A Christmas Quest

Book excerpt: Tim is an ordinary boy in an ordinary small town. He's going through the motions of preparing for Christmas along with his know-it-all cousin Natalie and clumsy best friend Stretch. It is finally Christmas vacation! Tim is looking forward to doing all the fun things he enjoys, like tobogganing and having snowball fights. He doesn't want to be bothered decorating the Christmas tree or shoveling snow. He especially thinks he's too old to write a letter to Santa Claus, even though his parents strongly suggest he should, "Just in case." Every year Stretch and Tim build a special contraption intended to capture Santa Claus. But Tim doesn't even want to help Stretch build this traditional Santa Trap they design every year! Tim believes that if Santa really existed, they would have surely caught him by now. That is until Alexander, a member of the "Secret Society of Santa's Snowmen," explains that an evil entity, known as the Jester, from history's past has returned to challenge Santa for control of the Christmas Holiday. Alexander convinces Tim and Stretch that the chairman of this society, Excelsior, needs their help in saving Christmas or else Christmas as they know it would be gone forever! How can Tim and Stretch, two ordinary boys, possibly help in such an important task? That's when they turn to Tim's cousin, "Know-it-all" Natalie, for help. Join Tim, Stretch and Natalie, the "Jr. Detective," in their Quest to save Christmas from the evil Jester. Will the group successfully fight off the immense powers of the Jester? Will Christmas ever be the same again?