SIDNEY — The Book and Travel Club will present a talk and book-signing by Joanne Huist Smith, author of “The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle,” during its Christmas luncheon scheduled for Dec. 4 at noon in the Moose Lodge in Sidney.

The event is open to the public. Tickets cost $13 and include lunch. They must be purchased by Nov. 23 by mailing a check, payable to Book and Travel Club, to Barri Grandey, 8688 Wright-Puthoff Road, Sidney, OH 45365.

Smith’s book can be purchased at Readmore Hallmark, 430 N. Main St., Piqua, and at the luncheon.

Smith is a native of Dayton and an award-winning journalist for the Dayton Daily News. She began writing short stories and journaling when she was 9. She graduated from John H. Patterson Cooperative High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Wright State University. She joined the staff of the Dayton Daily News as a reporter in 1997.

During her tenure with the newspaper, Smith has covered Greene and Warren countines. She currently covers Montgomery County government. She was awarded first place by the Ohio Associated Press for Best Community Service for her 2009 package of stories on heroin addiction.

After the unexpected death of her husband, Smith had no idea how she would keep herself together and be strong for her three children. But 12 days before Christmas, gifts began appearing on her doorstep with notes from their “true friends.” As the Smiths came together to solve the mystery of who left the gifts, they began to thaw out from their grief and come together again as a family. Smith recalls these events in “The 13th Gift.”