The 12 Dares of Christa: A Christmas Holiday Book for Kids

by Marissa Burt

Overview

“Inspiring, cozy, and full of heart!” —Lisa Greenwald, author of 11 Before 12 and the Pink & Green series

A thirteen-year-old girl spends her first holiday away from home completing a scavenger hunt that takes her across Europe in 12 Dares of Christa, the first contemporary novel from Marissa Burt, author of Storybound.

Christa is a holiday junkie. What’s not to love? There’s decorations! Gifts! Caroling with friends! But thanks to her parents’ recent separation, Christa’s favorite time of year is now filled with heartache. And when her mom announces that she’s taking her on a mother-daughter trip to Europe over winter vacation, Christa knows she should be excited. She just can’t imagine spending the yuletide season without her dad.

However, waiting at her hotel in Italy is a special package from her father: the first of twelve dares that take Christa to landmarks in three beautiful countries and introduce her to people who will show her that hope is alive in the strangest of places. 

Funny, genuine, and feel-good to the core, The 12 Dares of Christa is one fa-la-la-filled adventure that fans of Wendy Mass and Lisa Greenwald will love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062416186
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/26/2017
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Marissa Burt was forever getting notes sent home from teachers about reading novels during class. She grew up in Oregon and now lives in the Seattle area with her husband and three sons. Marissa is also the author of Storybound and Story's End.

Editorial Reviews

Dare you to try to put this fabulous book down!” — Heather Vogel Frederick, author of the Mother-Daughter Book Club series

“Inspiring, cozy and full of heart—The 12 Dares of Christa is absolutely lovely!” — Lisa Greenwald, author of 11 Before 12 and the Pink & Green series

“I dare you not to love this heartfelt and funny book!” — Jenny Lundquist, author of The Charming Life of Izzy Malone

From the Publisher

I dare you not to love this heartfelt and funny book!

Jenny Lundquist

Dare you to try to put this fabulous book down!

Heather Vogel Frederick

Inspiring, cozy and full of heart—The 12 Dares of Christa is absolutely lovely!

Lisa Greenwald

A richly imagined world. Readers will enjoy the mind-bending fun of puzzling together small details.

ALA Booklist

06/01/2017
Gr 5–8—Thirteen-year-old Christa's plans for her cherished Christmas traditions are upended by her parents' upcoming divorce. She spends the Christmas season with her actress mother, who is performing in a production that's traveling through Europe; her father, a travel agent, remains at home in Chicago. After the initial, traumatic announcement of Christa's parents' separation, the story skips forward five weeks and then slows down again to detail Christa's journey. She spends most of the trip to Florence, Paris, and London on a heavily scheduled guided tour with the other children of troupe members. The famous tourist sites they visit are depicted in glorious detail, and the other characters' full personalities emerge as the kids develop into a close-knit group. A package from Christa's father contains a dare, the first of the titular 12, each of which leads her to a specific landmark. Over the course of the voyage, Christa's relationship with her mother becomes more contentious and distant, partly because of Christa's unhappiness with her family situation. The protagonist has obsessive concerns about possible food allergies and deals with anxiety in general, but the exact cause of these issues is not fully explained. Christa's father addresses her anxiety by urging her to be more daring, and her mother, a rather one-dimensional character, complains that Christa is a drama queen. In addition to coping with family problems, the protagonist experiences a sweet, if predictable, romance. VERDICT Burt departs from her earlier fantasy novels in this realistic fiction title that is likely to appeal to travel and theater buffs.—Judy Poyer, Odenton Regional Library, MD

School Library Journal

2017-06-27
To say Christa Vasile loves Christmas is an understatement.She always sets the Best Christmas Plan Ever into motion on Nov. 1, with the goal of outdoing the previous year's celebration. This year's excellence has already surpassed the others, as Christa and her parents will be going to Europe. But then her parents drop the bad news: they're getting a divorce, and the "coppery"-skinned 13-year-old with "crazy-thick hair" and "eyes that crinkle up in the corners" (but no named race) and her similar-looking mother will go to Europe for some "mother-daughter time." Christa's actress mother will perform in venues throughout their trip, which means Christa has to join the "kid portion of [the] tour" with the other actors' children: hyperexuberant Kylie, artist Sasha, Harry Potter superfan Owen, spiky-haired Logan, and cute hipster Colby. (Sasha is Asian; the rest appear to be white.) After Christa spies her mother making out with Kylie's father, her hopes for a parental reunion go out like a candle in the wind. However, a surprise from her father lifts Christa's spirits. He's continuing their holiday scavenger hunt tradition with one dare for each of the 12 days of Christmas. The tasks encourage Christa to allow the unexpected to lead her to new and exciting places. Her first-person present-tense narration carries the story, and Burt does an excellent job of bringing the magic of Europe to life on the page. A sweet story about letting go and allowing life to lead the way. (Fiction. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews