Frost (Stork Trilogy) [Hardcover]

Wendy Delsol (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 11, 2011 | Series: Stork Trilogy

In this sequel to STORK, Katla Leblanc has to employ her grit, spirit, and special gifts to rescue the boy she loves.

After the drama of finding out that she's a Stork, a member of an ancient and mystical order of women, and that her boyfriend, Jack, is a descendent of the Winter People able to control the weather, Katla Leblanc is delighted when all signs point to a busy and peaceful Christmas. That is, until the snowstorm Jack summons as a gift to Katla turns into the storm of the century, attracting Brigid, a gorgeous scientist who, in turn, attracts Jack. Between the school play, a bedridden, pregnant mother's to-do lists, and keeping an eye on her aging grandfather, Katla doesn't have time to question Brigid's motives or deal with Jack's increasingly cold behavior. But Katla's suspicions mount when Jack joins Brigid on a research expedition to Greenland, and when the two of them go missing, it becomes clear that Katla is the only one who can save her beloved Jack from the Snow Queen who holds him prisoner. Adventure, romance, and myth combine in this winter escapade for teens who like a bit of fire with their ice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

School Library Journal
This retelling of The Snow Queen picks up where it left off in Stork. The themes of culture and heritage affecting the present and the motivating and empowering nature of love, even in impossible situations, complement the quick-moving plot and beautifully drawn settings.-Elizabeth Johnson, Fort Vancouver Library, WA

Wendy Delsol has once again beautifully woven modern day life with ancient legends and fantastic fairy tales, creating a story of adventure, romance, and undeniable readability. . . . Frost proves to be not only a worthy addition to the series but may even surpass its predecessor. No sophomore slump here. Courtney Webb for New York Journal of Books

Well-paced narration will keep readers interested - a superior paranormal adventure.
—Kirkus Reviews

Readers discover that, somehow, Kat can make the most frightening danger seem, well...fun. This light tone makes the novel a favorable choice for girls who prefer Meg Cabot to Stephanie Meyer.
—VOYA

About the Author

Wendy Delsol is the author of STORK, the prequel to FROST. She is a freelance writer who has lived in Detroit, Paris, Nice, and Los Angeles and now resides in Des Moines, Iowa.

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1 edition (October 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763653861
• ISBN-13: 978-0763653866
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,104,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Wendy Delsol was born in Canada to English parents and grew up in suburban Detroit. She has an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a graduate degree from California State University, Long Beach.
After a year living and studying in France, Wendy moved to Los Angeles, where she remained for another twenty.
Post college, the rent was paid by working as a group tour coordinator in the travel industry.
Besides writing, her favorite job, ever, was mother to her two boys.
The writing bug bit at age forty. Wendy wrote her first novel and then took a year of writing classes through the UCLA Writers' Extension Program.
When her husband's job took the family to Des Moines, Wendy continued writing novels; she took classes through the University of Iowa Summer Writers' Festival; and she joined a local critique group, SCBWI, and the YA chapter of RWA.
Her young adult novel, STORK, is represented by Jamie Brenner of Artists and Artisans and was released by Candlewick Press on October 12, 2010.
Her adult novel, THE McCLOUD HOME FOR WAYWARD GIRLS, will release on August 2, 2011 with Penguin Books.
STORK's sequel, FROST, will be published on October 11, 2011.
The third and final (working title TIDE) in the STORK trilogy is slated for release in October of 2012.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Try Again, Wendy November 10, 2011

By S. Burton

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is probably more for the author's benefit than a potential reader's. It contains spoilers. I wanted to write this because I'm frustrated by a trend to give popular books outstanding reviews when they don't deserve them.

This book had lots of potential, should have been so much better, but is an unsatisfying read. The author should learn a few important lessons, among them: Finish What You Started, Show Don't Tell, and Don't Use a Hammer If a Q-tip Will Do the Job.

At the end of Stork there were a lot of, not exactly loose ends, but interesting situations that had been introduced. I was looking forward to reading Frost because I thought the author would develop the situations she had already set up.

Kat's father was going to start the wind turbine thing where Kat's waitress friend (who was hoping for a baby) was probably going to get a good job. That seemed like an interesting situation. People would be attracted to the small town, so there was potential for new faces and new situations at school. In addition, Monique's boyfriend was dead and there was potential for some drama there.

Instead, DelSol introduced a bunch of different situations. A New Year's Eve party that went awry (nothing comes of this, so why mention it at all?). Tension between Penny and Pedro (the author goes NOWHERE with this terrific dramatic situation). The waitress friend got one mention, but no screen time. The wind turbine factory--ditto. No mention of the high school possibly closing or new growth in the town. There was potential for a little romance between Kat's dad and Sage--nada. Penny and Pedro broke up--oh, well, let's ignore that. Instead of dealing with the interesting local stuff the author uproots us and goes global. DelSol takes Kat off to Iceland where she could re-enact the Snow Queen in a bizarre, hard-to-picture-and-relate-to romp.

Wendy DelSol evidently has never heard of, or doesn't believe, Anton Chekov's famous quote (I think it's Chekov), "If there's a cannon in the story it has to go off." She kept introducing mysterious objects and people: the necklace Afi bought for Kat, the rune stones (which were used to tell her fortune, but why not just use the ones the gypsy had?), the guy in the Internet cafe who shows up later at the party, cousin Hinrik, Marik the messenger, granny in the sweatlodge (who, along with Jinky just drops out of the story--I mean, are they still sitting there sweating waiting for Kat to come back "the very next day"?). These interesting details unfortunately have little-to-no significance in the story. It's obnoxious and frustrating. Why bring all up all these nifty things and then drop them like cold bricks? It's like sitting down to a lavish meal but instead of eating you get up and go sit at another table; you do this over and over.

When we come back after the very long, very boring adventure (which could have been more interesting; the author just didn't go into any depth with it--the automatons working in the palace [particularly the hawk-nosed lady], the frost giants who just quit because they couldn't cross the ice?) I no longer hoped that we would revisit the interesting at-home situations that had been left hanging--there weren't enough pages left. Instead we jumped from the beginning of April to the middle of June. All the seniors have graduated (once again, told not shown--did Jack get credit for his Greenland research stuff?), Dad's on the prowl at Mom's wedding (can you say UNCOMFORTABLE to invite the ex?), Hulda's suddenly back--no explanation of where she's been or why the new stork is just welcomed into the group . . .

The book was poorly planned and executed. Although the author thanked her talented writing group they did her a disservice by not making obvious suggestions that would have improved the book tremendously. Wendy DelSol has a lot more talent than she is using. She has some great ideas, but rather than exploring them and making a really good story she tosses them aside like last season's shoes and just grabs for more new stuff. If she's going to write a high school story with friends, then do that. If you're going to rewrite the Snow Queen, then do that. But the mix of the two in this book was like oil and vinegar.

So, we already know what the next story is going to be about, but who cares? Will Jack the wonderful yet again turn wimp on us (never his fault) and have to be rescued? Will Kat save her sister (which doesn't make any sense at all; she should have at least seven years, and since when do you get to bargain with someone else's baby; shouldn't it be her own?)? Will any new souls get assigned? What I anticipate is a lot of new material that looks interesting but that gets tossed aside and never resolved. I may or may not buy and read the next book. Right now I'm leaning toward NOT.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Frost October 4, 2012

By Michelle@Book Briefs

Format:Paperback

I really loved the first book in this series, Stork. So I was super excited about Frost. Frost didn't let me down at all but it didn't meet the very high bar that Stork set for me. I just didn't enjoy it as the first book. My favorite part of Frost and Stork are the legends and myths that are worked into the storyline. It really adds something special to the books.

Kat is just as awesome as she was in the first book. I love how confident she seems to be in trusting her intuition and following her gut. It really seems like she is growing into herself as a stork. I really felt for her for pretty much this whole book. It just seems like it stunk to be her. Jack was being so standoffish for so much of the story and it really bugged me. Once I figured out what was going on (even though I had an inkling early on) I accepted the reason why and I guess that excuses him but I still wanted to see him do more. I thought he was kind of a jerk up until the end of the greenland trip and then even after he didn't do much to make it up to Kat. I just wanted to see some more of the Jack that I saw and loved in Stork.

The best part about Frost was the story of the Snow Queen. I thought it was super interesting and I loved seeing all the icelandic legends. If you enjoy mythology or legends, especially norse ones you should check out the Stork trilogy.

*Disclaimer- I got this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. i did not receive any compensation in exchange for my review.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Addition to the Stork series November 1, 2011

By Mundie Moms/Mundie Kids

Format:Hardcover

I loved Stork and the magical element and rich Norse and Jack Frost mythologies that Wendy brought to life in her story. She does the same thing with Frost, but adds another great spin on a fabulous mythology, The Snow Queen. This added a whole new depth to the story and series. I liked how she introduced it into the series.

I'm a sucker for well written story that takes an existing mythology and makes it their own, and Wendy has a talent for doing that. She brings the right amount of magic into her stories. This time Wendy used all the right elements to make the magical story of The Snow Queen come to life. Being very familiar with this story I felt that is was both fitting and believable for Kat's story. Wendy did a great job at using Jack's ability, and Stanley's research he's done on Global Warming from Stork to mold this mythology into her over all plot line. Through The Snow Queen, Wendy was also able to test Jack and Kat's relationship and love for another. I of course wasn't too fond of them being apart for a chunk of the story, but I liked what she did once she reunited them. This also allowed for Kat to take a journey of her own as she sets off to bring Jack home.

Kat herself grows a lot in this story. She's stronger, and becomes a bit more sarcastic. Her inner thoughts made me laugh more than a few times. She handles some situations surprisingly well. This story isn't so much about her continuing to work on developing her abilities as I thought it was going to be. Instead Kat becomes a heroine as she's on a mission to save Jack. Jack too changes, a lot. It's not his fault he fell under The Snow Queen's spell, but I did miss having him around for a big part of the story. The Snow Queen, aka Brigid, is someone I disliked from the moment she enters the picture. With her introduction to the story it was obvious who she was, though I loved her cover and modern day fit into society.

Many of the things I loved about Stork were put into Frost's background, as Wendy developed more of what felt like a companion story for Stork. The Stork society which plays a huge role in Stork, places a minor role in this story. There's some other paralleling stories like Kat's mom's pregnancy, Stanley's research with Brigid, a new researcher from Greenland, a startling change in Jack, and Kat's try outs for the school's upcoming play, The Snow Queen, that make up the story line. There were times I felt like too much was going on and I wasn't sure why certain story lines were crucial to Frost, but in the end it all made sense as Wendy ties everything together nicely. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the series. I love what the publisher has done with covers! It's a perfect fit for the story.