The Legend of Holly Claus introduces us to Santa and Mrs. Claus’s only daughter, who is doing everything she can to save Christmas. This may be the best holiday lore adventure I’ve ever read. Excellent. Rereading the classics on my shelf led to revisiting Mr. Popper’s Penguins, which was a classroom read-aloud story back when I was in grade school. The Terror of the Southlands is the second book in The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates trilogy, in which an admiral’s daughter (and her trusty gargoyle companion) join up with a pirate crew. Love the tongue-in-cheek humor.
C. J. Milbrandt 