes I've been wearing since I was ten and refuse to throw away. Instead, I found myself sucked into a charming, engaging web of a story, only to emerge 14 hours later wanting more.

As a fan of all of the author's independent works, I was pleased to find that each author's voice remained just as unique and bold as in their other works, yet all three worked together seamlessly to tell a larger story. The vividness of the characters is such that they stick with you long after you put the book down. (Okay, I say "long after" but seeing as I finished it about 4 hours ago, I really just mean "stick with you for at least four hours and probably longer" after finishing the book. The point is that you'll find no one-dimensional characters here.) I feel sort of scarily like I grew up alongside Tobin, Addie and Stuart, or have been best friends with Jubilee ever since we both missed the bus on the first day of middle school.

The story is simple, but also marvelously complex, tackling such important existential questions as "What course of action should one take when fourteen cheerleaders are locked in a Waffle House in a small town in Virginia during the worst snow storm in fifty years?" Yes, people fall in love- there is romance and heartbreak and lots of dumping and break ups (or at least a couple); but I promise Let it Snow is not one of those Made-for-TV movies that air way too many times on the Hallmark channel during the month of December in which someone learns to believe in the Christmas spirit and Santa Claus brings everyone presents at the end.

No, Let it Snow doesn't tie a nice little red bow on its romance. The character's relationships feel raw, real and honest. They warm your heart and sort of make you want to be in love. (So much so that I had to actually remind myself that, oh yeah, I was already in love.) Don't worry. If you don't have your own love story to tell this Christmas, after finishing this book, you'll probably want to start taking it out for coffee and to your mother's Christmas Eve smorgasbord. Maybe the two of you will even frolic in the snow? Okay, so I don't actually recommend that, since it's a paperback and ice is usually wet and "wet" and "paperback" is usually a bad combination.

My point is, that you should read this book. You should read this no matter how old you are, or where you live, or what time of year it is or whether or not you like Christmas. You should read this if you want to be entertained, moved, made to think.

Do something nice for yourself this Christmas (Or Halloween, even) and read Let it Snow.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A banana-bread book: tasty and not too complicated, March 31, 2009

By 

K. Kincy "Novelist-in-progress" (Olympia, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances (Paperback)

One afternoon when I was sick and it was stormy outside, I rummaged through my To Be Read pile and grabbed this book. I'd read (and liked) John Green before, so I expected at least a third of LET IT SNOW to be good. Curled up on my bed, I read the first half in one sitting, then read the rest that evening. This is very good, for me, since I read fast but also have a short attention span when tempted by many books.

Curiously, my initial expectation of Green's third being my favorite part of the book didn't turn out right. Green's "A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle" came in second to Maureen Johnson's "Jubilee Express," while Lauren's Myracle's "The Patron Saint of Pigs" came in a distant third. In more detail, here's my lineup:

#1 Johnson wrote my favorite third of the book, carried off by the delightful narrator, Jubilee, named after one of the buildings in a fictional line of Christmas collectibles. These same collectibles, by the way, lead to a shopping riot that lands Jubilee's parents in jail and sends Jubilee on a train-ride into a blizzard... but I won't spoil what happens next in this quirky, charming story. Lots of little details make this story seem feel both real and amusingly ridiculous. The romance, especially, was sweet and fun.

#2 Green's strengths seem to consistently be dialogue and character, though his characters do seem rather familiar at times. His story felt a lot like his other books that I've read--LOOKING FOR ALASKA and AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES--with a group of clever (sometimes a little too clever, if you ask me), crazy friends examined through the eyes of a more normal guy who has a crush on a smart, eclectic, mysterious girl. That's fine with me, I guess, since I liked his other books, though I would like to see him try writing from the viewpoint of a girl for a change. Though I suppose he balances out the other authors, who write through the eyes of female characters.

#3 Myracle's third would have to be my least favorite. It felt like the book lost some of its spark when she took over, and the ending dragged a little while the beginning and middle flew past. I'm not sure why, though I have my theories: perhaps Johnson and Green wrote their thirds first, and then Myracle had to work with the characters and material they came up with rather than introducing too many of her own ideas. Granted, Johnson and Green are tough acts to follow. Or maybe this is just Myracle's style, which I happen not to like as much as those of the other authors. Disclaimer: I won't go as far as to say Myracle's writing ruined the book, because at this point I was already intrigued by the interlocking stories and how the characters rubbed shoulders.

Overall, LET IT SNOW wasn't an epic or deep book, by any means. Rather, it was a banana-bread kind of book: tasty, not too complicated, and when you've finished enjoying it, you don't feel too guilty. (As opposed to fluffier, junkier books.) I would recommend it to anyone who likes sweet romances and quirky teen characters.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Compulsive Reader's Reviews, October 2, 2008

By 

The Compulsive Reader (Big Rapids, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances (Paperback)

It's Christmas Eve, and one of the biggest storms in memory has hit, isolating tiny Gracetown, Virginia. For Jubilee, Tobin, and Addie the storm will bring them together in the most unconventional of ways. Jubilee, on her way to Florida, is stranded outside of Gracetown when her train gets stuck in the snow. Rather than endure Christmas Eve night on the train with a mass of perky cheerleaders, she ventures out and heads to the nearby Waffle House, where she encounters Stuart, who is still nursing a broken heart.

Tobin and his friends JP and the Duke are enjoying their Christmas Eve holed up at Tobin's house and watching a James Bond movie marathon when they are enticed out into the night to the local Waffle House. What should be a twenty minute drive on a clear night turns into a crazy race to get there before the intimidating Reston twins...but when they get there things don't go quite how they planned.

For Addie, the holidays have been filled with misery since she and her boyfriend Jeb broke up. But this year she'll gain some perspective (and possibly more) during one very long and very snowy shift at Starbucks the day after Christmas.

All three stories are cleverly woven together, along with each author's inimitable style and brand of humor. The wholly unique, ironic, witty, intelligent, and heartfelt plots that Myracle, Johnson, and Green have become well known for is strongly present in Let It Snow. The varying and colorful characters are authentic and highly realistic, allowing for the book to appeal to a wide range of reader interests. The dialogue, the jokes, the slang, and actions are all pitch perfect to this generation, and wildly appealing, even as they push the limits of reality. But even so, most readers will be more than willing to hold on tight and enjoy the ride as this sweet and sarcastically funny holiday read unravels.