Megan's little brother, Kevin, has multiple handicaps and threw destructive, impenetrable tantrums until he got glasses and a hearing aid. Now that he's tossed both out the bus window, his family must learn again to control him. For middle-schooler Megan, Kevin's needs have strained the family's finances, not to mention their patience. What was to have been the family's first real Christmas with a manageable Kevin seems headed for disaster until resourceful Megan comes up with a solution of her own. Williams (Tap-Tap, 1994, etc.) has written an eye-opener about life with the handicapped. The straightforward writing is always empathetic, never pitying. The dialogue is occasionally contrived around a need to convey information, but this remains a compelling novel about the real meaning of Christmas. (Fiction. 9-13)
