It's the day before Christmas in a little town set in the Canadian province of Alberta about fifty years ago. Normally everything would be cold and frozen, but a warm Chinook wind has turned up the temperature. The book details this day in the life of a Mennonite boy and ends with a mysterious Christmas gift left on his doorstep. More oils present the bleak town, vast open prairies and never ending winds that sweep across them. The text is complex and filled with imagery, suitable for accomplished young adult readers. 1992 (orig.