On Christmas Eve - Couverture souple

Booklist.
Gr. 3 5. Even though Tess is eight, she still believes in Santa, and she's particularly anxious to see him this year because she has a special request. Her friend Sarah's father is ill with cancer, and Tess thinks Santa will work his magic to save him. Set in 1958, this story harkens back to a simpler time and captures the magic of belief. It is at its best when Tess (who sounds older than eight) describes her small town life, punctuated bythe activity of the holidays and the sadness Sarah is going through. Effective also are Sarah's musings about the mystical. But when Santa actually appears, the mix of the everyday and the supernatural seems strained. The story also moves in fits and starts: the first two-thirds of the book are expansive, but the rest seems cramped with a whole year's events. Yet despite problems wit plotting and pacing, Martin's writing can be mesmerizing, reaching out to readers and bringing them close. There are difficult as well as lovely things to think about here. Ilene Cooper

PW
Martin (A Corner of the Universe ) captures the essence of holiday magic, hope and disappointment in this poignant story set in the 1950s. Third-grader Tess McAlister is determined to meet the "real" Santa Claus ("not a department store Santa in a faded suit with a limp beard"). She wants to tell him an important message about what her best friend, Sarah, needs for Christmas: for Sarah's father, who has cancer, to get well. Although Tess's older sister can think of several reasons why Santa cannot possibly exist, Tess retains her faith and on Christmas Eve indeed witnesses miraculous events shortly after midnight. Without becoming overly sentimental, the author evokes the true Christmas spirit through her endearing narrator's efforts to keep hope alive. Offering a mix of sad and joyous events, this book will touch the hearts of believers and nonbelievers alike. Ages 9-12.(Oct

Kirkus
Christmas stories tend to be sentimental, and this one is no exception. Martin trims her I-believe-in-
Santa” tale with garlands of an unselfish wish, a friend's ill father and faith in the season. Third-grader Tess
is convinced that this year (1938) she will meet the real Santa and experience the Christmas magic.”
Instead of leaving him cookies, she buys him a gift of a snow globe and wishes that her best-friend Sarah's
father could be home from the hospital for the holiday. Nostalgic and tender, by next Christmas Tess has
come to realize that some gifts are not exactly the ones you ask for. This old-fashioned, Norman Rockwell
image of a family Christmas reflects the time period, but who is the audience? Will today's eight- and nineyear-
olds accept Tess's belief in Santa? The title, the appealing cover of the snow globe and Martin's name
will sell this sentimental sleigh ride most likely to grandparents. (Fiction. 8-10)

A heartfelt gift for every family, sure to be shared over and over each year.

Eight-year-old Tess is convinced this is the year she will finally meet Santa and experience the "Christmas magic." She also wishes with all her heart that her best friend's ill father will recover. Tess's faith in the season results in a Christmas Eve so wondrous, so sparkling, readers won't be able to help but feel transformed. Like trimming the tree and "It's a Wonderful Life"; baking cookies and "White Christmas"; ON CHRISTMAS EVE is sure to bring new holiday magic to readers' lives.