James Kelly is toy store owner, longing for the days when imagination didn't come in the form of a computer chip in the latest incarnations of video game consoles. As the Christmas season nears with a definite lack of snow to get people into the holiday spirit, he is reminded of a similar year when he was a ten-year-old boy growing up in the early part of the 1960's. His reminiscences turn into a daydream while he sits at his desk in the back of the empty store. He's returned to a disastrous, calamity filled holiday season. When snow finally came that year long ago, the first flakes started falling as James stared out the window of his fifth-grade class on the seventeenth of December. They were the harbingers of the worst storm to hit the city in over thirty years, setting in motion a series of events and calamities in the Kelly household. These included the mistaken arrest of James father, the near death experience of his slow-talking uncle thanks to an overzealous snow plow operator, and the Christmas surprise for his mother that ends in the Christmas turkey looking like it has been part of the opening wave on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, and more. For James' father Charles, the events that unfold bring him face to face with his own holiday miracle, in which he finds himself understanding that fatherhood involves more than just being the breadwinner. The Plight Before Christmas is written with the same sense of wit and whimsy that Kirkland brought to his earlier books and his syndicated humor column, which ran in Canadian and American newspapers from 1994-2007. This story is suitable for older YA readers and adults who would like to remember the feelings of anticipation waiting for that one all important morning of the year. W. Bruce Cameron, the author of Eight Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter, A Dog's Purpose, Emory's Gift and more says, "A wonderful, nostalgic look at a simpler time and place, The Plight Before Christmas will appeal to fans of A Christmas Story. You don't just read about this family--you live with them as they fumble and stumble to a hilarious holiday." Syndicated Columnist and Blogger (Lost In Suburbia) and author (Rebel Without A Minivan) Tracy Beckerman says "The Plight Before Christmas" is misnamed. It should be called "The Gift Before Christmas" because this magical story is the best gift you can give or receive for the holidays!"
About the Author: Gordon Kirkland is a three-time recipient of the Stephen Leacock Award of Merit as a finalist for the Leacock Medal for his books, Justice Is Blind - And Her Dog Just Peed In My Cornflakes (1999), Never Stand Behind A Loaded Horse (2004), and When My Mind Wanders It Brings Back Souvenirs (2005). His other books, I Think I'm Having One of Those Decades (2006), I May Be Big But I Didn't Cause That Solar Eclipse (2007) and Holly Jolly Frivolity (2009) also received critical acclaim. From 1994 to 2007 readers in both Canada and the United States enjoyed his weekly syndicated humor column, Gordon Kirkland At Large. He has been a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows in both countries. In 2007, BookExpo-America cited him as one of the seven notable book industry "characters." One of his syndicated columns was incorporated into the collection of the Harry Chapin Archives in New York. He has garnered a very large and loyal fan base in the United States and Canada, as well as elsewhere around the world. In addition he has worked with and enjoys a strong mutual respect and friendship with other authors including Ridley Pearson, Dave Barry, Lynn Johnston, Garrison Keillor, Jeffery Deaver, and many more. Gordon Kirkland has been a workshop leader and keynote speaker at dozens of writer's conferences, festivals, and university programs over the past ten years. This includes three sessions of the University of Dayton's Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, six years on the faculty of the Southern California Writer's Conference, as well as many more. He has lectured at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, BC), Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana), The University of Georgia (Athens, GA), and Florida First Coast Community College (Jacksonville, FL.) In 2009, Kirkland was one of the stars of The 3-Day Novel, a television series on Canada's BookTelevision, in which 12 Canadian writers were locked in a large bookstore with the task of writing a full novel in just 72 hours. It was carried out under the watchful eye of television cameras, store customers, and with numerous interruptions aimed at breaking the writers' trains of thought. Gordon lives in Pitt Meadows, BC with, Diane, and their adopted Labrador Retriever, Tara. They have two grown sons.