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Material Type | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | FICTION WRIGHT, JASON | Adult Fiction Collection | Searching... |
Summary
Summary
Where had it come from? Whose money was it? Was I to spend it? Save it? Pass it on to someone more needy? Above all else, why was I chosen? Certainly there were others, countless others, more needy than me...Her reporter's intuition insisted that a remarkable story was on the verge of the front page.Newspaper reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the remarkable secret behind the "Christmas Jars", glass jars filled with coins and bills anonymously left for people in need. But along the way, Hope discovers much more than the origin of the jars. When some unexpected news sets off a chain reaction of kindness, Hope's greatest Christmas Eve wish comes true.
Reviews: 2
Publisher's Weekly Review
In a plot reminiscent of Penelope Stokes?s The Blue Bottle Club and Angela Hunt?s The Note, a journalist happens upon a human interest story that winds up teaching her lessons about love and forgiveness and renewing her own faith in human kindness. On Christmas Eve, twenty-something Hope Jensen is quietly grieving the recent loss of her adoptive mother when her apartment is robbed. The one bright spot in the midst of Hope?s despair is a small jar full of money someone has anonymously left on her doorstep. Eager to learn the source of this unexpected generosity, Hope uses her newswoman instincts to find other recipients of ?Christmas jars,? digging until her search leads her to the family who first began the tradition of saving a year?s worth of spare change to give to someone in need at the holiday. Wright commits some rookie mistakes in style and pacing; the novel veers heavily toward melodrama at some junctures, and he tends to show us and tell us about his characters. Still, the heart of this novella is its transformative message about the power of giving, a compelling theme that calls to mind books like Pay It Forward and The Kingdom Assignment. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal Review
Journalist Hope Jensen is devastated when her adoptive mother dies from ovarian cancer shortly after Christmas. Adding to her woes, her apartment is broken into and all of her emergency cash stolen. Hope then discovers that someone has left her a gift-a glass mason jar labeled "Christmas Jar," filled with money. Using her investigative skills, she learns that in recent years, several people have reported receiving these mysterious jars in times of need. Hope's search leads her to the Maxwell family and their generous Christmas tradition-and to some truths about her birth mother. In the tradition of Catherine Ryan Hyde's Pay It Forward, Wright's holiday novel could inspire others to Christmas generosity. Recommended for paperback collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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