The Girl Who Saved Christmas

By: Matt Haig

Narrated by: Carey Mulligan

"If somewhere in the afterlife Roald Dahl met Charles Dickens and they cooked up a new Christmas tale, it couldn’t have much on this fleet, verbally rambunctious, heart-stealing follow-up to A Boy Called Christmas."—The New York Times

Amelia Wishart was the first child ever to receive a Christmas present. It was her Christmas spirit that gave Santa the extra boost of magic he needed to make his first trip around the world. But now Amelia is in trouble.

When her mother falls ill, she is sent to the workhouse to toil under cruel Mr. Creeper. For a whole year, Amelia scrubs the floors and eats watery gruel, without a whiff of kindness to keep her going. It’s not long before her hope begins to drain away.

Meanwhile, up at the North Pole, magic levels dip dangerously low as Christmas approaches, and Santa knows that something is gravely wrong. With the help of his trusty reindeer, a curious cat, and Charles Dickens, he sets out to find Amelia, the only girl who might be able to save Christmas. But first Amelia must learn to believe again. . . .

“Matt Haig has an empathy for the human condition, the light and the dark of it, and he uses the full palette to build his excellent stories.” —Neil Gaiman, Newbery-winning author of The Graveyard Book

"With a little bit of naughty and a lot of nice, this Christmastime yarn is a veritable sugarplum." —Kirkus Reviews

Critic reviews

"With a little bit of naughty and a lot of nice, this Christmastime yarn is a veritable sugarplum." —Kirkus Reviews

"The Girl Who Saved Christmas will melt your Grinch-frozen heart" —Simon Mayo, BBC Radio

“A plucky adventure tale in which Haig reminds us of and reworks the meaning of Christmas, pinning it onto a message of hope … Heartwarming.” —The Herald

"Award-winning British author Matt Haig (To Be a Cat) writes with warmth, wit and irreverence." —Shelf Awareness

"Matt Haig puts the Happy back into Christmas." —Jeanette Winterson

"A lovely, warm, enveloping seasonal read." —The Guardian

Great story kept my interest

Love Cary Mulligans voice and different characters especially the goofy sounding one towards the end of the story. Bet her facial expressions were funny when she had to do that one. highly recommended book

Amazing!

This book sent chills up to my cheeks. Wonderful Christmas story! Must read! Loved it!

Magic!

Love the reading, & the message! And the clever use of Dickensian elements, as well as Dicken’s himself.

Fun story

This tale is wondrous, a bit sad, thoughtful and triumphant. Amelia’s is a sad story. First losing her mom. Then other bad things happen. Not told in a terrifying manor so young children may not be scared. A magic resolution to restoring Christmas Spirit. The narrator was was wonderful.

Delightful, magical holiday fun for all ages!

Matt Haig has such a clever way of weaving fun, even into scary troll bits!
This story should be made into a holiday movie too!