Alex and Ava team up to take on the holiday season in Ashland in the tenth book of the It Takes Two series! Football season is finally over, and Alex and Ava can’t wait to spend some more quality time with their family. Until their parents start acting totally unfair, that is! First they tell Ava that she can’t join the basketball team because she needs to focus on her schoolwork, and then they tell Alex she can’t host a Secret Santa party at their house after she’s already agreed to it. What is Alex supposed to tell her friends? On top of everything, Coach and Mrs. Sackett decide that they’re all going to stay home for the holidays instead of heading back to the East Coast. What kind of Christmas could it be without snow? Will the arrival of an unexpected guest remind Alex and Ava of all the things they have to be grateful for?

A Junior Library Guild selection.

26 Deluxe Lettered Hardcover

Christmas is not everybody’s favorite holiday. Historically, Jews in America, whether participating in or refraining from recognizing Christmas, have devised a multitude of unique strategies to respond to the holiday season. Their response is a mixed one: do we participate, try to ignore the holiday entirely, or create our own traditions and make the season an enjoyable time? This book, the first on the subject of Jews and Christmas in the United States, portrays how Jews are shaping the public and private character of Christmas by transforming December into a joyous holiday season belonging to all Americans. Creative and innovative in approaching the holiday season, these responses range from composing America’s most beloved Christmas songs, transforming Hanukkah into the Jewish Christmas, creating a national Jewish tradition of patronizing Chinese restaurants and comedy shows on Christmas Eve, volunteering at shelters and soup kitchens on Christmas Day, dressing up as Santa Claus to spread good cheer, campaigning to institute Hanukkah postal stamps, and blending holiday traditions into an interfaith hybrid celebration called “Chrismukkah” or creating a secularized holiday such as Festivus. Through these venerated traditions and alternative Christmastime rituals, Jews publicly assert and proudly proclaim their Jewish and American identities to fashion a universally shared message of joy and hope for the holiday season. See also: http://www.akosherchristmas.org

Escape to the Chesapeake Bay, where beach life is full of love, surprises and second chances… When an injury forces K-9 officer Trey Harrison onto the sidelines, his only thought is getting back to the police force where he belongs. And he’ll do anything to make that happen—even volunteer in a small waterfront community, just to please his boss. But no one ever said Trey had to enjoy it… Since the surgery that destroyed her dreams of having children, schoolteacher Erica Rowe has grown even more dedicated to her work with at-risk teens. So she doesn't need some cop with a chip on his shoulder putting the program's future in jeopardy. But when Trey finally connects with the students, Erica's heart melts. And when, in a tender moment, he admits he longs to have children, her heart breaks. She's convinced he'd be better off with someone who can give him everything, but she can't seem to shake the hope that maybe love is enough… Don’t miss Forever on the Bay, the next book in The Off Season series by Lee Tobin McClain, where safe harbor and new beginnings await on the Chesapeake Bay. The Off Season Series Book 1 - Cottage at the Beach Book 2 - Reunion at the Shore Book 3 - Christmas on the Coast Book 4 - Home to the Harbor Book 5 - First Kiss at Christmas Book 6 - Forever on the Bay

Decorate your home throughout the snowy season with 10 folk-art quilts and accessories! Choose from lap quilts, wall quilts, pillows, and table runners, all featuring favorite wintertime motifs. With easy projects and step-by-step instructions--and a little fun with giant rickrack--you'll be finished before the first holiday party! Projects feature fusible applique and easy wool applique stitched by hand or machine Themes include stockings, stars, trees, holly, and even reindeer Decorating tips throughout the book offer fresh ideas for your home

Three stories in one volume.