Flip Into Christmas has earned a re-release just one year from it’s original release date. The short-story took home the Grayson Award for Holiday Book of the Year in 2019. At one point it moved into the top 1,000 on Amazon Books.
The focal point of the re-release is the “Global Edition”, which is a revised version of the original short-story that excludes Chicago-based slang and terminology. Along with the Global Edition, readers can enjoy the second edition of the original and now put the audiobook on to follow.
Last year, an online critic rated the story 5 stars and described Flip Into Christmas as a “Touching Xmas Story” – a wonderful short-story about a boy who makes personal sacrifices so that the members of his family could receive great Christmas gifts. Illustrations go along with the story.”
Last fall, an Alabama school embarrassed an 8 year old student by stamping “I need lunch money” on his arm, and subsequently throwing his lunch in the trash. Flip Into Christmas is rooted in spreading awareness of “lunch shaming” that is becoming more and more common around the country. The book includes a fictionalized reference to what took place in Alabama to help shape the storyline.
“The lunch shaming situation really caught my attention because I was a kid that (received) free lunch in school… That was normal where I’m from, so I can’t imagine if I had been ridiculed or made fun of for it.” Author, Keefe Ammons told WDRB in 2019.
Flip Into Christmas is directly influenced by Ammons’s upbringing in Chicago. The story is set in his hometown of Chicago in both editions. The names of characters pay homage to prominent Chicagoans and close friends of Ammons; some of which who were victims of tragedies. The acknowledgment section of the book mentions Hadiya Pendleton, Trenton Booker, Deionte Harris, and Ben Wilson.
Last year it moved just under 10,000 copies and is currently projected to at least double that number this year. According to Flip Into Christmas’s official Instagram profile (@flipintochristmas); a full feature animation is expected to release next year.
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