I read this as part of a facebook kindle group's monthly read. The story was good, it was an interesting.

My disappointment was that the book finished at 65%. I felt that the author could have elaborated more on certain parts of the story. I would definitely have liked to have heard more about the Toy Shop. ( )

Good story,sad but uplifting. ( )

Spoilers. Free from Kindle. Tim Greaton bills himself as the other author from Maine, but the problem is he doesn't write nearly as well as Stephen King. This is a fantasy book, about a homeless man. He is homeless by his own choice to punish himself for going to work on a Christmas Eve in spite of his wife asking him not to, and then losing her & child in a fire. He decides that he'll take the final step & give himself the death penalty. But then he meets a charitable priest, and a man who claims to be newly homeless himself, and who tells our hero a story about a town way up in Vermont where people kill themselves on Christmas Eve by jumping off a bridge into a raging river. So somehow he manages to get himself to Vermont, mainly due to the kindness of a woman who runs a convenience store where homeless people shop. Everybody at the little town in Vermont is super nice and super welcoming, and when he goes to kill himself he gets stopped by a mysterious figure, who turns out to be a person who came there to kill himself 2 years? or 1 year? before; the mysterious figure tells our hero that the children are waiting for him so of course our hero has to not kill himself and instead go play Santa at the local home for poor/unwanted/sick children...why a tiny tiny town in Northern Vermont has such a home is unclear...and he meets a lovely woman and they prepare to live happily ever after.... So it is not particularly well written and not a story with any life to it.

Skip is homeless. He's been living on the street long enough to know his way around. After the accidental death of his wife and son, for which he holds himself responsible, he loses his job, his home and his self-esteem. Desperately contemplating suicide, he meets Father Johnston and his life begins to change.

We walk through Skip's day, learning about his life. Neither asking for sympathy, nor denying his fall from grace, Skip reminds us we're all worthy of a little respect. Although he's fallen about as low as he can go, he maintains what small dignity he has, refusing a handout, especially when it's accompanied by a lecture.

Although set at Christmastime, "The Santa Shop" is a book that readers can enjoy at any time of the year. It's appropriate for young teens to adult readers. I read part of it aloud to my teenage son and he's decided to read the book—clear evidence that "The Santa Shop" bridges generations.

Greaton treats the character of Skip with unusual insight and tenderness. He lovingly portrays the other characters as well, showing the compassion they have for their fellow man.
I greatly enjoyed "The Santa Shop" and look forward to reading more books by Tim Greaton in the future.

© Dellani Oakes 2011 ( )