Mayor Jordan stopped next to the display and pulled off the cloth with flourish. Underneath was a plaque and from where she was standing Ms. Marwich could make out the words The Angel Tree in elegant letters.
“First, a gift from our town,” Mayor Jordan said. “This sign will be put in the town square, in front of the spot where the Angel Tree goes up each year. And if I can read it to you,” she said turning to face the sign, then clearing her throat. “‘The Angel Tree, honoring Rona Berle Marwich, beloved member of the Pine River community.’”
Ms. Marwich teared up at the heartfelt simplicity of the words.
“The whole town is going to help you with the Angel Tree next year,” the mayor added. “And now let me turn this over to the people gathered here.” She smiled at Ms. Marwich. “There are an awful lot of folks here who want to give you something.”
“And we’re first,” Cami said, pulling Lucy along with her, Max and Joe coming up behind.
Next to Joe stood a woman with large brown eyes just like Joe’s, and the same shy sweet smile. “Ms. Marwich, I’d like you to meet my mom,” Joe said, radiating happiness as his mom reached out to shake Ms. Marwich’s hand.
“It’s an honor to meet a soldier serving our country,” Ms. Marwich said. “And I have to tell you we’re all pretty fond of your boy around here.”
Ms. Thompson ruffled Joe’s hair affectionately. “Thank you for looking out for him,” she said. “And for the wonderful gift you’ve been giving this town for so long. I think a lot of people are waiting to thank you for that.”
“Starting with us,” Cami said.
“The four of you figured this out, didn’t you?” Ms. Marwich asked, her eyes filling up again. Ed Pink passed her a handkerchief that she used to dab her eyes.
“Actually it was Lucy,” Cami said proudly.
“It was all of us,” Lucy said quickly. But Ms. Marwich detected a sparkle of pride in Lucy’s face that had not been there before.
“And we got you something,” Max said. He handed Ms. Marwich a gift.
Ms. Marwich pulled at the paper and then opened the thick square box inside. It contained a bound leather book but on top of that was the bookmark Ms. Marwich’s grandmother had given her, a family heirloom she had treasured until last month when it had somehow gotten lost.
“I thought this was gone for good,” Ms. Marwich said, picking it up in wonder. “Wherever did you find it?”
“Valentine sniffed it out at Pine Forest,” Lucy said proudly.
“I’m thrilled to have it back,” Ms. Marwich said. Then she grinned at the foursome. “Pine Forest, eh? You were really doing your homework. I didn’t have a chance of keeping my secret, did I?”
The four of them laughed.
Ms. Marwich turned her attention to the leather book, pulling it out of the box and opening to the first page. It was a photo album entitled The Angel Tree. Ms. Marwich began to turn through the pages slowly. The book was filled with pictures of people together with their gifts from the Angel Tree. There was Olivia wearing a new dress and posing proudly by her new sewing machine. Lana Levkov and her mother were holding up a tray of the cream puffs her mother had been yearning for. And then there was one of the Callahan family and the crew assembled to build their new house, gathered around the building plan created by Lucy’s father. Each shot was of something precious and each one filled Ms. Marwich with joy.
“I don’t know what to say,” the librarian said, finally looking up from the book she would cherish forever.
“Better get keep moving,” Ed Pink said in his jovial way. “You’ve got a lot more to open.”
Sure enough as she looked around Ms. Marwich saw that nearly everyone was holding a package wrapped in Christmas paper.
“And those there are from the folks who couldn’t be here tonight,” Mr. Pink added, gesturing to the pile under the tree.
Ms. Marwich’s heart swelled with gratitude for the people in this room, in this town, who had filled her life with love for the past thirty years. “Thank you,” she said. “Thanks to all of you and a very Merry Christmas!”
I am enormously grateful to David Levithan, good friend and phenomenal story teller. Huge thanks to Emily Seife, editor extraordinaire, whose wisdom and insight were invaluable on this project. I am privileged to be represented by the unstoppable Sara Crowe. Eliot Schrefer and Marie Rutkoski are the best readers out there and it is my great fortune to have them in my corner. I am lucky to get support (writing and otherwise) from the awesome Debbi Michiko Florence, Donna Freitas, Lisa Graff, Rebecca Stead, Deborah Heiligman, Martin Wilson, Bill Konigsberg, Carolyn MacCullough, Barry Lyga, Kathryne Alfred, Kira Bazile, Josh Phillips, Rose Liebman, and Keri Rehfisch. And because they are spectacular I must also thank Greg, Erlan, Ainyr, Khai, Avi, Nghia, my mom, and the one who this book is for, my sister, Sam.
Daphne Benedis-Grab grew up in a small town in upstate New York where Christmas was always her favorite holiday. She is the author of Alive and Well in Prague, New York, a young adult novel. She has worked a variety of jobs, including building houses for Habitat for Humanity in Georgia, organizing an after-school tutoring program in San Francisco, and teaching ESL in China. She now lives in New York City with her husband, two kids, and a cat, and still looks forward to celebrating Christmas every year. Learn more at www.daphnebg.com.
Copyright © 2014 by Daphne Benedis-Grab
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014005098
First edition, October 2014
Cover illustration © 2014 by Zdenko Basic
Snowflakes © IvoryShades/Shutterstock
Cover design by Sharismar Rodriguez
e-ISBN 978-0-545-61389-7
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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