Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle

Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle

Release Date: October 2, 2008
Publisher: Speak
Source: Library

Summary

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. (courtesy of Goodreads)

There is a time and place for hard-hitting, depressing issues novels. And there is a time and place for books that are designed simply to make you happy. Let It Snow is one of those happy books.

Ostensibly, Let It Snow is a Christmas book. But apart from being set at Christmas time, Christmas really has nothing to do with it. The book contains three stories. At around 100 pages each, the word novella best describes each story. They are all loosely connected around a single town but are quite different.

Maureen Johnson's story was probably my favorite. It is a good old-fashioned love story. Two characters meet unexpectedly. One is suffering from the effects of a bad ex-girlfriend and the other from a bad current boyfriend. Stuart and Jubilee are unremarkable characters in the best of ways. They are both normal, nice people like most of this book's readers. It's a story of good things happening to good people.

John Green's story focuses on adventure. Take three normal (normal geeks at any rate) teenagers and present them with a challenge - get to the local diner in the middle of a blizzard as fast as possible with the reward of a gaggle of cheerleaders (or hash browns, for the girl of the group). And said teenagers will go to enormous, idiotic, life endangering risks to get themselves to said diner. It's a laugh out loud story as the friends encounter one obstacle after another and still press on. The dialogue between the three characters is spot-on. There's a romance tacked on at the end that I thought was unnecessary to an already great story, but I suppose that's the theme of the book.

Lauren Myracle's story is a coming of age story that takes place over a few days. Addie is a nice, but self-absorbed girl. She broke up with her boyfriend Jeb because she didn't think he went to enough lengths to be romantic. Now that she's lost him, she's realized what an idiot she was and desperately wants him back. In the mean time, she needs to learn to think of someone other than herself and become a better girlfriend rather than expecting Jeb to be a better boyfriend. A fairly cookie-cutter character development story, but enjoyable nonetheless.

While Maureen's story is my favorite simply for the amount of "Awww's" it produced, all three novellas are impeccably written. This is a book that feels most appropriate during the winter but in reality should be on your shelf any time you need a pick-me-up. Let It Snow is simply a delight.

Rating: 4 / 5

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