- a despicable miser is jarred out of his mean habits by 3 ghosts who show him where his life is headed
- themes include: charity/generosity, family, contentment, & forgiveness
- convo: fantastical elements such as ghosts and time travel, potentially disturbing imagery for younger children, various alcoholic drinks mentioned, pipe smoking
- language: ass (donkey) x2, G*d x1
Type: novella
Ages: 10-110
Author: Charles Dickens
Such expert writing to paint whole scenes and personalities with so few words! Readers immediately feel the greed and gloom emanating from Ebenezer Scrooge. He is a cold and heartless employer of the dearest man, Bob Cratchit, whom, in contrast, readers will immediately love.
The story is separated into five chapters called “staves,” which is a musical term applied by Dickens to his “carol” of a tale. In almost every stave, Scrooge is visited by a different ghost, each warning him in different ways of the serious consequences of his current lifestyle. One comes from hell to warn him, and the next three from the past, present, and future.
Readers will notice a shift from a cold heart to a softened one, slowly but surely, as the story progresses. Not only do we bond with certain characters (such as Tiny Tim) and merrily laugh with others (hello, Mr. Fezziwig), but, strangely, we begin to empathize with Ebenezer to an extent.
On the surface, it’s a wonderful seasonal book, but its depth hardly has limits. Myriad conversations can result from it! From big, obvious themes to single-line dialogues, I hope you get to discover much of its richness. It’s worthy of re-reads every year.