Aline is a twelve year old girl. She has a problem. How can someone love her family so much, and yet still be embarrassed about them. She knows her family is poor. They don't have any of the nice things other girls her age have. She doesn't even have any old chewed up gum that her teacher uses to stick pictures on the wall. That is just too embarrassing. Not only that she has a bully girl in her class that is always out to get her.
Than at Christmas she begins to see, that it isn't how much money a person has that makes them rich. That it's the love of family and friends, old and new. It's
about being grateful for enough food to eat, a warm place to sleep, and a place that you own, your home. In that bright shining moment she learns that there is something to be grateful about in each thing around us both big and small.

Aline’s family is so poor that she can’t even bring used chewing gum to school for the Sisters to use to hang posters on the classroom walls. The Great Depression hasn’t just hit the United States, it haunts Canada, too.

Readers follow Aline as she navigates friendships, family dynamics, and what it means to be poor. Told in the first person, the narrator struggles to understand that the world doesn’t follow strict black and white patterns. As she recounts the events leading up to her bright shining moment, she begins to understand how a small shift in perspective can allow more light into her world.

Parents and teachers might want to read this whimsical and thought-provoking story out loud to their 8-10-year-olds to help them navigate and discuss the French-Canadian vocabulary and customs. Older students will be able to find more information on the Internet on their own.

Very valuable lesson to be learned here. Really enjoyed reading this book. Was a nice and easy, comfortable read.