Ten-year-old Rupert, a likable lad from a very large, very poor family, trudges through a wealthy neighborhood on Christmas morning, only to be jolted by an electric shock from a security gate. To make amends, the eccentric Rivers clan takes him in to share their feast, join their games, and win marvelous prizes, which he's not allowed to keep. Later, different members of the Rivers' household reappear in Rupert's life to lead him on four bizarre, somewhat magical adventures. Though often awestruck by these experiences, Rupert usually remains cold and starving as well. The ending offers a ray of hope for the deserving boy and his family. The Rivers, rather dense and largely unhampered by empathy, are sometimes at the center of this chapter book's laugh-out-loud funny scenes, though there can be a dark edge to the humor. The story's moral, that each person's life is unique and wondrous, is articulated in the closing chapter. Readers who enjoy quirky, episodic adventure stories will find themselves swept along by the current of Horvath's latest imaginative novel.

Exceedingly well-mannered and excruciatingly poor ten-year-old Rupert Brown stumbles upon his rich classmate's Christmas celebration. After Rupert leaves still empty-stomached and empty-handed, guilt-ridden members of the wealthy family attempt to make amends. Their misguided efforts include a silk suit; a visit to a fancy restaurant; and excursions via a cardboard-box time machine. With hints of Dickens, Dahl, Travers, and others, Horvath's latest is brainy, hilarious, and poignant.

Rupert Brown discovers a family as odd as his own—but in which food, clothing, warmth, and money are abundant and barely noticed.Ten-year-old Rupert's family is so large that his mother claims she can't remember all the children's names. Food is scarce, and the older children must sleep under the beds for lack of room. Quiet, shy Rupert is sweetly earnest as he tries to stay optimistic. By chance, Rupert finds himself inside the mansion of the richest family in his town of Steelville, Ohio, on Christmas Day, "full to the top" with food. Following a bewildering series of family games, he's the winner of a pile of amazing presents, and it is nearly more than he can bear to lose all his prizes at the last moment. The members of the eccentric Rivers family are casually generous yet callously unaware of Rupert's dire circumstances as he returns home in the cold and snow. In the weeks that follow, and one after another, Mrs. Rivers, Uncle Henry, Uncle Moffat, and Aunt Hazelnut each reach out to offer Rupert a share in their own magical and slightly weird adventures. The result is enriching indeed, though Rupert's constant hunger as food is promised and then whisked away is both palpable to readers and emblematic of this Dahl-esque gulf between classes. All the characters are assumed to be the default white. Horvath is at her odd, arch best here—generous with her wry observations of people and their awkward relationships and foibles. (Fiction. 9-12)

Trekking to school only to realize it-s Christmas Day, 10-year-old Rupert Brown, part of a large and impoverished family, finds himself in the -very rich- part of Steeleville, Ohio. After Rupert faints on the lawn of Turgid Rivers, -the richest boy at school,- he spends the day with the eccentric Rivers family as they indulge in extravagant meals and engage in a series of competitive games. His pile of prizes growing, Rupert fantasizes about bringing his winnings back to his family, only to have those hopes dashed as he loses it all. After Rupert-s loss and return to his routine of hunger and sibling hordes, members of the Rivers family seek him out to embark on adventures, including a secret restaurant takeover that leaves customers literally floating with happiness, a trip back in time, and a bungled jewel heist. Rupert-s hijinks with the various Rivers prove enlightening, imparting that, no matter one-s provenance, life is -a unique and glorious thing.- Packed with outrageous characters and moments of brilliant clarity, Horvath-s holiday romp touches on thankfulness and the importance of self-acceptance. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)