For 12-year-old Kallie Watts, Christmas is anything but merry. For the last five years, the tinsel-strewn holiday has spelled disaster for her family, so when an apartment fire leaves Kallie and her widowed mother homeless just in time for the holidays, it comes as no surprise. There's only one logical conclusion: Kallie is cursed by Christmas. When her mother finds a new job in a small California town, Kallie steps out of the moving van and into her worst nightmare: a real-life version of "Whoville," overflowing with holiday decorations and brimming with Christmas cheer. Forced to navigate the complicated ins and outs of her jolly new surroundings, Kallie is shaken out of her gloom one day when she discovers an ornately carved wooden Santa box on the porch, addressed to her. The moment she lifts the lid, Kallie's life is changed forever as she rediscovers the true magic and meaning of Christmas...