The final bell rang at PS. 118, and the students poured out the front doors. "Yaaaay! Christmas vacation!" they hollered. Sparkling white snow draped the streets, sidewalks, parked cars, and trees. Christmas lights and decorations twinkled on every building.
Phoebe sighed happily. "Almost Christmas. I love the way the city is transformed by all the decorations. What do you love most about Christmas, Helga?"
"Are you kidding?" Helga snorted. "The presents! I'm gonna make a haul this year!"
Phoebe looked at Helga doubtfully "But, Helga, Christmas is about giving and sharing, family and friends, holiday spirit—"
"Oh, come off your high horse, sister," Helga cut in. "Christmas is about presents. It's about getting as much stuff as you can—it's about money and flash. It's about shopping like a barbarian, getting yours before the other guy gets his. It's about dropping hints, making lists, kissing the right butts at the right time. Christmas is about—"
She stopped, transfixed by a window display across the street. "Snow boots!"
She rushed to the window, pushed past some girls gathered there, and pressed her face against the glass. At the center of the display was a life-size cardboard stand-up of