“Horace Helfin is my name.  Do you want to play a game?”

In just a few days it will be Christmas and Sally Connors will turn nine years old.  Sally has a secret wish she discloses only to Santa.  Her parents, John and Amanda are separated, and life seems disappointing... until a mysterious orphan boy named Horace Helfin, who suffers from a strange malady and speaks only in rhyme except when angry or sad, comes into their lives and changes them forever.  Horace proves to be a wonderful companion, despite the fact that he is a living terror, effortlessly generating havoc and chaos wherever he goes.  His cyclonic presence disrupts the complacency of the Connors' lives and leads to a whole series of hilarious misadventures.  But when Sally suffers a serious accident, Horace seemingly sacrifices everything to save her...