The Christmas Kid — Michael Allin

Casey Rickert is in trouble. He's just lost his plane ticket back home to Kansas City in an unfriendly poker game. he has a Lit paper due on a book he's never read, and on top of everything else, even though he took off finals week to go surfing, his cutback still hasn't improved. But Casey's talent for getting into and out of trouble has earned him the nickname "The Wizard," and he views this latest assortment of predicaments merely as opportunities for yet another brilliant recovery.

Lately, though, Casey's predilection for trouble seems to be outstripping even his own marvelously cosmic equilibrium. His brother Davy's death almost a year ago upended Casey's world and left him shaken, vulnerable, and hurtling from one disaster to the next. Wandering through Santa Barbara in a desperate attempt to get home, Casey's chance impersonation of Santa Claus opens up to him a hidden world of goodwill toward men, unanswered Christmas wishes, and beard itch. Still wearing the Santa suit, Casey embarks on a redemptive journey from Los Angeles to Kansas City, rediscovering kindness, hope, and love from the people he meets along the way.