Mitzy and the Christmas Mirror

A ten-year-old girl who feels invisible. A mirror that says her name. Three kingdoms that need her.

Ten-year-old Mitzy Lane has always felt like the one nobody notices, even on Christmas Eve. This year is harder than most. It's the first Christmas without her Nonnie, and the grown-ups in her house are too wrapped up in their own sadness to see hers.

Then she finds a silver mirror in a box marked OLD STUFF, and it says her name.

On the other side of the glass, a fluffy white dog with jingle bells on his collar is waiting. So are a prince with a secret, a gingerbread knight whose head won't stay on, a tiny mouse baker with a satchel of secret recipes, and a toymaker elf trying to keep a brigade of nutcrackers marching. Three kingdoms of snow, candy and toys are losing their magic. A frozen queen is afraid of love. A sour sorceress is spreading bitterness. The only one who can help is the girl who thought she didn't matter.

Mitzy makes mistakes along the way, and she learns that her magic can hurt people as well as help them. She also learns that a hero can be shaky, frightened and ten years old.

Mitzy and the Christmas Mirror is a Christmas fantasy about:

• feeling small and finding out that you matter
• grief, and how a family finds its way back to each other
• choosing love over fear

Includes 30 chapters, more than 70 black-and-white illustrations, and original songs. You can hear every song, and the full audiobook, on the Enchanted Mirror channel on YouTube.

Best for readers ages 8 to 12 and adults who love gentle Christmas fantasy. It also makes a good family read-aloud for younger children with a grown-up reading along. Content note: there is mild fantasy peril, including a battle with candy monsters and sour vines, and the loss of a grandmother is part of the story.

Perfect for a Christmas gift, a December book club, family storytime, and fans of The Nutcracker and cozy portal fantasy.

• Formats: Paperback (6 x 9 in, 232 pages, black-and-white illustrations) and ebook.