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12 Strays of Christmas: A Wish Novel
12 Strays of Christmas is sure to bring cheer to even the most reluctant celebraters! With themes of belonging and grief grounded in a funny, adorable first-crush story, this book is sure to check every box on the holiday wish-list.
Holly does NOT have Christmas cheer this year. She and her family just moved to Chicago, far from all of her friends and family. And now her brother’s annoying (and annoyingly cute) new friend couldn’t be more cheerful. And Holly definitely doesn’t want to volunteer at the local shelter, with all of the dogs who remind her of the dog she lost last Christmas.
When she’s forced to volunteer at the local shelter through her school, she’ll just have to push aside her sad feelings and ignore those cute puppy eyes. But she can’t put aside her feelings when she sees Drummer, the runt of the litter, who looks exactly like the dog she lost.
When Drummer gets loose during the big holiday adoption event, Holly must track him down. Will the magic of Christmas help her to reunite with Drummer?
Holly does NOT have Christmas cheer this year. She and her family just moved to Chicago, far from all of her friends and family. And now her brother’s annoying (and annoyingly cute) new friend couldn’t be more cheerful. And Holly definitely doesn’t want to volunteer at the local shelter, with all of the dogs who remind her of the dog she lost last Christmas.
When she’s forced to volunteer at the local shelter through her school, she’ll just have to push aside her sad feelings and ignore those cute puppy eyes. But she can’t put aside her feelings when she sees Drummer, the runt of the litter, who looks exactly like the dog she lost.
When Drummer gets loose during the big holiday adoption event, Holly must track him down. Will the magic of Christmas help her to reunite with Drummer?
272 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2025
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20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 23, 2025
Such a sweet story!
January 1, 2026
Charming middle grade Christmas romance. Picked it up a scholastic bookfair, never had those when i was a kid, would have given it 4 stars if it had a husky or a samoyed as one of the adoptable doges
November 30, 2025
Made me cry!! Very sweet story though. Adorable as the cover.
December 1, 2025
One of the top 10 funniest books ever. maybe even top 5.
In my top 5 favorites by far.
Had me grinning like Alex. :)
In my top 5 favorites by far.
Had me grinning like Alex. :)
December 18, 2025
love it!!
December 24, 2025
This took me by surprise! Very heartfelt and digs deeper into processing grief. Perfect Christmas story 😊
January 4, 2026
Adorable holiday read!
January 9, 2026
Colton (9 years old) rated this 2 stars because “it’s for teenagers and not really about dogs” 😅
January 25, 2026
It was soooooo good!!! Would read again!
October 23, 2025
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus
Holly Bell has had a bad year; there has been a trifecta of bad things occur in her life. Her father has died, her dog Ginger has died, and her mother has moved her and her brother Nick from Michigan to Chicago for her new job. Nick has settled in okay, and has a new best friend, Nick, but Holly still misses her friend Cara and hasn't really made any new friends. When she is forced to do a service learning project, Alex suggests that she come to the animal shelter where he volunteers. She meets another girl from school there, Angelina, who seems to hate her, and a tussle involving giving a dog a bath ends with her cell phone being ruined. Not wanting to bother her stressed out, rarely home mother about it, she takes her savings and buys a flip phone. She tries to find a job, but since she isn't 14, she can't find anything. Alex, whose mother has a Christmas shop in the mall, says that they always need help, but Holly finds Alex annoying. Holly, who is desperately grieving so many things in her life, finds just about everything annoying, with the exception of her father's old record player, which she uses to listen to a wide array of rather old music since she can't use her phone. She eventually connects with Angelina, only to find that her Dad and Alex's mom are getting married. Holly also finds a dog at the shelter who reminds her of Ginger, but again, she doesn't want to bother her mother. As Christmas and the wedding approaches, Holly begins to realize that it is too hard to do try to deal with everything on her own, and eventually asks her mother for help with processing the difficult move.
The cover of this is adorable, and Christmas books are always in demand. I was hoping that this would be like Taylor Garland's Secret Snowflake or The Twelve Pets of Christmas, but be aware that this is more in line with the current trends in middle grade literature to make as many books as possible deal with the grieving process. That said, it's likely I will buy a copy of this because it's so hard to find Christmas books. I was a bit surprised at how old some of the music was; if Holly is 13, her father was likely in his mid 40s, so must have had very eclectic tastes in music.
Holly Bell has had a bad year; there has been a trifecta of bad things occur in her life. Her father has died, her dog Ginger has died, and her mother has moved her and her brother Nick from Michigan to Chicago for her new job. Nick has settled in okay, and has a new best friend, Nick, but Holly still misses her friend Cara and hasn't really made any new friends. When she is forced to do a service learning project, Alex suggests that she come to the animal shelter where he volunteers. She meets another girl from school there, Angelina, who seems to hate her, and a tussle involving giving a dog a bath ends with her cell phone being ruined. Not wanting to bother her stressed out, rarely home mother about it, she takes her savings and buys a flip phone. She tries to find a job, but since she isn't 14, she can't find anything. Alex, whose mother has a Christmas shop in the mall, says that they always need help, but Holly finds Alex annoying. Holly, who is desperately grieving so many things in her life, finds just about everything annoying, with the exception of her father's old record player, which she uses to listen to a wide array of rather old music since she can't use her phone. She eventually connects with Angelina, only to find that her Dad and Alex's mom are getting married. Holly also finds a dog at the shelter who reminds her of Ginger, but again, she doesn't want to bother her mother. As Christmas and the wedding approaches, Holly begins to realize that it is too hard to do try to deal with everything on her own, and eventually asks her mother for help with processing the difficult move.
The cover of this is adorable, and Christmas books are always in demand. I was hoping that this would be like Taylor Garland's Secret Snowflake or The Twelve Pets of Christmas, but be aware that this is more in line with the current trends in middle grade literature to make as many books as possible deal with the grieving process. That said, it's likely I will buy a copy of this because it's so hard to find Christmas books. I was a bit surprised at how old some of the music was; if Holly is 13, her father was likely in his mid 40s, so must have had very eclectic tastes in music.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews