James Cardona
Published: 2013-01-21
Total Pages: 108
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Finalist - The Wishing Shelf Children's Book Awards - 9-12 year old Category. Indie BRAG Award Winner. In this fast paced, Children's holiday science fiction adventure, Edwin, a fourteen year old and an odd character dressed as Santa Claus attempt to stop aliens and save the planet in 1950's Manhattan. When Edwin cuts his finger, dripping a few drops of blood onto a bone-colored tracking device he becomes a target of a group of aliens that think he holds the secret to the human race's defeat. The only person who seems to know what to do is a fat man wearing a Santa Claus suit and he somehow seems to know just a little too much. Who is he and why does he know so much? Where did the aliens come from and what are they after? Can a Fourteen year old wandering the cold, empty streets of Manhattan late on Christmas Eve and an odd character dressed as Santa Claus stop the aliens, save the planet and discover the true meaning of Christmas? Readers are calling it "packed with humor, action" and "adventure" and "intelligent and thoroughly enjoyable." Grab hold of this children's science fiction Christmas adventure and take a wild ride. One day, Edwin's father, Fundy, witnesses a strange object falling out of the sky. When he realizes a person is in it, he helps the red suited man pull his strange vehicle out of the muck with his horse, Paulo. As Santa flies off, he accidentally drops his ring. After his encounter with the strange man, Fundy and his wife move to the United States, hoping to find happiness, but instead they eventually get divorced, placing Edwin in a children's home when neither of them could take care of their son. When Edwin is dropped off at the children's home, Fundy gives his son his most prized possession, the Santa's ring. Several years after his divorce, Fundy has remarried, has a little girl, acquired a decent job, and wishes for Edwin to come back home. Whether for rage or guilt, Edwin cannot bring himself to do this. He feels as though his home is no longer his own, as if a strange woman is living there. Edwin knows that he will no longer see his father and actual mother together ever again, but it's just not right to him. Called, "an absolute gem of a story aimed at our 8 -10 yr olds," it brings "a wonderful slant to a timeless classic" that seems to have always lived around Santa Claus and the gift of Christmas, bringing us closer to that Original Christmas. As the aliens chase Edwin through the cold, dark streets on Christmas Eve, steadily getting closer and closer, you will run with Edwin as he tries to determine what in the world is going on? Who are those people that are chasing him? Why does Santa seem to know about Edwin being tracked? Amid the dashing through a city to escape strange people chasing him, our hero discovers things about himself that he has never known and learns just how valuable family really is. During the fight between Edwin, Santa Claus and the aliens, our hero learns just how much difference loyalty and friendship can make and that family values are the real gifts that Christmas brings. "There is simply something about the character Edwin that I really fell in love with and latched on to. Perhaps it was his family situation and the decision that he had to make when deciding whether to live with his reconstructed family or stay at a children's home that naturally drew me to him." --Annette Huss A holiday Christmas tale about a dysfunctional family coming together married to a science fiction adventure involving an alien scouting party prior to a full scale alien invasion, this one is sure to please middle grade students and adults alike. Set in a 1950's Manhattan, the book has a retro feel but the situations and family conflicts are timeless. A brisk, fast paced and entertaining novel that constantly engages the reader with new developments, Santa Claus vs the Aliens is full of tense situations interspersed with fun, laughs and comedy.
