Did you ever wonder what Christmas is like in the Trump White House?Then he heard it. Heard it deep within the bowels of the White House, down in the levels of sub-basement that aren't even acknowledged to the public. Down beneath the Press Room, beneath the Situation Room, beneath the bunker: a clanking noise, as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over long-lost national security apparatus. Trump protested out loud to steel his courage: "Fake! News! I won't believe it." So begins our Christmas ghost story, reimagining Charles Dickens's immortal Ebenezer Scrooge as President Donald Trump. Readers will be struck by the contemporary relevance of the tale and delighted by the seamless blending of Dickens's original language with the current political landscape. Special hauntings by a trio of luminaries are sure to give a whole new meaning to the political zeitgeist. May it haunt the republic and your home pleasantly this season!

"Joyfully riffing on a holiday classic, Tom Averill's A Carol Dickens Christmas is a moving and contemporary tale that, like the work of that other Dickens, focuses on what affects us deeply: judgment and compassion, grief and hope, cruelty and kindness. With a warm and realistic cast of characters, this is a story for people who believe in the magic of the season and--more to the point--in simply caring for each other."--Laura Moriarty, author of The Chaperone

Carol really loves Christmas. The decorating and shopping, the Christmas sweaters and music—she wishes it all could be a year-round event. The only downside to the holiday is that she lives in Florida (not exactly the land of snow) and her only family is her Uncle Christopher, who adopted Carol when she was young, after her father's disappearance and mother's death. Her uncle owns a toy company and is super rich—but he's a grinch and a workaholic. Then, on a magical December trip to NYC, Carol meets her destiny. Santa—the real man with the bag—meets Carol at the top of Rockefeller Center, overlooking the tree. There he explains that Carol is descended from a long line of Defenders of Claus, those who protect and serve Santa. Carol's dad was a Defender. And now Carol has been tapped to fulfill his legacy. Who would want to hurt Santa? Someone pretty scary and shady, it appears—a masked man who's trying to destroy Christmas! Carol is whisked off to the North Pole on the adventure of a lifetime. Can she help save Santa before it's too late?

At last, after 178 years the clues and questions left unanswered in Dickens' immortal classic are explored and answered. Did Scrooge really change? And how did he become "as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew." Tiny Tim lived but how did he overcome his lameness and what of his future relationship with Scrooge? Did Scrooge form a new and lasting relationship with his nephew Fred? And, did Scrooge ever encounter the beautiful Belle, the young and only love of his life? Finally, the moral obligation that Scrooge owed to Jacob Marley for his intervention that saved Scrooge from his fate is finally explored.

From the manger of Jesus Christ to the 21st century, this encyclopedia explores more than 2,000 years of Christmas past and present through 966 entries packed with a wide variety of historical and pop-culture subjects. Entries detail customs and traditions from around the world as well as classic Christmas movies, TV series/specials and animated cartoons. Arranged alphabetically by entry name, the book includes the historical background of popular sacred and secular songs as well as accounts of beloved literary works with Christmas themes from such noted authors as Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Hans Christian Andersen, Pearl Buck, Henry Van Dyke and others. All things Christmas are available here in one comprehensive volume.

Film plays a vital role in the celebration of Christmas. For decades, it has taught audiences about what the celebration of the season looks like – from the decorations to the costumes and to the expected snowy weather – as well as mirrors our own festivities back to us. Films like It’s a Wonderful Life and Home Alone have come to play key roles in real-life domestic celebrations: watching such titles has become, for many families, every bit as important as tree-trimming and leaving cookies out for Santa. These films have exported the American take on the holiday far and wide and helped us conjure an image of the perfect holiday. Rather than settling the ‘what is a Christmas film?’ debate – indeed, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are discussed within – Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural focuses on the how Christmas is presented on the deluge of occasions when it appears. While most Christmas films are secular, religion makes many cameos, appearing through Nativity references, storylines involving spiritual rebirth, the framing of Santa as a Christ-like figure and the all-importance of family, be it the Holy family or just those gathered around the dining table. Also explored are popular narratives involving battles with stress and melancholy, single parents and Christmas martyrs, visits from ghosts and angels, big cities and small towns, break-ups and make-ups and the ticking clock of mortality. Nearly 1000 films are analyzed in this volume to determine what the portrayal of Christmas reveals about culture, society and faith as well as sex roles, consumerism, aesthetics and aspiration.