North Pole High: A Rebel Without a Claus

Got the book on a friend's recommendation and it arrived just a few days ago. Read it in just a couple of days. Super fast and fun read, with some great laughs. A real page-turner and perfect to get you into the holiday spirit. My wife has it now and is also enjoying it.

I liked all the puns in this story and it is a super fun read for the holiday season but I had some issues with how the author wrote about cultural or sexual orientation differences. In particular how they spoke about the Jewish elf and Gay polar bear. Those scenes really take away from the fun atmosphere of the book. Otherwise it's a fun and quick read.

Santa's teenaged daughter is dating a boy on the naughty list! And everyone eats jelly beans! Enough said. Read it.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Candy's adventures. Cool characters and story that will appeal to older kids and adults alike.

(Sauntering in sucking on a candy cane) Hey! You guys are naughty! Don't make me tell the big man on you! This is a genuine, North Pole Candy Cane, straight from Kris Kringle's hand himself. Yes you heard me, North Pole.. as in Alaska. this book is a heck of a lot more than just a fun, festive and fabulous frolic down Rudy Tutti's "lane" (snickering) The author, Miss Candace Jane Kringle, a junior at her North Pole High wrote her "memoir" of the year she was faced with having to save Christmas, dealing with normal teenage angst, cliques, boyfriends and the biggest, baddest man who is the only one in the history of the world who you can sit your kid in his lap with no worries of any bad kind of touching, even if your kid pees on him. He is to hopped up on Jellybeans, after all. But let's get back to our review. The book is pretty much your basic story of new boy comes to school, he is supposedly a bad boy, hence Rebel without a Claus...Drag races, fire car crash, should I give it up for the boy, over-bearing father, understanding mother, Knock-Turn Alley errrr.. wait.. ummm the bad side of town, reefer, even a bit of beer.. and of course true love that saves the day, or in this case one very special night.. it is all here a nightmare of teenage angst, nothing new about the tale right?. A challenge to say the very least, and a challenge met by Miss Candace surpassing my expectations and even making me think a bit at times. It is totally clean, nothing like the above. Even the sexual innuendos are clean, heck the dirtiest thing in this ends up being edible! YES EDIBLE! (you really have to read it to see) The Christmas Miracle? Bigger really is not better, but when it grows? Boy does it grow! Candace, Candace, Candace. When I saw this tour come across in my inbox, I admit I groaned more than a little, but I had to open it up and find out. When I signed up for the tour with a review, I thought I am only doing this because I had a child go to NPHS, was a SPED driver for the school, and have had numerous dealings with the families and teams, including being one of the "backyards ditch sectors for when hiding from certain... Grinches with a Badge (aka North Pole PD). Yes, I harbored more than one errant child on their dad's snow-machines, NPPD is full of jerks, I know what Candace felt like when she realized Daddy may catch on to the gangs race through town on their Snow Pods (not approved for official distribution for Christmas, so put a lolly pop in it). Kris Kringle - North Pole, AK (he's in the white pages) I know I know, I am having way to much fun with this, but I just cannot help it, I am caught up in the magic of the book! We have a penguin that cooks Gingerbread cookies where the boy crumbles and the girls are soft and full of sugar and spice (and Santa uses them to do the gingerbread-birds and the gingerbread-bees after one huge "Santa Clause Interruptus" Let's look at some of the players in this delightful tale. Just see how clever Miss Candace is. The personalities match the names, this was no mistake -- Candace Jane Kringle - Sweet, shiny, with pure white and wearing those the rose color glasses just like her signature red stripes. She knows how to give the shine on to her father but fails many times to see beyond her expected behavior. -- Rudy Tutti doesn't fit any Christmas stocking, but he is like that unexpected toy, such as a new coffee maker (hint-nudge-hint honey!) Totally unexpected and ending up to be the best Christmas present ever. -- Snowflake - light airy, unique but always fluttering about. Consent, and Candace's best friend -- Tinsel - annoying and clingy, oh just like real tinsel huh? He looks pretty on the outside but frankly he is pretty much the same each time you forgive him (just like it is every year when you give it one more try) Candace gives him one more try and his shine just doesn't do it for her. -- Vixen - ummm let's just say her Christmas Tree skirt is one of those cheesy ones fake felt ones from Wal-Mart that never quite fits? She's always in the market for `toe and knows how to ... handle those big, round... buttons on your red suit. (again with the naughty thoughts) --Sugarplum - OK she is a fairy, she is always a support staff and never the star. Just like when I was six in the Nutcracker, and eight, and nine... one day.. one day I will be *blink oh sorry about that, anyway you see where this is going? So what can I say that I haven't? Mind you, starting this is a little like the beginning of Christmas season when there is candy in every bowl, and cookies overflowing from the oven, it is a bit to much to take, but once you gird up and keep on keeping the music is never enough, the candy bowl is always needing to be filled and you need just one more batch of cookies. I am totally swept up into the magic of the story. I congratulate this author for really striking out and taking on story so many have and not only succeed in making it completely safe for kids of all ages, but making it a blast for any of us kids closer to 92 enjoy it just as much. Thank you for filling my stocking this year with an unexpected treat Miss Kringle. This former North Pole town dweller knows what she is getting all her friends here in Fairbanks and North Pole for Christmas, so if Daddy gets a few angry calls from your friends parents for some of those adventures you reveal in the pages of your memoir? Umm, Sorry!?

I knew this was going to be one of those fun cutesy reads going into it but I wasn't expecting how adorable it was going to be. Really this was just one of those reads that make you smile because it is so silly. The silly names, the silly expressions, the fact that penguins are chefs and the reindeer all talk, okay maybe the reindeer don't talk but they umm, do poo chocolate! , And the feasts all have no less than a fourteen million calorie count requirement. And while the story was rather silly the actual story line about a boy, Rudy being thrown into a town where he doesn't fit in and is considered the 'bad boy" of the group has a very real YA feel to it. Candycane is the typical popular girl all the other girls want to be, the one boys all want to be with and of course the one Rudy wants to be with even though she is already taken, just with the super twist of being completely fun and not so full of teenage angst that a typical YA love triangle would have. I really liked the storyline though. About how one person can make you see the world in a different way. Can make you see what is really there and how things can be. And while this might have been just a little over the top is was actually a really fun, clean holiday read that had me laughing quite a few times with the silly expressions, just enough romance to make it enjoyable and one read I think a lot of people would actually enjoy this time of year for something different and not your usual YA read. It is one of those reads that is purely for fun but puts you in the mood for some good holiday cheer and will leave you with a big goofy grin on your face for the craziness of it all.

Okay, let me just start off by saying that I love the Christmas season and that I still believe in Christmas magic. When Candace asked me to read her book, I just knew it was going to be fun! Candycane is a high school student at North Pole High. She has all the joys and problems of being a teenage as well as being the daughter of Santa Claus. (How awesome would that be!!) And she puts out a disclaimer right off the bat ~ 'The other thing I need to make clear up up front is: If you're one of those people who thinks my dad doesn't exist, you might as well stop reading now.' Well .... I believe, so I just kept on reading! I really, really enjoyed this book so much! The author has such a wonderful sense of humor and a great imagination. Where else but the North Pole could you find a seven-foot-tall penguin named Chefy who is the chef for the North Pole, as well as being Santa's right hand man running the household. And a eight-and-a-half-foot tall shaggy white polar bear named, what else, Mr. Polar Bear, as one of the high school teachers. Candycane has to try to convince Rudy that the Christmas spirit is a good thing. It's not going to be easy. Rudy is the new kid in town. 'Poor Rudy. All the other children laughed and called him names, and it was partly my fault.' I love all the subtle and sometimes not so subtle references to all things related to Christmas, Santa, and the North Pole. Check these out! Pizza at T.G.I Fruitcake; Maid-A-Milking Massage Parlor; Chocolate noodle soup; Music being spun by Kayne North, the DJ seal; Hanukkah the Outcast Elf; Queero the Flamboyantly Gay Polar Bear And they feed the reindeer cocoa beans so then they poop out the best chocolate in the world! Isn't that a hoot?? Love, love, love North Pole High and am looking forward to reading the further adventures of Candycane and her friends. Probably one of the best lines in the book and one I want to leave you with is ~~ 'People don't outgrow Christmas. Sometimes they set it aside and forget. But it always comes back.'

Oh my goodness this book was cute cute cute cute cute! Yes, it was over done, but... can a Christmas book really be over done? This story was nothing but fun. I truly enjoyed reading it and I am so glad I chose it to be my first Christmas book! Everything about this story drips Christmas, including the names of the people - Candycane, Snowflake,Johnny Toboggan, Silentnight, Sugarcookie, Tinsel, Douglas Fir, and Rudy Tutti. This cast of characters is just as cute as their names, but don't let the "nice" of Christmas spirit fool you, these kids are a little naughty too! And to add to the fun of this story there are also characters such as Chefy the Penguin who is the family cook, Mr. Polar Bear the high school teacher, Flip and Flop the two puffins who are hilarious, and Elves who get high on elfnip (but only during the mating season)! During the story they do not seem like animals or comical characters they seem like real people and I kept forgetting that they Chefy was really a penguin, he just seemed like part of the family. There are quite a few twists and turns and a great ending, that I kind of suspected a little, but not enough that it ruined the story. This book must sound very silly and it is but in a good way. It is very fun, Christmassy, sweet, adventurous (in a teen kind of way) and cute. Here are few of my favorite lines - "Begging your pardon, Mrs. Claus, but this doesn't look anything like lox." We examined our plates. Each of us had been served a humongous bagel with a hot, steamed Christmas stocking spilling out the sides. Chefy snickered. "Oops. My bad. I could not find no recipe for this "lox" so I assumed you'd said socks." "Let me tell you something about Vixen. She strips off her coat and scarf the minute she enters a building like she's on a fashion runway, and no matter how freezing it is, she's always wearing short skirts and tight belly shirts and, please, who still dresses like that after seeing how it worked out for Britney Spears? Hopefully Vixen will shave her head too." THE ALL-IN-ALL - All in all this is a great book to read at Christmas time. It is very whimsical and magical. It is silly and fun but with a touch of seriousness and sadness at times. This is a clean - no swearing, no sex. It does have light suggestive language, but not bad. I think this would be a great book for young teens to adults. I think a girl around 13 or 14 would love this story!

My 15yo daughter loves the story. It's kind of romantic without being sappy, and it's funny, which is the perfect combination.

Was not able to put this down over xmas - great addition to a gorowng book collection

This book is awesome and amazing. It's filled with puns and jokes and references and stuffed with tenderness. I love it. <3

Really good story enjoying reading it