Book Review: Wishin' and Hopin'- A Christmas Story

I mentioned previously how excited I was that one of my favorite authors, Wally Lamb, was releasing a book with a Christmas background, Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story. I bought the book the week it was released and just finished it yesterday. Here are my thoughts!

• Let me say from the beginning, I did not like this book as much as I have enjoyed Wally Lamb's other books. I just didn't feel as engaged or interested in the characters.
• The book is much smaller than the author's other books, which have reached past 700 pages. This one is 268 pages of double spaced font- and pretty small-sized pages at that. But a good size for a cute stocking stuffer.
• As for the story itself, the book follows a few months leading up to Christmas in the life of Felix Funicello. Felix is a 5th grader and is dealing with the sorts of things that 5th graders are faced with: substitute teachers, tattletales, siblings, and friends. As I was reading, I couldn't help constantly thinking of the movie, "A Christmas Story." Instead of Felix telling his story, I kept imagining it was Ralphie...
• My favorite character, by far, was Zhenya. Every time she was in the story or spoke, I thought the book became more lively and interesting.
• The main tie to Christmas comes at the end, as Felix's class prepares for the annual Christmas program. The first half of the book barely touches on Christmas, while the second half is much more holiday-centric. But all in the context of preparing and then performing the Christmas program. But still, especially compared to other books that use Christmas a back-drop, the holiday is pretty centric to the storyline.
• As in his other books, Wally Lamb always adds such detail to his stories. It always amazes me and really adds to the believability.
• So, bottom line, its an enjoyable book, but I wouldn't buy it again- I'd wait for the library!

Have you read this book? What did you think?