Begin the holiday season with my true story, "Plastic Santa," which is one of the truly fun, heartfelt

and uplifting stories comprising Chicken Soup for the Soul: it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. You'll learn how to play "Plastic Santa," a game I created and played with my son while driving him to preschool. He's now

32-years-old; the tradition continues with the entire family, and others riding with us during Christmastime.

"You know what a callus teaches us?  When life gets tough, you have to be

even tougher. A callus is tough skin

that comes from years of hard work.    (p.20)

"Today, I witnessed how hope like sunlight

is always there; even if you can't see it for a while, it's still there beneath the darkness and hardships life can throw at us."  (p.131)

REVIEWS

JUDGE, 5TH ANNUAL WRITER'S DIGEST SELF-PUBLISHED eBOOK AWARDS GAVE

"This book is a winner on so many fronts. It is full of warm family values, intergenerational connections, familial responsibilities, community citizenship and much more....I will make a point to reread....This book belongs on the family bookshelf...It deserves to be revisited often."

"GREAT STORY!  Makes you appreciate the struggle of hard times of the past and how there is always a way to survive.  The brothers love for each other and family warms the heart! Really enjoyed this book."  Amazon Review

"Reading this book was like wrapping myself in a soft blanket on a cold winters day!... the messages of faith, hope, and love are universal and enduring. I think you will enjoy the characters, and be a bit sad when there are no more pages to read."  Amazon Review                                                 

"Thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Valerie has a way of writing a story that takes you back in time... She did her research of historical events and I even learned a few things I had not known..."
Barnes and Noble Review

Enjoy my inspirational, true story,
"Mother-Daughter Connection," published in, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: BEST MOM EVER!.

"...what guided me to that ShopRite six years ago-God, a guardian angel, sixth sense, gut feeling or intuition-perhaps they’re all the same thing." (p. 284).