Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

by Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle, John Green

Book Overview

Now a Netflix Original Film
#1 New York Times bestseller

An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train, setting off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142412147
• ISBN13: 9780142412145
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Lovely book!!

This is such a cute Christmas book!! All three stories are so cute and quirky. great book for Christmas time!!

Perfect book for Christmas time

I love how the authors intertwined the stories together, their writing styles worked so well together. While reading this book I couldn’t help but smile!

A banana-bread book: tasty and not too complicated

One afternoon when I was sick and it was stormy outside, I rummaged through my To Be Read pile and grabbed this book. I'd read (and liked) John Green before, so I expected at least a third of LET IT SNOW to be good. Curled up on my bed, I read the first half in one sitting, then read the rest that evening. This is very good, for me, since I read fast but also have a short attention span when tempted by many books. Curiously, my initial expectation of Green's third being my favorite part of the book didn't turn out right. Green's "A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle" came in second to Maureen Johnson's "Jubilee Express," while Lauren's Myracle's "The Patron Saint of Pigs" came in a distant third. In more detail, here's my lineup: #1 Johnson wrote my favorite third of the book, carried off by the delightful narrator, Jubilee, named after one of the buildings in a fictional line of Christmas collectibles. These same collectibles, by the way, lead to a shopping riot that lands Jubilee's parents in jail and sends Jubilee on a train-ride into a blizzard... but I won't spoil what happens next in this quirky, charming story. Lots of little details make this story seem feel both real and amusingly ridiculous. The romance, especially, was sweet and fun. #2 Green's strengths seem to consistently be dialogue and character, though his characters do seem rather familiar at times. His story felt a lot like his other books that I've read--LOOKING FOR ALASKA and AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES--with a group of clever (sometimes a little too clever, if you ask me), crazy friends examined through the eyes of a more normal guy who has a crush on a smart, eclectic, mysterious girl. That's fine with me, I guess, since I liked his other books, though I would like to see him try writing from the viewpoint of a girl for a change. Though I suppose he balances out the other authors, who write through the eyes of female characters. #3 Myracle's third would have to be my least favorite. It felt like the book lost some of its spark when she took over, and the ending dragged a little while the beginning and middle flew past. I'm not sure why, though I have my theories: perhaps Johnson and Green wrote their thirds first, and then Myracle had to work with the characters and material they came up with rather than introducing too many of her own ideas. Granted, Johnson and Green are tough acts to follow. Or maybe this is just Myracle's style, which I happen not to like as much as those of the other authors. Disclaimer: I won't go as far as to say Myracle's writing ruined the book, because at this point I was already intrigued by the interlocking stories and how the characters rubbed shoulders. Overall, LET IT SNOW wasn't an epic or deep book, by any means. Rather, it was a banana-bread kind of book: tasty, not too complicated, and when you've finished enjoying it, you don't feel too guilty. (As opposed to fluffier, junkier books.) I would recommend it to anyone who likes sweet romance

So this is what it feels like to be in love with a book...

So this is what it feels like to be in love with a book... Best thing for me about this collection? How all the stories overlap slightly. Characters from the first story show up in the second, characters from the second are in the third etc. The authors have put together their heads and created a world that all of their characters could live in, and I loved it! I also loved getting the chance to read stories by Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle for the first time, it definitely will not be the last time! Now onto the individual stories.. Maureen Johnson's, The Jubilee Express starts like a normal day, a girl (Jubilee) waiting at home for her parents to arrive and looking forward to getting to spend the evening with her boyfriend. It quickly steers off course and Jubilee finds herself stuck on a train going nowhere with a group of cheerleaders (she HATES cheerleaders). She makes her way off the train and that's when the adventure really begins... John Green's, A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle also starts like any ordinary winter day. Three friends are enjoying a Bond marathon until they receive a call that they must get down to the Waffle House to partake in the oogling of some cheerleaders. This would just be a typical guys being guys story except one of these three friends happen to be a girl (and she's not in it to oogle any cheerleaders). Their journey through a huge snowstorm to see the cheerleaders ends up stirring up some hidden feelings between two of the friends... Lauren Myracle's, The Patron Saint of Pigs, centers around Addie who, when in a confused and drunken state makes a mistake and because of it loses her boyfriend. She spends some time feeling bad for herself but is forced to get back to the daily grind at Starbucks. Through a series of events she learns a little something about herself... So if I had to choose, I'd pick John Green's story as my favorite. But I like to look at it one big story! This is a great book, especially for this time of year! It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! I think it's a great way to get introduced to some of the biggest names in young adult literature!

Love it out loud

This is my new all-time favorite book. I bought it and finished it that week. It starts out like, 'I'm Jubilee. I'm not a stripper. My parents are in jail over a ceramic holiday village' and just gets better and better. I usually read books that are relatable (Real word?) but this is... out there. I mean, I wish I had the lovey-dovey part, but it's not often you have to walk a few miles in a storm, racing to bring Twister to a Waffle House... Overall, I give this 5 stars, at least. Its cute, lol-funny, and romantic. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FOR ME BUY IT AND READ IT AND ENJOY IT AND BE COOL.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

I'm a sucker for romance any time of the year, but something about the holiday season makes me want to curl up in a nice blanket, drink hot chocolate, and read love stories. LET IT SNOW is the perfect holiday read. Maureen Johnson starts things off with THE JUBILEE EXPRESS, in which Jubliee (no, not a stripper, but named for a piece in her mother's collection of the Flobie Santa Village) finds herself stranded on a train in Gracetown in a huge snowstorm. A trip to the Waffle House introduces her to Stuart and friendship, or maybe something more, starts to form. In A CHEERTASTIC CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, author John Green hilariously describes the mission of three friends to get to the Waffle House where a group of cheerleaders are stranded and wanting to play Twister. And Lauren Myracle's THE PATRON SAINT OF PIGS shows that lost love can be found again with the help of Starbucks, angels, and even a pig. Each story stands well on its own, but it was nice to have a common thread throughout. I loved how the authors found ways to connect all three stories. Characters you meet in the beginning show up later on, and places like Starbucks and the Waffle House are important to all three tales. The only thing I didn't like was that they were all short stories - I could have kept reading about each of the characters! LET IT SNOW is a great, warm, fuzzy read for the holidays, so grab some hot chocolate and curl up because you won't want to stop reading until you're finished and happily sighing. Reviewed by: Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen

The Compulsive Reader's Reviews

It's Christmas Eve, and one of the biggest storms in memory has hit, isolating tiny Gracetown, Virginia. For Jubilee, Tobin, and Addie the storm will bring them together in the most unconventional of ways. Jubilee, on her way to Florida, is stranded outside of Gracetown when her train gets stuck in the snow. Rather than endure Christmas Eve night on the train with a mass of perky cheerleaders, she ventures out and heads to the nearby Waffle House, where she encounters Stuart, who is still nursing a broken heart. Tobin and his friends JP and the Duke are enjoying their Christmas Eve holed up at Tobin's house and watching a James Bond movie marathon when they are enticed out into the night to the local Waffle House. What should be a twenty minute drive on a clear night turns into a crazy race to get there before the intimidating Reston twins...but when they get there things don't go quite how they planned. For Addie, the holidays have been filled with misery since she and her boyfriend Jeb broke up. But this year she'll gain some perspective (and possibly more) during one very long and very snowy shift at Starbucks the day after Christmas. All three stories are cleverly woven together, along with each author's inimitable style and brand of humor. The wholly unique, ironic, witty, intelligent, and heartfelt plots that Myracle, Johnson, and Green have become well known for is strongly present in Let It Snow. The varying and colorful characters are authentic and highly realistic, allowing for the book to appeal to a wide range of reader interests. The dialogue, the jokes, the slang, and actions are all pitch perfect to this generation, and wildly appealing, even as they push the limits of reality. But even so, most readers will be more than willing to hold on tight and enjoy the ride as this sweet and sarcastically funny holiday read unravels.