Auld Lang Syne: Happy New Year, Julie by Megan McDonald

True to the format of the earlier American Girls series, Julie Albright's wish for a merry holiday season appears to be impossible. Her divorcing parents seem too wrapped up in their own transitions to think about their children's Christmas. Her mom borrows a tree, but her gifts are homemade crafts from her new business, and Julie and her sister miss the carols and treats and cheery decorations from their old suburban home. Christmas at Dad's is also bleak, with diminished trappings and no good smells of traditional foods to look forward to.

To make things worse, big sister Tracy has a teenage drama queen attack when their father tries to compensate with dinner at a fancy downtown hotel. Fourth-grader Julie turns to her best friend Ivy Ling, who thoughtfully involves Julie in her family's preparations for the Chinese New Year just ahead, but although Julie appreciates the kindness of Ivy's warm extended family, it only makes her own broken family life seem more bleak.

When Ivy's parents invite Julie's sister and parents to share the holiday festivities, Julie fears the worst, but to her surprise, she finds that coming together on a neutral ground makes the challenges of living with her family in the new year a little less daunting.

Although the plot is not unique, in Happy New Year, Julie (American Girls Collection) Megan McDonald's sure voice and skillful writing take the reader right inside Julie's head and heart in this third book in the story of Julie Albright, an American girl growing up in the maelstrom of change that was the
1970's. As always in this historical fiction series, the illustrated appendix adds to the reader's understanding of events and everyday artifacts as Julie's world moves into the new year of 1975.