“Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares” was one of the most fun reads I’ve ever encountered, so when a sequel appeared — “The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily” — obviously I had no choice but to dive in.

These are two teenagers with a love of literature, wacky families, and in the case of Lily, a giant dog who knows no better than to pin visitors to the floor.

Dash is the broodier one, and talks about the effect that Lily’s typically rosier outlook has on him:

“She was enough to turn me a little cynical about my cynicism.”

But during Lily’s favorite time of year, she is in a funk and can’t muster her normal Christmas cheer, leading Dash to seek out the help of others, including Lily’s brother Langston, who is no friend of Dash.  The two guys meet up for lunch, where upon Langston trying to pick up the bill, Dash drops the kind of language that makes other kids think he’s a bit off.

“I don’t want your filthy lucre!”

Obviously these are Dash’s most endearing moments.  Normal is far too boring.

Dash admittedly cares little about Christmas, but makes the effort since it matters so much to Lily.  And somewhere in his Grinchy heart he can see what the fuss is all about.

“Maybe if it were up to me I wouldn’t have the whole world believe in Santa Claus, but I would definitely have them collectively believe in something, because there is a messed-up kind of beauty in the way we can all bend over backward to make life seem magical when we want to.”

But of course that doesn’t make him walk around belting out “White Christmas” or some Mariah.  His idea of “basically the best Christmas song ever written” is this:

I would really enjoy popping into this world for a minute just to see his reaction to “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” which Lily would probably enjoy.

As for Lily, her mom finds a small key to cheering her up in a heart-to-heart inside the car.  Aside from the listening to her problems part, the big difference maker is giving Lily a latte.

“Add to my list of mental woes: My moods could swing violently from sulking to delirious with the right infusion of sugar,” Lily thinks after drinking it.  I’m pretty sure that’s a feature and not a bug.  All hail sugar!

This book can be a standalone, but there’s absolutely no reason not to read Book of Dares first to get all of the references and to treat yourself to a super enjoyable time.