Saint Iggy by K.L. Going
Iggy Corso's life is hard, but he never seems to complain. His dad is drunk or high all the time, he lives on the 15th floor of the housing projects and the elevator is often broken, he just got suspended and will probably be expelled from his school. The two things that bother him most these days (the week before Christmas) are that his mom has gone "visiting" and she might never come home, and that he doesn't want to get kicked out of school. Iggy decides he needs to prove he is a good person right away. Iggy's only friend is a druggie law school dropout who he met through a mentoring program. Iggy thinks that the dealer who supplies his mom may have something to do with her disappearance. When his friend buys drugs on credit from the same dealer, the two young men scramble to come up with a couple grand in cash to keep his friend safe and pay off the dealer. Christmas is coming, and Iggy wishes that his life was different.

Even though I read this book during the heat of summer, it was so excellent that it really put me in the Christmas spirit -- Check it out!