Maria: A Christmas Story

by Theodore Taylor

Envious of her wealthy neighbors' plans to create extravagant floats as entries in the annual Christmas parade, Maria volunteers her family to produce a float and finds inspiration in a painting that captures the true spirit of Christmas.

Genres: Christmas, Novella, Middle Grade, Young Adult

84 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 1992

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars -- Maria, 11-year-old daughter of Jorge & Felicia and sister to 14-year-old Rafael, is tired of just watching her town's Christmas parade. She wants her people - Mexican Americans - to participate in it, but her father says the parade is "parada gringa" - a white people's parade. And it is - in all its overspent glory, up until Maria takes her own $5, 'borrows' $20 from her parents' cash jar, hitches a ride into town, and pays the entrance fee on the day of the deadline. She does that on her own, but it takes her entire family - and some friends - to make the float successful. Regardless of predictability, the story is well done, and I love the fact that the author based the whole story off of something he actually witnessed.

[Geo Hendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful it was a beautiful story!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there done right I enjoy Christmas stories all year

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a sweet little book--I think 2.5 stars. A nice Christmas story, if not just a bit trite.