Jessi is filled with holiday excitement. She loves Christmas, and she can't wait for Kwanzaa, when her whole family — including out-of-town relatives — will celebrate together.
But then a terrible accident occurs. Squirt hurts his head in a car crash and is rushed to the hospital. Everyone is relieved to find out that Squirt will be okay. But meanwhile, the stress of the accident has taken its toll on the family.
If holidays are supposed to be about being together, then why is Jessi's family being pulled so far apart?
Main Plot[]
In the excitement of Christmas and Kwanzaa, Jessi's family is pulled apart when Squirt is injured. Will Jessi be able to pull the family back together in the spirit of the season?
Subplot[]
The BSC hosts a Kwanzaa festival at the Stoneybrook Community Center. The clients put on play based on the book "Malindy and Little Devil." Participants include the Kuhn Family, Omar Harris and his brother, Becca Ramsey, and Bob and Sharelle Ingram.
Frederic Douglass, Harriett Tubman, Marcus Garvey, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Shirley Chisholm, and Martin Luther King
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
Jessi remembers being a junior counselor at the community center in Stacey's Lie.
Inconsistencies
John says that Cecelia was a guest in his house, but he and Janice asked her to move in to help with the kids.
On page 118, Cecelia says that's she staying at the YWCA when it should be the YMCA.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Happy Holidays, Jessi, the Ramseys face a trying time, but in the end the strength of their family and of family traditions pulls them through. When I was growing up, one of our holiday traditions involved our neighbors, the Rices. We were very close to them, and the Rice kids were my first baby-sitting charges. Starting when I was young, our families got together every single year at Christmastime to exchange gifts and celebrate the holiday. On most years we got together on Christmas Eve. We usually had dinner at a restaurant called Good Time Charley’s, and then gathered at either their house or ours to exchange presents. Now many years have passed, and we’ve all gone through lots of changes. The Rice kids are married now, and Robert even has kids of his own. Everyone has scattered. We live all up and down the East Coast. But if we can, we still try to get together. It’s an important tradition. Families, friends, togetherness — that’s what holidays are all about.