Acknowledgement of Country
I want to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land this story was written on: the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging. I extend that respect to any other Aboriginal peoples, Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and First Nations Peoples from which my readers read this story on.
Disclaimers
This is a Christmas story, but one told from someone who does not follow any faith. Therefore, the central themes pertaining to Christmas in this story revolve around the capitalist holiday.
The writer of this story is definitely somewhat of a Grinch towards Christmas. I wanted to try writing a wintery Christmas story and found much of my disdain towards the festive season leaking into the protagonist (so sorry for that). Nevertheless, I hope it is festive and Christmassy enough for you.
Age Rating
13+
Other Books
This is a standalone book and does not rely on any of my other stories.
Nonetheless, if you like the character Jojo, you may wish to check out the Positive Series: Positive 1, Positive 2, and Callie and Lexi's Kiss List.
If you want to know if Rowan (see chapter one) is always going to be a jerk, check out Fighting for April (takes place just after this story ends).
Topics
This book contains exploration of various topics, including: Christmas (the capitalist holiday rather than religious); love; jealousy; complicated family structures; and friendship.
Warnings
This story does reference sex. Chapters 28 and 30 reference intimacy in a fade-to-black fashion. No explicit depictions are made, but sex between characters is alluded to.
This story also contains mild use of profanity.
Reading Directions
Each chapter indicates one day of December. Chapters 9-20 contain the competition. Chapters 8-19 have the riddles for the next chapter at the end for you to comment your guess before the characters solve them. Feel free to play along even though the book is published.
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