VALERIE TESTA ALMQUIST
Chicken Soup for the Soul: it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Plastic Santa

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.
Look Back Move Forward

"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
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Best Mom Ever
Mother-Daughter Connection

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).
© 2020 by Valerie Testa Almquist