The Deal: Marva Ferguson lives at the edge of a trailer park in the house she shared with her husband, there she enjoys collecting aprons (she has over 150 of them) and going about her day. Carlee Alexander just moved to the 27 homes trailer park because her family didn't do well with the turns of the economy and the lost their house.
Carlee is a bit lonely in the trailer park, with her parents always gone working and her older brother Zach always in a bad mood. She tries to makes friends with some of her neighbors but her attempts are unsuccessful until she sees Marva across the field that separates their houses.
Marva invites Carlee over and the two of them strike a friendship that quickly turns deep and full of love, and it doesn't matter that Marva is about eighty and Carlee only 10. Together they make their days more bearable.
Even after some really bad news hit Carlee, her family and Miss Marva almost all at once. Not that Carlee or Miss Marva are ready to give up, specially with Christmas just around the corner.
My Thoughts: I'm not sure what I expected when I requested The 13th Day of Christmas but what I found was a really sweet and touching story about friendship and Christmas.
Marva and Carlee were a little lonely but they find love and comfort in each other and that sort of ripples over to the rest of Carlee's family, particularly to her brother Zach who's having a really hard time with the move and with life in general.
The situation in which Carlee and her family find themselves was pretty sad but also realistic -her father's construction business went under and they lost nearly everything and they are now living paycheck to paycheck. They try to keep it together for their kids but it's hard and they struggle.
The story does have a tread of sadness running through it but it's not bleak so I found it very touching and it made my heart squeeze and my eyes tear up. There is also a nice message even if it's a little on the religious side it wasn't overwhelming.
My one complain is that Carlee sounds a bit younger than she's said to be.
The 13th Day of Christmas is a really good Christmas read, but you don't have to wait until then for it to be enjoyable. Also, this is general fiction so it's not really for little kids or for adults, and there is no romance. But I still liked the story anyway.
