Snowed by Maria Alexander by Marissa Posada

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Justification: The reason I chose this book is because it is a winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Superior achievement in a Young Adult novel. Another reason is that i have been interested in the story of Krampus since the movie came out several years ago. I figured if I had to read another horror book it might as well be on something I'm interested in. It is also getting close that that time of year, so a book to bring out the Krampus holiday was also welcomed. So an award winning book and it relates to the upcoming holiday was welcome.

Evaluation: There are a lot of examples of figurative language in this book. The one that stood out the most to me is the reaction of Charity's brother to the summons of a family meeting. It says that he brother, Charles "would rather eat rat poison" than go to the family meeting. It makes the reader wonder how bad was his relationship with his family that he would rather eat rat poison than go to a brief family meeting. There is also a good example when the author describes Krampus in the fight, "twisted horns spiraling, silver fur streaked with dirt, glowing blue eyes." This is quite a best these high schoolers have to defeat.

There is also examples of dialogue that flesh out the characters. Charity is receiving death threats after being accused of killing a dog. He boyfriend suggests informing the police of the illegal act. she explains to him that it would be pointless because the investigation don't go anywhere. She also tells him that those people threatening her are cowards and also Jesus would stop them. this is not because of Charity's belief, but because that is what those characters are constantly preaching. She also points out how those characters are okay with "threatening and fantasizing," but not committing the actual act.

A good example of drawing a line int he sand is used in this book. Charity has just seen some weird occurrences with her boyfriend and his now afraid of him. She still cares for him and wants him to explain himself and she hopes it is a good excuse because, "I don't believe in magic." Aiden explains himself and (spoiler) he is the son of Santa/Krampus. She now has to reevaluate her stance on magic and things like the Easter Bunny. Also at the beginning of the book, she started a skeptics club and said "unless I see it, I don't believe it." She even cited Santa and the Easter Bunny as examples, the she dates Santa's son.

Response: I related to this book because I have been interested in Krampus for a while now. Since I have stared learning about that holiday, I have started to enjoy the Christmas season again. My views on Sand Clause were definitely challenged in this text. It is a great twist to have Santa and Krampus be the same person. I enjoyed the story as a work of entertainment. It was a great take on traditional Christmas characters and lore. All of this in the middle of trying to get ready for exams and preparing for college.

Conclusion: This book has examples o figurative language, dialogue, and drawing a line in the sand. Although the take on Christmas was new and interesting, there were parts of the story that were really cliche and took away from the story. So, I'll give this three out of five stars. I recommend this for anyone who wants a new take on Christmas.

APA Citation: Alexander, M. (2016). Snowed. Bowie, MD: Raw Dog Screaming Press.