Kimberly Carlson Aesara will discuss how Christmastime led her to write a book with several characters seeking much of the same things: community, hope, and love.

Unwrapping Christmas begins with a bold retelling of the original Christmas story. Then it tells the contemporary story of several individuals and families as they struggle to find meaning and community and love during the Christmas season. While it is a story told from several points of view, each character is led to helping or knowing Josiah, a twelve-year-old boy who gets lost in the mountains near Leavenworth, Washington, while watching his neighbor Gabriel’s dogs, Blitzen and Vixen. As Josiah is forced to survive in subfreezing temperatures, his father questions himself. Does he have the wherewithal to save his son when he wasn’t able to save his beloved wife from cancer? Finally, it is Gabriel, a famous classical guitar player, who weaves all the stories together. Music, like love, touches all, even the reader. Unwrapping Christmas is a story that holds hope as people reach for community and love during the Christmas season.