Finding My Elf
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Single All the Way meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this festive romcom about Cam, who’s trying to find the “the one” and also trying to find himself—while spending winter break working at a hectic Santa’s Village.
Escaping to NYU for college didn’t turn out the way Cameron planned—he’s flunking his theater classes, about to lose his scholarship, and he still hasn’t found anyone he can call his “people.” When he gets home for winter break, he’s so desperate to avoid a Conversation with his dad that he takes the first acting job he can get—as a mall elf. Despite how Scroogey he feels, the plus side is that there’s a cash prize for the most festive of Santa’s helpers.
But the competition is fierce—especially from fellow elf Marco. Christmas spirit oozes out of his veins. At first Cam is determined to see him as nothing but a rival, but as they spend more time together, Cam starts to second-guess himself. What if he’s finally found his people here—in the fakest consumerist nightmare place on Earth, where he least expected it?
A heartwarming Christmas read Perfect for curling up with during the holidays
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This unabashedly queer young-adult romance is as fizzy and festive as its title. After a disastrous first semester of theater school at NYU, Cam is back in his Western Massachusetts hometown, where he reluctantly takes a part-time gig as an elf in the local mall’s Santaland. Cam’s not really feeling festive, but he does want to win the best-elf contest and its $5000 prize. Then he meets Marco, who feels like the Christmas spirit in human form, wrapped up in an improbably gorgeous package. Just as he did in his frothy ’80s time-travel fantasy, Spin Me Right Round, David Valdes blends romance and comedy in a young gay world, keeping things just chaste enough that you can read this book around family on holiday break. Finding My Elf is a witty gem.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When Cuban American college student Cam comes home for winter break after his first semester at NYU, he does so feeling like a failure. Not only has he not found a boyfriend—or many friends at all—his grades are so poor that he's in danger of losing his theater scholarship. He believes that his only hope of affording the following semester is to get a seasonal job, and the sole place hiring is Santaland, a bustling Christmas village at the town's new luxury mall. There, Cam plays the role of one of Santa's elves, just in time to participate in a Santaland-sponsored contest for $5,000, in which customers vote for best elf following a series of challenges. Cam is certain that he'll win, but when he learns he'll be competing against gorgeous, perfectly perky fellow employee Marco, who is of Filipino descent, he worries he'll have his work cut out for him. Via a breezy yet thoughtful approach, and with the boys' gently blossoming romance inciting warmth and cheer, Valdes (Brighter Than the Moon) conceives a holly-jolly rom-com filled with enough humor, heart, and holiday spirit to deliver an upbeat stocking stuffer. Ages 13–up.
