Her parents kept trying to help bring her back into the spirit by carrying on with family traditions and such, but she appeared to be stuck on staying, for lack of better wording a Grinch. She lost her Grandma and once she lost her she stopped believing in the Christmas Magic, so as to say. – Emery is a sweet girl that is having problems seeing what the big deal about Christmas is.

Genres: Childrens, Junior High, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Recipes “He said ‘challenge.’ And I’m up for it.” His eyes stayed on mine longer than I expected, and I felt a confusing flutter in my stomach and dropped my eyes.Published by Scholastic Press on October 25, 2016

“He didn’t say ‘pointless.’” Alex set my cup behind the counter, then sat down across from me. “See? Even your grandpa knows it’s pointless.” “Thanks, Señor Perez,” I said, then gave Alex a look of triumph. “Maybe Emery likes more of a challenge for her taste buds.”

“Not everyone likes so much sweetness all at once,” he said. “Está bien, Alejandro,” a deep, rusticated voice called from behind the store counter, and I saw Alex’s grandfather smiling at us. “Now I know there’s something deeply wrong with you,” Alex said. I sat down at one of the café tables, took a sip of his latest concoction, and shook my head as syrupy, bittersweet chocolate coated my tongue. If anything, though, it seemed to make him more persistent, which was surprising, a little annoying, but also, I had to grudgingly admit, entertaining. I’d actually amped up my snarkiness at first, thinking it would scare him off. It was strange, the way we’d fallen into this easy banter, especially since we were such complete opposites. Zombies were actually way cooler than vampires, but I wasn’t about to admit he’d guessed right. I would’ve pegged you for a zombie type,” he said, unfazed. Tuesday, it was Cinna-more Hot Chocolate, yesterday Pumpkin Perfection, and now this. “But if you expect me to take a sip and start sobbing over the year I didn’t get that vampire doll I wanted, you’ll be disappointed.”įor the last two evenings that I’d worked at the North Pole Wonderland with my parents, Alex had been dauntlessly trying to sway me with different hot cocoa flavors. “I call this one the Cocoa of Christmas Past.” “Can I just say, I love that I bring out the grouch in you.” His eyes glinted teasingly. “Hello,” I said to him, playing up the annoyance in my voice for all it was worth.

Hot Cocoa Hearts by Suzanne Nelson