Love, Santa: A Different Kind of Christmas Story (Hardcover)

by Sharon Glassman (Author) "New York City is lit up like one big Christmas tree..." (more)
Key Phrases: Operation Santa Claus, Arty Bike Girl, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Proving that there's hope for the jaded to find joy during Christmas season madness, writer and performer Glassman recounts how she beat many years of holiday blues through a charity called Operation Santa Claus. Growing up in a suburban family she calls "ethnically Jewish, pop culturally pro-Noel," Glassman envied her classmates' robust feasts, silvery tinsel and pretty carols. In comic, sharply observed detail, she relays her parents' mangling of traditions and laments their spiritual misdirection, "a serious case of Robert Frost meets Dante gone wrong." Attempting to make up for her family's lack of authentic "Christmas spirit," Glassman tries to create the perfect aura of Christmas each holiday season. She's unsuccessful until she discovers Operation Santa Claus, which gives people the chance to answer a letter to Santa Claus-a request for a new coat or a kitten-that might otherwise end up in the dead letter office. With pleas from two kids and a mom, Glassman braves crowds, bizarre Brooklyn shops and exhausting lines at the post office to fulfill their Christmas needs (and to get in touch with a concept she'd forgotten about since Hebrew school: tzedaka, or anonymous charity), thereby coming to understand that the art of giving is the best tradition of all. While her cliched New Yorker-ish obsessions become tiresome, Glassman's amusing asides on her childhood, her commitment to Operation Santa Claus (she performs the book as a monologue in her one-woman show to promote the charity), and real letters from needy children to Santa make this a unique and genuine holiday tale.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Ever since she was a child, Sharon Glassman wanted to celebrate her first Christmas. But it never happened. Then she heard about the U.S. Post Office's Operation Santa Claus-which makes letters from needy children written to Santa available to the general public. Sharon decided this was her chance: She would go grab a letter, buy a present, and then "get on with her life." What happened changed her life. She discovered that even though she was not a mother and didn't celebrate Christmas, by buying presents for three underprivileged children she would never meet she experienced the true essence of Christmas. Filled with hip illustrations and children's actual letters to Santa, the book also features instructions on how readers can get involved and become undercover Santas themselves.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446679453
• ISBN-13: 978-0446679459
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,899,772 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Different Kind of Book Review, August 25, 2003

By	Gail Parenteau (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

After reading "Love Santa" by Sharon Glassman, I was reminded that one person can make a difference. Like many other people who get caught up in the whirlwind of their own life, I too did not pause to reflect upon the meaning of the holiday season and the true spirit behind gift giving. Sharon's book is a wake up call to everyone to count your blessings and think of the less fortunate.

In addition, her story is cleverly written with huge doses of humor, and one I would recommend for tweens to seniors.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Operation Santa Claus, November 7, 2004

By	Rebecca Johnson "SeasonedwithLove.com" (Washington State) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

The first thing I did when I got home was unpack my letters and put them on top of my desk so they could breathe. Then I steamed some spinach in a warm filtered-water mist, read a book, and went to sleep. Then at four o'clock the next morning, I woke up in a cold sweat. I had gone from being an independent single woman to being the sole provider of Christmas for three innocent children. What had I been thinking? ~Sharon Glassman

Sharon Glassman instantly captured my attention with her modern journal about her adventures that lead up to the first entry on December 22nd at 2 A.M. Not the time of day one expects to find anyone at a post office. However, the all-night main Manhattan post office on Thirty-third Street and Eighty Avenue is where we find the author waiting in line, observing her surroundings and taking the opportunity to chat with a hockey player with a French accent and irresistible smile.

Sharon Glassman's writing style is witty, modern and deliciously entertaining. Santiago Cohen's art really captured my attention and helped to give the story an additional dimension of merriment.

Sharon Glassman may well be the Bridget Jones of Christmas although the focus is much more on shopping and the story focuses on buying gifts for children. The "wish lists" to Santa are letters sent to the post office from families in need. Sharon finds herself interested in three letters and then wonders what she was thinking. She only has a few days to find the presents and get them shipped in time for Christmas.

As she recounts her own Christmas history, you can see why her desire to transform herself into a "Lace-Clad Girlfriend of Christmas" overtakes her and leads her to her dream Christmas party. She also takes us along for her Christmas shopping trip that may inspire your own Operation Santa Claus dreams.

In her search for the perfect presents, she realized how specific the children's wishes are and that a castle, a football and a down jacket will take her on some interesting shopping trips. I loved her description of New York and how her pro-Noel family camped out on a red-and-green plaid living room couch to watch holiday television specials.

If you are wondering how you could give the gift of Christmas to children or adults across America, Sharon's heart-defrosting story will give you ideas about how you can find similar volunteer efforts.

~The Rebecca Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming, Funny Christmas Story is a Call to Action, September 6, 2003

By	A Reader in Asheville - See all my reviews

Sharon Glassman's Love, Santa is the tender, witty and charming story of how one confused, shopping-challenged but thoroughly good-hearted young woman finds her way through the manic commercialism of the American holiday season to a deeper celebration of what it means to give. I laughed and wept in the same breath, and I came away from Ms. Glassman's book inspired to do my own part for Operation Santa Claus this season.