There's war in the Sunlit Lands, but once a year, the young people there set aside time to celebrate Christmas, as they do in Our Last Christmas Together by author Matt Mikalatos.

Admittedly, I didn't finish the first novel in the Sunlit Lands fantasy series, The Crescent Stone, but that takes nothing away from the characters. A multicultural cast of 'em, by the way.

Especially the hilarious and caring (in a guy-like, "no biggie but ride or die" kind of way) Wu Song, a.k.a. Jason Wu. My concerns about that teenaged boy's hygiene aside, yes indeed, I'm a big Wu Song fan. He's again in fine form in this Christmas tale about Christmas tales.

As much as I enjoyed revisiting the characters though, there's still a lot to appreciate about this story of stories even if it's your first time to the Sunlit Lands. So much about comradeship, family, life, and love comes together in these relatively few pages. It's truly amazing.

I was laughing toward the beginning and the middle, having no idea I'd be crying after while.

Gee. I may have to go back and try The Crescent Stone again... ( )