“The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle” by Joanne Huist Smith

In the fall of 1999, Joanne Huist Smith’s husband, Rick, died without warning, just weeks before the holidays. In their small Ohio town, she and her three grieving children had decided to skip Christmas altogether. No tree. No lights. No pretending.

Then, on the morning of December 13, a poinsettia appeared on their front porch. The handmade card echoed “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with one change: “your true friends give to you.” The next day another gift came, and the day after that another. Each one was anonymous, and each one was a little more mysterious than the last. Soon the whole family was plotting to catch the secret givers, and Joanne heard her children laugh again.

It’s a tender, honest and deeply hopeful memoir about grief, kindness and the people who show up when we need them most. Keep the tissues close.