A Midnight Clear: Stories for the Christmas Season [Hardcover]

Katherine Paterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

Twelve stories by the author of Flip-Flop Girl include the tale of a twelve-year-old Girl Scout who triumphs over the rules and learns about joy from an old lady in a nursing home.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 5 and up. Like Paterson's Angels and Other Strangers (1979), this collection of stories reveals the spirit of Christmas in contemporary life. A few are sentimental with contrived parallels and saintly characters; a few may be too adult in viewpoint to appeal to young readers. But the best of the stories reveal hope and light in a dark, uncertain world. Paterson writes with simple immediacy about outcasts: strangers on the street and at your door, runaways, failures, and illegal immigrants--people who can find no room at the inn. The endings offer no easy resolution, only an opening out of possibilities. One exquisite story about a teenage runaway in the empty night celebrates the song of "stubborn sweetness" that persists despite our turning away from it again and again. Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1st edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525675299
• ISBN-13: 978-0525675297
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Paterson has twice won both the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award. She received the 1998 Hans Christian Andersen Medal as well as the 2006 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for the body of her work. An active promoter of reading and literacy, she lives with her husband, John, in Barre, Vermont. They have four children and seven grandchildren. Visit Katherine Paterson on her web site at www.terabithia.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patterson radiates the true meaning of Christmas, November 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Midnight Clear: Stories for the Christmas Season (Hardcover)

Turn down the volume to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas " C.D.! Gather the family 'round the Christmas tree! Katherine Patterson has done it again. Patterson shows her versatile writing style in her collection of short stories, A Midnight Clear: Stories for the Christmas Season. From a pregnant woman in Marion, Virginia, to a political prisoner in Red China, these stories radiate the true spirit of the Christmas season. Enjoy this work of Katherine Patterson as you roast your chesnuts over the open fire!