by Alice Oseman
Part of Heartstopper
First published 2015
Tori decides she won't think about the past few months today. She won't dwell on everything that happened with Charlie and all the sadness that followed. She's going to push it all away, just for Christmas Day. "Happy Christmas," she tells herself, trying to make it true. But the festive season has never been easy for Tori and her brother Charlie. The holidays bring their own weight, their own complications. This year feels different though. Harder than the ones before. As Christmas unfolds around them, Tori struggles to keep her promise to herself. The past keeps creeping in despite her efforts to block it out. She and Charlie must navigate not just this difficult day, but the unresolved pain that hangs between them. In this short story, Alice Oseman returns to the world of Solitaire to explore how families carry their hurt through moments meant for joy.
Genres: literary-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, young-adult, family-drama
Vibes: bittersweet, emotionally-raw, intimate, introspective, melancholic
Tropes: family-estrangement, holiday-setting, internal-conflict
Period: Christmas Day
120 pages · ebook · HarperCollins Children's Books
Content warnings: depression, mental-illness