Books with title Waiting for Christmas

The cheerful, busy family that prepared the delectable meal in "Feast for 10" now gets ready for Christmas. A simple counting format frames all the festivities, from one star at the top of the Christmas tree to ten hands stringing popcorn, then counting once again from one wreath to ten folks wishing peace for all. There's a special job for everyone: Grandmother reads a story, Mom bakes and her children taste, Dad and Sister wrap baskets for the needy, and everyone, even the littlest, joins together to sing carols. Inviting, cleverly patterned cut-paper illustrations complement simple rhymes as this special family make the preparations part of their Christmas celebration.

Selected as the first Book in Common at Mississippi University for Women, this compelling story helped trigger campus-wide discussions on race relations and child abuse. Lonely Feena Harvey, a teenager who cannot stand by and watch bad things happen, sees a toddler being slapped and kicked, then abandoned by his mother. When Feena kidnaps the baby to save him, she finds an unlikely ally in Raylene Watson, popular, outgoing, and African American. The two girls, miles apart, socially and emotionally, skip school to take care of Christopher. But how long can this mismatched pair of guardians keep their secret? Especially once the police join the search for the baby?